Why Am I Always Tired

Justin Mazza | 02/29/2012

Why am I tired?

Do you feeling tired no matter how much sleep you get at night? Do you bottom out in the afternoon and just want to take a nap? Read on and find out what two culprits are responsible for your fatigue.

There is no doubt in my mind that the World is set up in an unnatural way. What do I mean by this?

Each one of us has our own natural biological rhythm. We are full of energy at certain times of the day and other times we are almost useless with little energy and mental capabilities.

Unfortunately the current 9 to 5 work lifestyle doesn’t work well for most of us. I remember when I was an employee and I would crash around two in the afternoon.

My mind would basically shut down similar to when a computer logs off. I was logged off from the mind but I had a job, and employers don’t want to see you looking like a zombie while they are paying you to work.

I also went through this same problem as a student in school. I would be tired and zombie like in the morning. I would awaken around 10:00 am and then be butt tired after lunch. Needless to say my ability to pay attention in class when I was tired caused my grades to slip.

I was wondering if anyone else felt like this, if they experienced the same patterns as me? Through some research I found out that this is quite common for many people to experience.

Natural Biological Body Rhythm and feeling tired

Basically all humans have a natural biological rhythm. Rhythm of the mind and body that goes up and down and even levels off. The challenge I had is that jobs are not set up to allow for these cycles and many people will be penalized somehow because of it.

What is one to do?

I do understand that some jobs allow for naps and rest but you are still under the control of your employer which doesn’t sit well with me. I can only speak about what the work life is like here in America. I know that some countries are in tune enough with their bodies to allow for an afternoon “siesta.”

What is a siesta?

Siesta is a period of time during the afternoon for rest and relaxation, to rejuvenate the mind and body. It’s not about being lazy or taking time off just for the sake of it. Siesta is all about honoring the natural cycles of the body.

For one, I wish America would get it’s head out of its butt and learn that work, work, work and do, do do,does not serve anyone except for the ones at the top of the Corporate pyramid. We need balance in our lives and not to force ourselves to work when we are not mentally there.

What may be natural for one person may not be natural for another. You job is to find your cycles and work with them instead of forcing yourself to work or be productive when your natural body cycle is not in tune with that.

Sleep does not always recharge your energy system

We do not need as much sleep as we have been programmed to believe we need. Working a 9 to 5 job than sleeping 7 or 8 hours a night is the normal thing that we do.

But this is not natural.

You need the ability to design your life by being aligned with your natural biological ups and downs. Believe it or not you do have the ability to design your life, to decide when you work and when you rest.

When you are aligned with your natural biological cycle of high and low energy you actually need less rest/sleep than you force yourself to have now. The only reason you rest/sleep so much now is because you are resting against the “grain” of your natural cycle.

If you find yourself sleeping in accord to the natural low and being awake during the natural high you will find that you can get away with 4 to 5 hours sleep a night with a 30 minute nap in the afternoon.

With this type of sleep cycle you will become far more productive during the day.

How many of you follow a natural cycle? You probably believe that you will not get as much done by following a biological cycle of high and low energy. It’s much easier to stick to a work schedule that states you will be here between these hours.

But this does not make your ability to be productive any better. Actually the long nights of sleep that we take are because we are so out of balance with our natural biological cycles.

Your highest level of creativity is between the hours of 2 am and 4 am. Your natural low energy level when you need replenishment is between 2pm and 4 pm when you force yourself to work or go to school.

I understand that many of you cannot alter your sleep schedule because society does not match it. The only way we can change this is by honoring our sleep cycle. If you work from home I encourage you to experiment with your natural biological cycles and see what serves you best.

Recently I have been taking a 30 to 45 minute rest or nap in the afternoon around 2:00 to 3:00 pm.

Whenever I follow this rest cycle I am so much more productive in the evenings than I usually am. I have not yet experimented with being awake from 2:00 am to 4:00am but I will give it a try. I usually only sleep about 6 hours a night or less when I am in tune with my natural cycles.

Food – The other reason you are so tired

Your body works tremendously hard digesting and processing food. When you overeat you overwhelm the mind and body plus you put stress on all of your organs including your heart.

The real reason you get tired after eating Thanksgiving dinner is not the tryptophan in the turkey but rather that you stuffed your face with so much food.

Try spacing out your eating throughout the day. Instead of three large meals try eating 5 to 7 very very small meals throughout the day.

This is much healthier for the body and your energy levels will be at their best without you crashing.

I eat something small every three hours and have even made my dinner a small meal too. I sleep much better and my energy has skyrocketed causing me to be more productive.

What you eat is totally up to you and I will not go into it. There are tons of articles online that can help you find small, healthy meals for your body.

Being someone who loves to eat, and eat a lot, breaking this habit was a bit challenging at first. But change is a constant in life so why resist if it will only serve you to do so.

Why you are having trouble changing from your old ways

It’s a matter of inertia. We basically created a habit of being unnatural and there will be a resistance to the changes that you want to make. You have been doing what you have been doing for so long that you created a groove or a rut for yourself.

There is an easy way to break the cycle and that is by breaking it all together instead of doing it gradually. It worked for me.

One more suggestion here about eating. Many cultures practice fasting as a way of cleansing the body of toxins and giving your organs a rest. I suggest taking one day every two weeks at first to only drink liquids in a 24 hour period.

Gradually you can move up to once a week and then try fasting for two or three days at a time.

Update 3/20/12 : I have been sick with the flu for the past few weeks. One thing that I forgot to mention is that whenever you re-balance your body whether it is by detoxing, following your natural body cycles or even fasting it is quite common to get sick.

Don’t think that something is wrong with what you are doing when this happens. The body as it re-balances itself, will take the opportunity to release and remove any viruses and other yucky things that have been stored in the body. So while you may feel bad for a while you will ultimately feel much better later.

Remember: Listen to your body, learn to tune into the messages of it. Your body never lies, it doesn’t know how to. When you’re tired you’re tired. When you are energized you are energized. Work with it.

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