Understanding Your Energy Roadmap – @livewellwithlou

Being tired affects our mood and our behaviour and this is because being tired directly affects our brains. When you are fatigued, the emotional part of your brain (the amygdala) becomes more active – as much as 60% more active. So your emotions literally go into overdrive. Being tired also affects your pre-front cortex, the part of the brain responsible for rational thought. So when we are feeling low on energy, our emotions are raised and we are less able to act rationally….a bad combination!

Luckily there are lots of things we can do to help renew and recharge your energy…

What is energy?

Energy is defined as “the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.” It’s your most valuable, renewable resource.

Of course you can choose foods that fuel you or leave you exhausted….but for the purpose of today we are going to focus on factors OFF the plate that affect your energy.

You can choose activities that drain your energy or build it. You can choose people who energize you or suck you dry. When you learn what gives you energy, all areas of your life will improve.

Lets deep dive into our own energy levels now and get familiar with our own energy levels and where our energy might be leaking. I can recommend lots of energy boosting solutions, BUT if you don’t fill the leaks, you aren’t going to feel energised. So lets identify your energy boosters and your energy sappers.

What creates or drains energy?

We gain energy by eating nurturing foods and drinking vibrant beverages that support our physical health. But even more critical to energy are the elements of our lives PFF the plate – the physical relationships we choose to engage in, career satisfaction, physical exercise, and a fulfilling spiritual practice.

Look at the chart below and mark a dot for each category. The closer you place your dot to the outside of the circle, the more fulfilled you are in that area. The closer to the centre, the more dissatisfied you are. Connect your dots and see which areas of your life are creating energy and which areas may be draining energy.

What might your life be like if you were able to move those dots all out a little more….

Lets take a look at 4 of the areas of the chart above to see how this can be achieved with relationships, career, exercise and spiritual practice. NB spiritual practice does not have to be religious – it is anything that makes you feel grounded and connected e.g. connecting with nature, yoga, meditation.

Take a look back at your energy roadmap diagram and specifically the 4 areas below (relationships, career, exercise, spirituality) and see if there is anything in these areas that you can increase in order to boost your energy. And is there anything you could decrease to boost your energy – using the suggestions below.

What to increase

Nourishing relationships

• Supportive friendships
• Romantic relationships
• Work relationships
• Physical contact
• Compliments
• Hugs
• Kisses
• Sex

Career alignment and fulfilment

• Work that you enjoy
• Work that serves the world
• Praise and recognition
• Balance between diligence and ease
• Challenging tasks
• Tasks you’re good at
• Work/life balance

Satisfying exercise

• Balanced activity level
• Consistency
• Group or solo (experiment to see what gives you more energy)
• Challenging but not taxing
• Exercise that’s fun

Soothing spiritual practice

• Calming tools that engage the relaxation response
• Breathing exercises
• Meditation
• Relaxing yoga, such as yin yoga
• Religion and/or prayer

What to decrease

Toxic relationships

• Gossiping
• Undervaluing worth
• Being alone too much
• Physical abuse
• Verbal abuse
• Not enough physical contact
• Too much physical contact
• Unwanted physical contact

Unfulfilling career

• Abusive co-workers/boss
• Work that doesn’t challenge you
• Too many hours
• Unrealistic demands
• Gossip in the work place
• Work that you don’t value
• Work that has a negative impact on the world

Unaligned exercise

• Exercise bulimia
• Exercise that’s too vigorous
• Exercise that exhausts you
• Not enough exercise
• Exercise that doesn’t challenge you
• Boring exercise

Spiritual dissatisfaction

• Not enough mindfulness
• Forced religion
• No connection to a higher power
• Feeling of isolation
• Spiritual judgment

I hope that you have found some of this information useful and that you can now welcome a little more life-giving energy into your days!

Louise Murray is a Health & Mindfulness Coach with the qualification from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and a mindfulness coach. She looks at nourishing people ON and OFF the plate by coaching them around 12 different aspects of one’s life. Through her work Louise discovered that its busy working women, who often put their own needs last after family and career, benefit from her support the most. She helps them fill their lifestyles with healthy balanced choices and live truly well, being the best version of themselves. http://www.livewellwithlou.com/

@live_well_with_lou