When you have anxiety, you can use mindfulness to seek relief. It may seem that you have too much energy rather than too little and it may feel like your brain is in overdrive. This is because of the amount of adrenaline your body is releasing. However, anxiety causes low energy as well and this is because you use up all of your energy with anxiety and your body becomes more tired, much faster.
If you want a great mental energy boost, try being mindful throughout the day. Remember that mindfulness is present moment awareness and when you think about the present moment, you are not wasting energy worrying about the future or dwelling on the past. In doing this, you are giving your brain a break from over-thinking.
Your brain uses more energy than any other organ in your body, about twenty per cent of all the body’s energy combined. When you focus on the present moment, you are less likely to get caught up in the cycle of anxious or stressful thoughts, therefore giving one of the most vital organs in your body a well-deserved break. It may also be useful to monitor what happens with your energy levels throughout the day and identify activities that drain or boost your energy.
For example, watching TV excessively may be a drain for you and taking the dog for walk may be a boost. Once you have identified mood boosters and mood drainers, you can start to take steps to incorporate more of the mood boosters into your routine and get rid of some of the mood drainers.
Try also to manage your negative thinking. If you believe every negative thought and emotion that you have about yourself, you are likely to feel a lack of energy very quickly. Work on seeing your thoughts as just thoughts and remember that they are not necessarily true. Whenever you become aware of a negative thought, just take a step back and gently refocus on whatever you were doing with mindful attention. As stress usually goes hand in hand with anxiety and is also a big drain on your energy, make sure you also adopt formal mindfulness meditations such as the body scan meditation. This will reduce your stress levels and allow you to have more general energy throughout the day.
All mindfulness meditations are helpful with boosting energy because they can help reduce anxious and worrying thoughts, help you accept the experience that you are having rather than engage in the fight or flight mode and, as a helpful side effect, ease muscular tension.
