A Look at Chronic Fatigue

Just Breathe

Chronic Fatigue or Chronic Stress?

Medical texts have described Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as being marked by over 50% decrease in activity and prolonged fatigue over 6 months for which no identifiable cause can be found.
There is a presence of depression and an overall shut down in accessing the body’s energy resources. It is as though there is no energy to recuperate and no energy to even do that which gives the body energy like feed oneself, sleep and walk.

I also usually find adrenal exhaustion and overload where clients will show an addiction to sugar and be deficient in vitamin B. Some even needing vit B injections. Vit B is important in balancing stress levels in the body, indicating that even though a CFS patient is highly lethargic they actually have had over active adrenals to the point of burnout for a very long period of time. When we do not address stress, suppress it or do not create time for ourselves to rest and allow stress to naturally surface and dissolve, the stress is driven inward. In a natural effort to protect healthy cells and healthy inner balance, our body creates barriers to stresses, thus creating separation and shutdown.

There has also been a strong correlation between depression and CFS. The deficiency of vit B feeds a depressed state of mind. When we are depressed we cannot express. Literally. One of the behavioural symptoms of this pattern is that the client usually thinks too much about passions in their life without actually acting on them. They do not follow their heart and are constantly settling for what they think they should do or are in dreamland very far from their actual reality. When they acknowledge their reality, they cannot help but feel depressed, thus reinforcing the debilitating pattern of depression, stress and unhappiness.

In my experience as a practitioner, CFS is a disease of dispassion. It is one perspective, and not every sufferer will relate to this for we all have unique journeys that lead to illness. It is however quite a significant pattern in all of the CFS clients that have come to me.
They are usually very passionate people who for some reason have not acted on a deep desire for what they want to do in life.

Due to the overwhelming and prominent symptoms of depression, doctors usually treat the depression with anti-depressants. The depression is a side effect and treating that with medication can take the edge off the depressed moods. It will not bring a person to a balanced state of mind if they do not take the initiative to choose to act on what they want to do in life.

A beneficial task in such cases is to make a plan of action involving incorporating passion in their life. It is essential that an ACTION plan is executed. The emphasis on action because that is what they haven’t done for a very long time. Too much thinking and not enough application. It seems ironic because with CFS one cannot imagine mustering up enough energy to even eat or walk sometimes, so doing something with passion is a challenge. Think about what brings joy, or remember when you experienced joy and make a commitment to yourself that you choose to have more of it in your life. Breathe deeply in the lower belly and be prepared to see things change. Plan for success and make room for having more energy in your life. People will also respond around you as you are no longer the victim you once were.

A person with CFS has to truly be ready to want to look after themselves again. Such a debilitating disease can rob one of motivation and contribute to a learned helplessness. Slowly bridging the relationship of self responsibility is essential. As one starts to feel the joy in being in control of their energy again and applying it to a passion in their life, they may create a new addiction to life. Self responsibility grows very quickly from that point.

The chronic stress associated with CFS can be caused by being in a constant stressful environment (extrinsic) or by experiencing stress responses in the mind (intrinsic). Because stress is the main contributor to this illness, one intrinsic level of control we can have is to recognise how much stress we put on ourselves. Consider the expectations we put on ourselves. Being a perfectionist or putting pressure on ourselves to do the right thing by other people all the time, uses up a lot of energy also.

The above applies to advanced cases of CFS. CFS is an energy disorder and although many people are lucky enough not to experience such drastic extremes of low energy, we all have battles with our energy resources from time to time. It is always beneficial to remind oneself to breathe, release any suppressed layers of stress and choose joy.

JUST BREATHE

There is an underestimated resource within all of us. It is the breath. It is so easily overlooked because it is what we all do, all the time. We take it for granted. If we start to appreciate and breathe consciously, we will relax more and let life flow. It is when we relax that true healing takes place. The importance of Breathing has been taught through many practises and religions. We are often reminded to BREATHE when under stress, and although this simple reminder is available, most of us forget its importance and significance in healing our own illness and in creating what we want in life.

If we look at the simplicity of the breath, it is fair to say that it gives us life or at least supports life, for without it we would die. Looking at life and nature there is a natural ebb and flow, birth and death, similar to the in breath and the out breath. The sun comes up, then sets before the new day begins. In between all this there are events and processes in life that can potentially disturb the natural feeling of flow and you experience blocks in health, career, and relationships.

All the while nothing really changes. The sun still comes up and goes down. A new day waits. And so it is.
Why then do we allow blocks and barriers and create resistance in feeling the natural order and joy in the process of life?
We are often our own worst enemy and forget that within lies a very simple and efficient tool. It is our breath.
Our breath can teach us much about life and our own internal processes. It teaches us and brings to awareness where we hold tensions or stresses. Just by observing the breath like the Buddhists have done for thousands of years, we are training the mind to take a back seat and not react, judge or place a perception on the pain. When the mind is out of the way, healing happens at a remarkably fast rate.

There is no intention in removing the mind because this is impossible. The mind is so important and there to work for us, even though it often seems to work against us. By breathing consciously, attention is directed to a natural flow in life instead of getting sidetracked with the thousands of potentials (positive or negative) created in the mind. We are by nature creative being who express through action. This is something the mind cannot do. The breath however can. The breath is a being, moving force that never stops. It also creates an opportunity for the mind to rest and not worry so much. The worry of tomorrow takes the energy away from today.
Our natural state of being is constantly healing. Our mind’s perspective sometimes misperceives and creates beliefs contrary to this. Therefore the perspective we take can reduce our pain. By relaxing the mind and body with calm breathing we can experience relief from physical and mental stress. It is our mind that perceives fear and because the emotional centres of the brain are very close to the part of the brain that receives actual physical pain signals, we often experience discomfort and even fear depending on the context in which the pain was felt. Pain cannot be separated as it is always experienced in an emotional framework. All we need to do is understand this.
In the example of a man being shot and a doctor saving his life, the doctor or the patient do not indulge in intellectual discussions on why he may have been shot before the doctor removes the bullet.

In simplicity, it doesn’t matter where pain comes from. We either feel it or we don’t. We are either content or discontent. We are either in peace or agitated. It doesn’t matter why, or where it came from. We can simply breathe and choose to be well, in peace, in joy and calm.

Take some time in your day to connect with the breath and see what it does for you. I suggest making it deep in your belly so you can feel your skin and muscles expand. Play with your imagination and while you breath, invite something you desire in your life. Feel it, see it, hear it, sense it and smell it. Don’t worry about how it will come. Let it go and keep breathing.