Top 5 Ways to Double your Energy (Without Caffeine!)
It’s one of the most common complaints on the planet and it comes in many forms:
- “I just sat down, you get up.”
- “I’m too tired, too achey, too frazzled.”
- “Can’t a person have 5-minutes to just chill out?”
- “I’m burned out.”
- “I’m feeling a little… run-down, weak, lazy”
While there may be other contributing factors…
Lack of energy plays a pretty major role in all these excuses.
Over the last ten years, motivated largely by the ability to stay awake for insane hours and operate on hyper-speed, caffeine and sugar-packed energy drinks have become the go-to fix for gamers and students. But, what about non-gamer grown-ups?
How do you energy-up, without loading up on stimulants?
Here are five techniques and activities that are not only proven to add a lot of energy to your day, but also add to, rather than take away from your overall health:
- Breath of fire: At the heart of yoga lie a set of breathing techniques designed to have very specific and, often, immediate, energetic effects on the body. And, whether you believe in the existence of a subtle-energy in the body (called Prana) as yogis do, or you prefer to attribute the stimulating effect to activation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, these techniques work.
The Breath Of Fire is a yogic breathing technique designed to not only cleanse, but heat and energize your body. And, it at it’s core is a series of quick, panting-like exhales. For detailed instructions, click here now.
- Exercise. This sounds a bit counter-intuitive, but one of the best things you can do to feel more energetic when you’re low on energy is to get active. Exercise initiates physiological changes in your body that increase blood flow and energy substrates to both your brain and skeletal muscles, increasing your alertness and overall energy availability.
- Meditate. Two things that drain your energy lightning-fast are stress and anxiety. And, unfortunately, many of us work in settings that cultivate stress and anxiety on a chronic, daily basis. If you’re not ready to create larger-scale change in the circumstances that cultivate this stress, developing a daily meditation practice is an amazing antidote. It frees up a huge chunk of your mental energy and taps the relaxation-response, which rebalances both your nervous and endocrine systems. The net effect is both a deeper sense of calm and increased, enduring energy.
- Improve your sleep. This one is pretty intuitive. Much of the restorative work in your body happens when you sleep. This includes repairing damaged tissue and replenishing energy stores.
So, it stands to reason that, if you are chronically sleep-deprived, you end up less-restored, less-replenished and less energized. This is a massively oversimplified description of the physiological processes, but the reality is, we need only to look to or own experience to know the impact of a killer 20-minute power-nap on your energy. Or, if you’ve got the time, kick it up to complete a full sleep cycle (about 90-minutes).
Just be sure not to nap for too long or you’ll start to drop into the sleep cycles that, when you’re awoken, can leave you even more groggy, tired and irritable.
- Listen to high-energy music. Here’s a final one that, again, is backed by intuition. Not only does great music give you that near-magical second wind or extra kick when you are exercising, it also boosts your mood and energy during regular tasks. In fact, some research even revealed workers who listened to great classical music experienced increased productivity and creativity.
While the energetic benefits of meditation unfold over time, the other techniques yield a pretty immediate benefit, without having to suck down a barrel-full of stimulants that almost always lead to a inevitable rebound crash. So next time you’re feeling a bit low on energy, give one of our Top 5 a try and energy-up without the negative side-effects of a substance-driven boost.
Share your stimulant-free ways to boost-energy in the comments below…
WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY
Jonathan Fields
Jonathan Fields writes about lifestyles, entrepreneurship and careers at Jonathan Fields | Awake At The Wheel, leads entrepreneurship and career trainings nationally, oversees Manhattan marketing group Vibe Creative, runs top-rated yoga studio Sonic Yoga, and dances around his living-room with his wife and daughter daily…sometimes twice!
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Comments
NicKD says on January 18th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Drink plenty of water. It’s very easy to get mildly dehydrated which increases hunger and makes you feel more tired.
Tuplad says on January 18th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Now this is a high quality post, good job !
Mattster says on January 18th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I was about to suggest that!
On the same note, I find chugging back a large glass of water quickly can snap you out of a groggy state. I think the oxygen must get absorbed in to your system all at once (I’m by no means a scientist, simply a guess).
Hayden Tompkins says on January 18th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I’m a fan of taking a nap (like 20 minutes) to get a little more energy.
merlotmom says on January 18th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I’m new to your site. It’s great. Love the tips. Helps a stay at home/working mom keep her energy up the natural way.
Thanks.
Mark says on January 18th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
This is a poor post without any real advice. It’s a shame because i really need to increase my energy but there are some problems with the methords described.
1)Meditation is awesome in theory, but it will just relax you and make you sleepy (that’s if you don’ fall asleep) rather than give you energy. In fact yea, it is way to easy to fall asleep, meditation is pretty much what you do before you go to sleep anyway.
2) I’m sick to death of people mentioning these short power naps. They simply do not work. how do you time this? Usually you will get to sleep for only about 5 minutes if it all, which has no effect but to make you feel worse. It will just leave you feeling like you do in the morning for the next hour or longer, it gives you the just outta bed feeling and you have to spend ages waking up, rather than the energy boost people keep writing about.
Exercise? Well yes, but if you don’t do much it has effect for about 5 minutes, if you do quite a bit, it will wake you up but then it has the same effect as caffeine (when it wears off you feel worse than ever). These breathing techniques, sounds intreasting, I will try but I have difficultly breathing through my nose.
nXqd says on January 18th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
With me:
1- Exercise
2- Taking nap
3- Deep breath ( I didn’t know about Breath of Fire up to now :p )
Just do it, You’ll get a great day of energy
nXqd
shelly says on January 18th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Green Smoothies.
About a month ago I started drinking green smoothies for breakfast. I get a real buzz from them.
Here is how: A handful of dark leafy greens (chard, kale, beet greens), orange juice and a banana. Blend well.
Green smoothies taste much better than they sound-I promise.
James says on January 19th, 2008 at 10:37 am
This is very useful. My energy levels (and in turn my motivation and overall happiness levels) always fluctuate which effects my overall productivity and well-being. I’ve been looking at ways of keeping things more level (currently my best tip would be to just make sure you get plenty of sleep).
Brandon says on January 19th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
TO: Mark
If you are falling asleep during meditation, or are using it to fall asleep, you are doing it wrong.
It is best not to be lying down while meditating for this reason. Often the biggest drain on one’s energy is stress. Second is usually lack of sleep and third is typically true muscle fatigue.
Meditation will help with both stress and muscle fatigue when executed properly. A simple quiet, mental evaluation of your body’s current state can be extremely beneficial.
Understanding WHERE your pain is, helps to alleviate it. For example: “the bottom right of my left shoulder blade is tighter than normal” makes curing it far easier than the generalized complain of “my back hurts.”
In terms of energy, using the same mental evaluation or checklist, one can determine what is causing the energy drain. Is it too much work piled up? Stress at home? Frustrations with parents, spouse, or children? Poor eating habits? Or one of the many other situations unique to one’s situation causing such a drain.
Once, through proper meditation, the root cause is determined, you can sit at peace for a short time and not worry about the cause. Clear it from your mind and body, while you prepare and focus for what it is you plan to do right now.
If you are getting ready to tackle a project for work, you can perform better, with more focus and energy, if you are not contemplating how you will help your son bring his D- up to a C before the semester ends.
As for exercise, I’m about to walk up to the bar for a friend’s birthday party. It’s bitter cold outside but I know when I get there I will be in good spirits from the walk, which is well worth it.
Mark and others, I truly hope that before you discount a method that works for thousands or millions of people, that you seek a teacher rather than guess at how to perform it.
Ah Sen says on January 20th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Deep breathing for 5 to 10 times every morning, afternoon and night will level up the energy within body. It will get rid of the bad qi in your body as well.
Great Post Life hack
Jauhari says on January 21st, 2008 at 1:06 am
Power Nap is cool and really usable tips. I use it
Rob VH says on January 21st, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I have yet to find a good mid-day, in-the-office meditation solution. Some deep breaths and silent prayer does the trick though. I can even do that when I’m driving.
Hydration and proper sleep are two of the most important factors. Sleep affects every part of our lives and health. There’s no substitute for quality sleep.
I’m a distributor of cutting-edge Wellness Home solutions for the home (and office). These include products for quality rest, water, air, exercise, etc. I recently upgraded my own bed to the very latest technology and my energy levels and alertness have improved noticeably. I drift off nicely and I’m neither groggy nor stiff when I wake up.
Another solution I swear by ever since it banished my “mid-afternoon blahs” several years ago is a properly designed pair of magnetic insoles to stimulate the massive number of nerve endings and pressure points on the soles of our feet. These can be bought for as little as $60. Some of the best money I’ve ever spent.
I wrote a couple of articles about sleep and magnetics research on my website if you want to learn more.
Keep Well,
Rob VH
Wellness Home Consultant
Calgary, Alberta
Atul says on February 13th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Deep Breathing, in fact will kill 90% of your other diseases as well!
Deep Breathing, Exercising and Sound Sleep (by which I *don’t* mean the 10 hrs lazy-sleep!) and NOT skipping breakfasts and lunch is _the_ key to staying energetic. And I can say this from my first hand experience.
Thanks for putting this in a nice little concise and presentable post!
ashely says on March 7th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
ty alot im going to try some of the things posted here and in the comments! Im a highschool student and im busy most of the time getting ready for the SAT, practicing for orchestra,studying,or just hanging out w/ friends! =)
ashely says on March 7th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
hey wait i have a question, is that y we yawn??
personal trainer says on June 26th, 2008 at 1:01 am
Brilliant! Classical music! What a great idea, my old chemistry teacher used to use it to help us think but what it does is infuse you with mental energy which can also be channeled as physical energy.
sciencemax says on July 19th, 2008 at 6:05 am
This is a fantastic article. it takes your mind into different dimension you cant think of. Thank you very much. i really enjoyed it.
All 4 Natural Health says on July 30th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Anyone tried rebounding on a mini-trampoline? A couple of minutes will do. It’s fun and seems to get things moving within me quite a bit.