Exhaustion, Sleep, and More Exhaustion

Exhaustion. Just about everyone I’ve spoken to in the last couple of weeks has reported an unusual amount of exhaustion. I myself can barely drag myself from my bed to my chair most days.

For some, of course, actual illness may be responsible. And, if so, then it’s important to check it out. I also imagine astrologers could tell us about something in the skies that might explain it. And perhaps just plain aging in some cases may have something to do with it.

But I’m not convinced that this ongoing and debilitating exhaustion—and often a need to sleep more than usual—that many are experiencing can just be explained away by the usual reasons. Many of us have no other flu-like symptoms, nor is there anything unusual going on in our lives that might cause exhaustion.

Ascension Can be Exhausting

My sense is that it must have something to do with Ascension and how our bodies are responding to the energies currently streaming into the earth. So many of those who describe their exhaustion to me seem to be moving through some very deep, and often unconscious, issues in their lives. Some of the issues have been central throughout their lives and may also be residue from previous lifetimes.

And—what’s interesting is that many of these people also seem to be on the verge of opening into something new in their lives, and perhaps a major “clean-out” requiring a huge amount of bodily shifting is necessary for this to happen.

If you have been exhausted for seemingly no reason—and especially if the exhaustion seems to come and go—this may be so for you, as well.

Time to Slow Down

So what is our exhaustion telling us? One thing to notice is that many of us are simply having to slow down—and in some cases, actually stop, all our doing. It forces us to arrange our lives so that we can simply make it through a day without a lot of activity or physical stress. Something is telling us to slow down.

Exhaustion also compels us to pay attention to more of the details of how we live and to focus more closely on our body’s needs. Rather than paying so much attention to what’s going on “out there”, we tend to keep our attention more on what’s happening within ourselves in a very immediate way.

Fortunately, this isn’t all bad! In fact, it can be a much needed shift of focus for some of us. Perhaps we have been too focused on all our activities, all that we feel we need to get done. Maybe we’ve been pushing ourselves and have been losing touch with our bodies. Perhaps we’ve just been doing too much, too fast, and haven’t taken time to integrate all the inner changes we’ve been experiencing.

It could be that we’re simply being encouraged to experience more BEing and less doing. Instead of trying to get in another hour of work or socializing, perhaps we could sit somewhere out in nature and become one with the trees, the wild flowers, the sky and the breeze. Just slow everything down and truly be present in the moment.

One thing I find really fascinating is that, even on days when there are a number of things I really do have to accomplish, I find I can complete everything I have planned to do with relative ease, even while moving very slowly. It’s simply a matter of staying totally present in the moment and focusing on what I’m currently engaged with. As soon as I start leaning forward into the next activity or into thinking about all I need to accomplish, it becomes overwhelming. I just want to close my eyes and fall asleep.

But being present with myself in a gentle and compassionate way seems to actually give me energy. It also somehow seems to make time stretch. I am sometimes amazed at how slowly time passes and how much I can accomplish. This, I know, is the key to functioning in fourth-dimensional time. The sensation of time passing very quickly is something I only experience when I’m functioning from a limited third-dimensional consciousness.

Stilling the Critical Voice

Dealing with exhaustion can also be an opportunity to hear our typical inner voices telling us about ourselves. I’ve found almost across the board with those dealing with exhaustion that they’ve become aware of the critical voice inside their head commenting on their exhaustion, telling them that something must be “wrong” with them. It’s telling them they’ve done something wrong to cause the exhaustion and they need to “fix” it.

Speak about adding fuel to the exhaustion! Self-criticism alone can cause terrible exhaustion.

If you’re listening to your inner critic voice, it’s important to question what it’s telling you. You will likely find there are beliefs it speaks from that you may be taking as truths. Like “I shouldn’t just sit around and do nothing. I should be productive.  I’m an unworthy person if I don’t accomplish something today.”

Are these statements actually true? Do you know that productiveness is inherently better than just sitting around doing next to nothing? Or is this just a belief?

Or how about: “If I’m this exhausted, I need to figure out why. I need to see a doctor. I need to do something to fix it. There’s something wrong, if I feel exhausted. There’s something wrong with me”.

Is this true? Do you know this for sure? Or is this just an assumption you have, based on what you may have learned early on in life from your parents or the culture around you—or even from some third-dimensional spiritual teaching?

If you think about it, this exhaustion can even be seen as a good thing. It could actually be feedback from your body telling you something important about not just its physical health, which is important enough—but also something about what is necessary for you in your awakening process.

You can’t know until you question these beliefs. The important thing is to recognize the beliefs as beliefs—and then test them to see if there is any truth in them.

Exhaustion and Depression

Another pathway people often take when they’re feeling physically exhausted is to assume they’re feeling depressed. Exhaustion can feel like depression. And of course, depression may be part of it: if you don’t have the energy to do the things you usually enjoy doing, this may be depressing for you. But the actual exhaustion isn’t necessarily a depression.

If you try pushing yourself to accomplish all your usual activities while feeling exhausted—that can certainly bring about a feeling of depression. But if you can stop pushing yourself and take time to slowly consider what you absolutely have to do during a day—and then simply move slowly, staying present with yourself in the moment—believe it or not, this can actually become a pleasant experience.

You can find that you’re simply moving in slow motion. You’re conscious of every movement you’re making, and you’re staying present in an immediate way with yourself. You’re resting when you need to. And you’re experiencing a deep stillness in your mind. Life itself becomes a moving meditation.

In this slower mode, you can also begin to notice small details around you that you might normally miss—like the beauty of a tree outside the window, and the bird that just landed on a branch. You may become aware of a sense of the sweet tenderness that enters your heart as you witness this.

Our Bodies are Trying to Catch Up

The main thing those of us who are currently moving forward rapidly on the path of Ascension need to remember is that our physical bodies are very dense third-dimensional vehicles. Often they have to struggle to keep up with our quickly evolving consciousness.

If we could simply evolve without our physical bodies, it might be a lot easier. But this game of Ascension we’ve signed up for includes taking our bodies into the much more subtle energetic field of the Fifth Dimension.

Much has to shift in the denseness of our bodies. And when a lot of change and rewiring is taking place, our bodies very naturally get tired and demand that we give them the time and space to catch up with us.

It’s clear we need to be compassionate with our physical bodies, as they haltingly try to follow our consciousness on this unusual course of evolution. We need to take time to ground ourselves and allow for recalibration.

And if resting, sleeping, and doing nothing more than taking care of ourselves on the physical level is all we can manage in a day, so be it. What are our priorities, after all? Having a busy life with a lot of distractions—or our journey into our next step in evolution?