Energy & Fatigue: when exhaustion begins on the inside

Morning sun dissolves the mist over a green valley

Short answer: For Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, energy and fatigue are closely tied to your inner life. It's not only action that costs you strength — brooding, resentment and a restless mind drain you too, often more than the task itself. Fresh energy comes less from rest alone than from a calmer, more awake mind.

Where inner exhaustion comes from

There are many reasons for feeling tired, and not all of them are inner ones — if exhaustion sticks around for a long time, it's worth getting it checked by a doctor too. This page looks at a different, often overlooked source: inner, emotional exhaustion. You know the moment: one word, a small accusation, some little thing that annoyed you — and your head keeps circling around it for hours. Gurudev compares this to chewing gum: your jaw keeps working, but no nutrition ever comes of it.

In a small little mind, when mind is clocked with small little things here and there, small little objects, small little events and instances, small little words from people, small appreciations are blames or insults, your mind is cut up, goes on chewing it like chewing gum, eating chewing gum, it doesn't give any nutrition. Only the gums, your mouth gets tired, you get nothing by chewing gum.

From a talk on the Ashtavakra Gita — “Fountain of Joy”, 00:07:39

That's exactly how mentally chewing over small hurts wears you out — without anything to show for it in the end.

How much energy stirred-up thoughts cost you

Where you put your attention costs energy too. You know how it feels to catch yourself checking on someone who doesn't do you any good — a rival, a competitor, what they've just achieved. Gurudev describes just how much that can drain you.

So, if you take interest in the affairs of your enemies, right there your energy goes down. Hasn't this happened to you?

From a talk on the Narada Bhakti Sutras — “Love Alone is Supreme”, 00:35:04

For Gurudev, that's no coincidence: wherever your attention goes, your energy flows there too.

Where inner rush comes from — and why it wears you out

Some days feel like a rush from start to finish, even though there isn't really that much to do. Gurudev draws a line between this inner rush and real, energised action.

Gurudev: It is ridiculous to be in a rush to slow down. Just being aware of the rush itself will take care of it. Slowing down does not mean procrastination or lethargy, though it is easy to be at the extremes of either rushing or lethargy. The rush in you is due to feverishness, and feverishness arises out of lack, a need to achieve; whereas dynamism is an expression of fulfilment.

From the book “An Intimate Note to the Sincere Seeker” — knowledge sheet 352, “Wake Up & Slow Down” (7 April 2002, Gangtok, Sikkim, India)

It's the rush itself that wears you out — not the task. When you feel fulfilled inside, the very same amount of work can feel completely different.

What tells real inner energy apart from mere activity

Where does fresh inner energy come from when you feel empty? Gurudev points to three states that help decide whether you end up exhausted or fresh: what's driving your desire, what's driving your action — and what's driving your awareness.

When desire dominates, you live in an imaginary world, and stress and sorrow result. When action dominates, unawareness, restlessness and fatigue follow. When the awareness is dominant, then happiness dawns.

From the book “An Intimate Note to the Sincere Seeker” — knowledge sheet 198, “Attaining Self-Knowledge” (25 March 1999, Rishikesh, India)

It's not doing itself that tires you out, it's doing without awareness. For Gurudev, bringing more awareness into everyday life is a more direct path to fresh energy than rest alone.

What you can do

Notice what you're still turning over inside. Small hurts or words you keep replaying in your mind often cost more energy than the situation itself ever did.
Consciously redirect your attention. What you let yourself dwell on — including other people's business — has a real say in how much energy you have left.
Tell rush apart from real drive. Ask yourself whether a task is pushing you from a sense of inner lack, or carrying you from a feeling of fulfilment.
Bring more awareness into what you're already doing. Doing something consciously and attentively often tires you out less than doing the same thing on autopilot.
Take lasting exhaustion seriously. If tiredness sticks around for a long time, it's worth getting it checked by a doctor as well — this page doesn't replace that.

Questions on this topic

Sources

The quotes on this page come from:

Ashtavakra Gita — “Fountain of Joy” (AG 06), 00:07:39–00:08:24
Narada Bhakti Sutras — “Love Alone is Supreme” (BS 13), 00:35:04–00:36:41
An Intimate Note to the Sincere Seeker — “Wake Up & Slow Down” (knowledge sheet 352, 7 April 2002, Gangtok, Sikkim, India)
An Intimate Note to the Sincere Seeker — “Attaining Self-Knowledge” (knowledge sheet 198, 25 March 1999, Rishikesh, India)