Finding Balance through Energy Cycling
If you’ve been living with chronic illness, you may have spent years trying to manage your energy — carefully pacing, counting spoons, and rationing out activity to avoid the dreaded crash. But what if there’s another way?
Energy Cycling isn’t about restriction or control — it’s about flow. Instead of constantly measuring what you can and can’t do, this approach invites you to create a rhythm of movement and restoration, allowing your mindbody system to regain trust in energy use. Healing isn’t about holding back; it’s about finding a way to engage with life again, without fear of collapse.
Shifting from Energy Management to Energy Flow
For years, many people with chronic illness have been told that the only way to avoid crashing is to measure and limit activity. But this can create a fear-based cycle, reinforcing the idea that energy is fragile rather than something that can be gently rebuilt. Instead of avoiding activity out of caution, energy cycling encourages a flow between movement and restoration — helping your system feel safe enough to use energy without depleting it. In a way we could call this a Mindset shift, but this can begin with micro-changes to your behaviour.
By shifting from rigid control to intuitive rhythm, you can start to trust your capacity again. This doesn’t mean pushing through or ignoring limits — it means learning to engage with the attitude to energy differently so your mindbody system no longer stays in a state of fear. Over time, this shift allows you to rebuild strength and resilience, breaking free from the push-crash cycle and moving towards a life that feels more open, steady, and sustainable.
A simple Beginning Exercise
💡 One thing you can do today
See if you can begin alternating mental effort with sensory reset — such as listening to music, feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin, or lying down on grass for a few moments. Or if you are bedbound, try looking at a plant or flower in your room or out the window at the sky.
This simple exercise is a way to start creating change. It may be a small step, but every step matters. Energy isn’t just about fatigue levels — it’s about flow, awareness, and connection.
As you create changes, it will shift your mindset and you will begin to experience energy differently. It will become easier to adapt your daily rhythm, learning to work with your energy and cycle it rather than feeling trapped by a lack of it.
Honouring Your Energy Cycle
🌿 There is no need to push or force change. Healing unfolds as you build your own recovery rhythm, just as energy ebbs and flows. The key is learning to work with your energy.
💗 You are not broken. Your body is not failing you. It can begin learning to trust again.
🌿 If reading longer articles is within your window of tolerance, you might enjoy exploring this concept in more depth:
👉 Read the full article on Energy Cycling here → 🔗 Longer Research Article on Energy Cycling
🌿 Explore more self-regulation tools in the free resources section of this website.
📩 If you’d like support in reshaping your relationship with energy, consider booking a supportive coaching session to explore this process in a deeper way.
With warmth and care,
Amari
