Energy Conservation and Replenishment

Taking a Moment: Mindful ways to cope during the COVID-19 pandemic

Aron Steward, PhD

Today, I'm going to talk to you about energy conservation and energy replenishment. You have to hold some of your energy, and you have to refill some of your energy in order to perform for the long haul. This surge might be longer, and it might be shorter. We don't know.

So I wanted to give you a tip to make sure that you know how to check in with yourself and figure out how to replenish yourself and conserve. Society tells us that the best way to boost our energy is to exercise, eat right and sleep right. That's not always the case.

The tip of the day is that depending on what situation you're in, depending on how you feel, sometimes not exercising is the right answer. You have to check in with yourself and figure out what you really need in order to conserve and replenish.

I want you to think about both sides of the continuum of replenishing energy. Sometimes, it's movement. Sometimes it's non-movement. Sometimes it's action, sometimes it's inaction. And, we have to be flexible and adaptive and figure out what we need in the moment in order to refill our cup.

Think about what you really need in the moment and do that in order to refill your energy. Exercise, not exercise, eat right, not eat right, take action, don't take action, all of those can be helpful at some times when we're trying to perform for a very long period of time at a high level.

Thanks for letting me be with you. That's your moment today. I appreciate all the work you're doing. Keep going. We're going to get through this and see if you can apply some tips and do even better. Talk to you soon.

Robert Althoff, MD and Aron Steward , PhD from CVPH Psychiatry offer tips and information about coping during this time of crisis.