How to deal with exhaustion?

Question

So, I meditate every for more than half an hour during the evenings and also five minutes session every one or two hours during my work so I keep myself calm all the time(not every day but I am trying to do in these lockdown days) but what I feel is I easily get exhausted from my work which involves only heavy mental activities.

But otherwise if I let myself refresh doing things which excites us like joking with my friends, watching fast beat songs, etc. I can continue my work feeling energetic. But the downside of this is I easily get carried away with the stuffs I do for refreshing or even get stressed with my work.

How to balance this?(physically i am weak person due to medical problem)

Answer 1

I would advice improving the effectiveness of meditation by learning more, this so that you might more often attain a pleasant abiding when you meditate and otherwise.

One can start by adressing the exhaustion & lack of energy by giving a lot of attention to the theme of wakefulness, the benefits of wakefulness, to the fearfulness of laziness & lazy stretching and to the drawbacks of getting into a habit of sleeping too much.

This can be contemplated for some time and will be effective if established as dominant perspective and will thus remain for as long as maintained by sufficient giving of attention to the theme of wakefulness.

When one gets over exhaustion one might be restless and a restless mind can be calmed by ie breath meditation.

If you learn how to get over states like exhaustion, restlessness, regret, doubt, anger and sensual pleasure seeking, then you will be in charge of directing and the states you compose in meditation will more often be rewarding and pleasant.

The resolves and inclinations will change by themselves according to development.

Answer 2

In the distant past we all used our bodies more and health came more naturally. Today, we sit and type at computers. Continuing that sitting in meditation can therefore be unfruitful. Fortunately the Buddha anticipated different needs over time and suggested that walking meditation is beneficial:

AN5.29:1.1: “Mendicants, there are five benefits of walking meditation. What five? You get fit for traveling, fit for striving in meditation, and healthy. What’s eaten, drunk, chewed, and tasted is properly digested. And immersion gained while walking lasts long. These are the five benefits of walking meditation.”

I sit all day and compensate by walking meditation, sometimes listening to the suttas as I walk. I download sutta audio from voice.suttacentral.net for offline listening. My earbuds signal a desire for seclusion. Indeed, during the current COVID crisis, we can all be secluded while walking.

May your practice reenergize you!