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Addressing Physical Fatigue Experienced by the Spiritual Seeker · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  Many paths of spiritual practice disregard the needs of the
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  physical body as being irrelevant, distracting, or
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  obstructive to their spiritual development.
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  This has not always been the case.
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  The ancient Greek culture focused on a sound mind and a
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  sound body as an ideal. The ancient Vedic tradition
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  recognized the need for a strong body, strong vital force, and
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  strong mind as a foundation for spiritual fulfillment.
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  For the Integral Yoga, which focuses on the transformation of
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  human life, not the aesthetic ideal which leads away from
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  life. The body, life, energy, and mind
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  need to be optimized and strengthened both to hold and to
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  deploy the force that descends from above into the being.
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  Whenever and in whatever manner the body receives nourishment of
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  any sort, it needs to utilize energy to assimilate it.
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  We can see this when we eat food that afterwards the body may
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  seem lethargic. We may want to nap or take some
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  form of rest to allow the digestive processes of the body
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  to accomplish their task. A similar process takes place
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  when the higher spiritual force descends and begins to put its
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  pressure on the body. To the extent the body is unable
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  to fully hold and sustain the force, particularly in the early
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  stages, it may experience a deep sense of tiredness that
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  indicates it is overwhelmed momentarily trying to assimilate
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  what is being presented to us. Srioro Bindo describes various
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  potential causes for the sense of physical fatigue that can
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  arise for the spiritual seeker. Srioro Bindo writes quote
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  physical fatigue like this in the course of the Sadhna may
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  come from various reasons. One, it may come from receiving
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  more than the physical is ready to assimilate.
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  The cure is then quiet rest in conscious immobility, receiving
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  the forces, but not for any other purpose than the
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  recuperation of the strength and energy.
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  Two. It may be due to the passivity
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  taking the form of inertia. Inertia brings the consciousness
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  down towards the ordinary physical level, which is soon
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  fatigued and prone to Thomas. The cure here is to get back
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  into the true consciousness and to rest there not in inertia. 3
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  It may be due to mere over strain of the body not giving it
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  enough sleep or repose. The body is the support of the
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  yoga, but its energy is not inexhaustible and needs to be
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  husbanded. It can be kept up by drawing on
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  the universal vital force, but that reinforcement too has its
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  limits. A certain moderation is needed
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  even in the eagerness for progress.
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  Moderation, not indifference or indolence.
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  End Quote. Reference Sri Aurobindo Basis of
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  Yoga Chapter 5 Physical Consciousness, Subconscious
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  Sleep and Dream illness Pages one O 3 to one O 4.