Embracing the Funk: How Slowing Down Can Reignite Your Spark

Have you ever had days or weeks where you’re just all in your feelings? You can’t find the motivation to complete your to-do list, and worse, to do the things you enjoy? Well, that has been my past few days. All I wanted to do was sleep and watch reruns of Grey’s Anatomy. I couldn’t even find the motivation to send emails or make a post. At first, I was hard on myself and thought I might have a problem, but once I allowed myself to just be, suddenly, I felt the spark ⚡️ to get up and get moving.

We don’t always realize it in the moment, but our bodies and minds have a way of telling us to slow down. This can be hard, especially if there are outside voices pushing you to accomplish things and inner voices telling you you’re being lazy. Plus, we know there are a million things on our list to get done.

I don’t believe it’s laziness. I believe it’s the forces telling us to stop and reflect, because maybe we’re going down the wrong path and need to pivot. This could be a sign in our personal or professional lives – maybe what used to bring you natural joy now feels forced. Or maybe that promotion you really thought you wanted turns out to not be what was hindering your engagement. Whatever it might be, the only way we get to the root cause is by pausing, reflecting, and taking a step back to see the full picture.

I came out of my funk feeling inspired to revamp the goals I set for myself. I restructured my calendar to accomplish my new priorities and add in things that I need right now in this period of my life. Self-care starts mentally – we must be in the right headspace to know what it is we truly need. If we’re not in the right mental space, then we can’t expect our bodies to get there physically. I mention this in the first step, Mind Over Matter, of my self-care framework. Before you jump into any goal you have set for yourself – in this case, we’re talking about self-care goals – you must be in the right mindset and have a clear understanding of what is stopping you from prioritizing it in your life.

By integrating awareness and reflection into daily routines, we can unlock a profound level of self-care, fostering deeper connections with ourselves and cultivating a life of intentional well-being.

So, don’t think of your periods of feeling unmotivated as laziness; instead, reflect on the cause. Don’t try to ignore it by piling more on your plate to complete, because that’s just a temporary fix, and this is about sustainable self-care.

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In the meantime, Live You. Love You.

Maria Lyvonne