Life is FULL of highs and lows. Sometimes those lows can get the best of us leaving us feeling unmotivated, disconnected, and without a purpose. Here are three ways to help lift you out of your funk when times get tough.
When life is flowing, it feels amazing. Falling in love, achieving a meaningful goal, or finally landing that dream job, can really boost your mood and make you feel like you’re living out your best life. Unfortunately, there are also times when you may find yourself in a downright opposite ball of funk. When you can’t seem to pick yourself up off the couch because things aren’t going the way you want or need them to.
This turbulent range of highs and lows are such a normal part of our human experience, and realizing how to navigate through them can help us overcome some of life’s more unpleasant moments.
Understanding the Law of Cycles and Rhythms
Life is a series of cycles and rhythms. Despite what your Western-trained thinking conditions you to believe, there’s nothing linear about your experiences. Understanding the basic law of nature–the Law of Cycles and Rhythms–can shift your perspective and help you realize your funks are simply a cycle you’re currently enduring.
This understanding can be life-changing. It allows you to accept your present situation and start looking for tangible actions, practices, and support structures to help you during your times of funk.
After all, no one enjoys waking up everyday feeling as if they have no purpose, connection to Self, or energy to make changes even when they know it’s needed. It’s hard…I totally get it. Being in a funk can affect your health, relationships, career, and keep you from moving forward in your life. As these aspects of your life suffer, it can begin to snowball and you may feel yourself sinking deeper into a funk. The light at the end of the tunnel seems to get farther and farther away.
First and foremost, you need to know that there is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with you. Low points are normal. Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason as to why they happen. Even the most successful, motivated people go through periods of feeling lost, unmotivated, or disconnected. It happens to ALL of us at some point or another.
Just remember, like a cloudy day, this too shall pass. The clouds will part. The sun will return and once again shine it’s bright light upon us.
Having a strategy for pulling yourself out of a funk can help weather the storm of those difficult times. Look for ways to bring passion, motivation, and inspiration into your life. And really follow-through with it. Once you do, the sun will rise up to greet you in no time.
But how can you do this?
Start with a Self-Assessment
Sometimes a funk just develops for no apparent reason. Other times, the choices you make in life can contribute to your hard times. One way to determine if your actions are at least partially responsible for your funk is doing a self-assessment–taking stock of the current situation and how you’re caring for your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual self.
Here’s a simple self-assessment you can try right now:
Physical Self-Assessment
I think it’s important to start with the physical body. Much of the time, a personal funk can occur because you’re not taking proper care of your body. When physical needs aren’t being met, it can lead to a breakdown of the mind-body connection.
Take a couple minutes to ask yourself:
- Am I getting restful sleep each night?
- Am I sleeping too much?
- Am I drinking enough water?
- Am I eating clean?
- Am I exercising daily?
If we’re not addressing these basic areas of our lives, it’s going to have an effect on our energy level, mood, mental clarity, focus, and connection to Self, God, Spirit, or the Universe. Our body is the vehicle that propels us through this life. It needs a good bit of TLC to function properly. Take some time to consider what personal habits need to be modified so your physical body is nourished.
Mental/Emotional Self-Assessment
Once your physical body is cared for, take a look at your mental and emotional wellness. Your thoughts and feelings play a big role in how you feel each day. An awareness of your moods and mental chatter allows you to detach from any negativity dragging you down.
Start by asking yourself:
- Am I setting meaningful goals in my life?
- Am I doing things to stimulate my mind like education, conversations, reading, etc.?
- Am I in the right job and working towards things I am passionate about?
- Am I practicing Mental and Emotional Release® techniques to help me live from a place of emotional intelligence?
- Am I navigating my emotions enabling me to heal from past grievances?
Caring for your mental and emotional needs is just as important as caring for your physical body. If you feel this area of your life is being neglected, how can you direct your attention and intention on resolving these conflicts–past or present? Tending to your mental and emotional health allows you to sift through the negativity and conditioned thought patterns so you can connect with the core of your being. Thus, enabling you to fulfill your true purpose in this life.
Spiritual/Religious Self-Assessment
Are you making an effort to tend to your religious or spiritual beliefs? It may be more important than you think.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Am I spending regular time in meditation or prayer?
- Do I make an effort to count my blessings and show gratitude?
- Am I connected with my spiritual dharma–or purpose?
- Am I making choices that fulfill my purpose?
Consider this: Those who have a committed daily practice incorporating their religious or spiritual beliefs feel more connected with themselves at a higher level. They feel a sense of purpose in everything they do. Knowing that you are connected to something bigger can provide the strength and confidence to live more openly and love more fully.
After assessing your physical, mental/emotional, and religious/spiritual status, you may have a pretty good idea of some changes you can make to help get you out of your funk.
If you are still struggling for ideas, let me give you a couple quick suggestions.
3 Ways to Get Out of a Funk
Looking for some fun ways to recharge and become inspired? Try one (or all) of these three things the next time you’re feeling stuck:
Spend Time in Nature
Nature is truly a miracle drug. Connecting with nature can be a quick, effective way to pull you out of deep-seated inertia. After all, nature has so much to offer–feeling the wind and sun on your skin, breathing in the fresh air, hearing the calls of birds, watching the waves ebb and flow, and even smelling the richness of the earth. These experiences have a way of just dissolving your troubles.
Sometimes just getting ourselves out the door is the difficult part, but once we do, we never regret it. I know I ALWAYS feel better after I step outside, take it all in, and breathe it all away.
I often have my greatest moments of clarity and insights when I’m on the trails with my horse. It’s those moments where I’m really able to see life from a higher perspective.
Embrace the Music and Dance
Music can change the energy of a room. And, almost magically, it can boost your mood. Throughout history, humans have used music to celebrate, get moving, and lighten up.
Pull up your favorite playlist, crank the music loud, and let the music take over. Dance around the house like no one’s watching and belt out the lyrics like a rockstar. Get your energy pumped and moving to the music! It’s a great way to shift your body and mind into a different gear and get out of your funk.
Connect with Inspiring Friends
It’s been said that the five people you spend the most time with possess qualities, characteristics, and attributes you will adopt. Surround yourself with the ones who are positive, successful, and passionate about personal development. The conversations and accountability can and will inspire you.
Reach out to your people. Surround yourself with the ones who make you feel better about yourself. Spend some time with them in person. Have fun together and maybe even take a walk in nature or share a meal together. These powerful interactions can lead to almost spontaneous insights to help you feel better.
Remember: We ALL go through phases. There are good times and bad ones. It’s also perfectly fine to spend some time just “being” in the energy of your mood–a chance to become an observer of how you’re experiencing your current situation. In fact, this is a healthy way to integrate your emotions with positive actions.
Keep in mind that, even when you’re feeling really down and defeated, that this too shall pass and you’re going to get through it. Remember, that you hold the power to make choices at any given moment to get out of that funky place. It’s definitely not always easy to peel yourself up off the floor, dust yourself off and keep going. But you CAN do it! It will not only be the BEST thing you can do for yourself at that very moment, but it will ultimately start a chain reaction of positive momentum that will guide you to your next right thing. This is your moment. Your LIFE! So give yourself the BEST possible one.
An International Bestselling Author, Lifestyle and Leadership Coach and speaker, Tris Thorp is one of today’s leading experts in the field of personal growth and leadership development, specializing in emotional healing, women’s empowerment and shadow work.
Having spent a decade traveling the world, being trained by and sharing the stage with Dr. Deepak Chopra in the field of social emotional learning, consciousness and mindfulness-based practices, Tris has a real gift for integrating the ancient spiritual teachings with modern-day science and mindfulness to help people all over the world let go of their past and create an empowered new future.
During her tenure at the Chopra Center, Tris apprenticed under the Chopra Center’s co-founder Dr. David Simon, co-facilitating the Healing the Heart and Emotional Freedom workshops alongside him. Prior to his passing in 2012, Dr. Simon appointed Tris as the person to carry on his teachings in the field of emotional healing. In addition, Tris was fortunate to be mentored by the late Debbie Ford prior to her passing in 2013, which is where she continued her extensive studies of the unconscious mind and concepts of the persona and shadow. After the loss of her two mentors, Tris went on to become certified through the Ford Institute as a coach specializing in Shadow Work and reconciling mental and emotional issues stemming from past experiences. She continues to share the gifts of emotional healing and facilitating this work in the footsteps of her former mentors.
Tris is the International bestselling author of Healing Your Heart: Rewrite Your Story with Awareness and Intention. A guide book to understanding your emotions, how we create our story and workable tools and techniques to heal from the past, Healing Your Heart stewards you through the process of releasing mental and emotional baggage, forgiving yourself and others, setting and enforcing boundaries and consciously communicating your needs in a loving and effective way so you can be who you’re meant to be, do the things you want to do and have all that you deserve to have in this life.
Tris is also the co-author of bestseller Mental and Emotional Release® with Dr. Matt James. Written in a language both professionals and non-professionals can understand, Mental and Emotional Release® offers real life case studies, an overview of MER and its foundation, step by step scripts to follow, and clinical efficacy studies comparing MER to other therapies.
Clearly in her dharma, Tris’s passion and dedication to gently guide people on their inward journey through personal growth is evident in her work as a Lifestyle and Leadership coach, Trainer of Mental and Emotional Release and workshop facilitator. She teaches various courses on leadership development, personal empowerment, social emotional learning and higher states of consciousness – both in online courses and her certification programs, live workshops, VIP retreats and 1-1 clients.
Tris Thorp is Board Certified by the Association of Integrative Psychology as a Trainer of Mental and Emotional Release ®, Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming, Hypnosis, and Mental and Emotional Release ®, a Certified Reiki Master, and an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance.
Tris is devoted to inspiring and empowering others to cultivate and maintain mindfulness-based lifestyle practices that lead to greater clarity, purpose and fulfillment. Through one-on-one coaching, online programs and live events, Tris specializes in helping people to fully release negative emotions, limiting beliefs and unconscious patterns, enabling them to make quantum leaps into the life they are truly meant to be living.
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