“Wait… you’re a life coach? What do you actually do?” I get asked about these questions all the time, so here are my answers below.
Blog
How to Get Yourself Out of a Unmotivating Funk
Recently, I’ve been feeling pretty unmotivated at work. You know that feeling when your to-do list is piling up, but you have zero energy or desire to tackle it? Yeah, that’s where I’ve been. And let me tell you, it’s a pretty awful place to be.
I feel like people don’t share openly enough when they’re going through things like this. So, I want to open up about my recent low and share 3 things I’m doing right now that are helping me come out of this depressive, unmotivating rut:
1. GETTING MY ENERGY MOVING AGAIN
Newton’s First Law of Motion states: “An object in motion stays in motion, and an object at rest stays at rest”
You can apply this concept exactly to your situation right now.
This means getting your body moving again, instead of being still and sinking deeper and deeper into lethargy and inertia.
What is one simple, easy move you can do today in your life?
I also asked myself: “What would be a nice, easy task to do this week to reconnect with my business, without the pressure?”
The answer? Writing this blog post openly and honestly. So here I am! And writing this post is DEFINITELY helping me to slowly get back into the groove of my tasks again.
Sometimes, when you can’t get yourself into the right mindset just yet, actions & habits can help get the ball rolling.
2. LETTING MYSELF BE SEEN BY OTHERS AND ACKNOWLEDGING WHERE I AM
When I started writing this post and sharing about my feelings in my podcast, something amazing happened.
The shame and guilt started to lose their power over me, and I no longer felt held back by my situation.
This is a practice I turn to every time I’m in a low place (and seriously, it works every time!).
By acknowledging and validating my feelings, I’m signaling to the Universe that before my role as a life coach/business owner/content creator, I’m human first and foremost (with my natural seasons and cycles).
I’m not just some random faceless number plugged into the system, forced to keep up with capitalism.
3. PUTTING MYSELF INTO SPACES/COMMUNITIES THAT INSPIRE + NOURISH ME
For me, this looks like putting my ass back into the client seat again and getting coached by my amazing mentors. (About time, Shirley!)
It also means remembering (again) to redirect my focus back to service and helping people, instead of going down the rabbit hole of “I’m not good enough” and “nothing is working.”
I’m also adding more novelty and exciting activities to my life. By filling up my own cup first, I can let that energy overflow into my work and business – when I’m ready.
Here’s my mantra for this week: Gentle. Easy. Forward.
Thank you so much for reading this post as I slowly come back.
I really appreciate you, and if you’re going through something similar, know that you’re definitely not alone.
Remember, it’s okay to have ups and downs. We’re all human, after all.
The key is to be gentle with yourself and take small steps forward, one simple move at a time.
6 Steps to Process Emotions In Your Body
Often, we can get overwhelmed by our emotions. Or we don’t know how to navigate or work through intense feelings. Many of us are even afraid of going too deep into our feelings. Instead of being afraid of how we feel, we can actually experience and process through our emotions in a very straight-forward, practical way. Here are 6 steps that’ll actually help you manage and process emotions in the body.
6 Steps on How to Process Emotions in the Body
Step 1: Attention
Bring attention down into your body.
Emotions (aka e-motion) is energy in motion. Emotions exist as energy moving and occurring through the physical body. Whenever you have a thought/ or a situation happens around you, your brain sends a signal down the vagus nerve to your body.
And a lot of people don’t even know this. You feel your emotions in the body. If you’re in your head, that is actually you over thinking or consumed by thoughts in the head (which is not truly feeling emotions in the body)
This is why every time whenever you get triggered, always first direct your attention to your body. Because that’s where emotions occur.
Step 2: Notice
Now that you’re paying attention to your body, start to notice if there’s any sensations and visceral feelings occurring at one (or multiple areas in your body).
For example, it could be at your throat, chest, stomach, or anywhere else. Maybe your shoulders tense up, your stomach feels empty, or your fingers get cold.
You want to start noticing the physical sensations that’s happening to your body in the present moment.
Step 3: Allow
Next, you simply allow those sensations to be there.
Take some deep, slow breaths and breathe into the area(s) where you feel those vibrations/ movement of energy/ contractions in the body.
As you breathe into those sensations, you’re not trying to push those sensations away or make them disappear (that’s also not the point of processing these emotions)
Instead, you’re simply creating more space for those sensations to exist in your body. You’re just breathing into them and allowing them to be there more fully.
Step 4: Name
Next, what you can do is try to name out this physical feeling in your body.
Sometimes, simply by noticing these physical sensations and calling it out by its name will give you so much understanding and power over what it is you are actually feeling.
Emotions are usually just one-word answers like anger, sadness, joy, or frustration. You can also refer to “Wheel of Emotions” to pick out the right word that’d best suit what you’re feeling right now.
Step 5: Context
When it’s an emotion, it can feel very abstract and hard to grasp. In order to understand and actually be with all of how we feel in that moment… we need to provide more context.
Describe that sensation you feel at the specific part of your body. Is it heavy or light? Does it have a shape, texture, or temperature? Is it moving fast, and which direction is it moving towards? If it can look like something, what would it be?
By providing more details, you’ll better understand what’s going on inside you and be able to be with and fully feel the emotion’s presence in your body.
Step 6: Experience
Lastly, after giving full context of the emotion, we just want to fully feel.
Observe those feelings like a curious scientist, almost like a watcher of your thoughts – except now it’s for your feelings.. Keep watching it and being with those sensations, noticing if anything changes. Often, our emotions just want to be acknowledged and seen. By giving them space, you’ll eventually connect with them and understand where they want to go in your body.
Here’s a fun fact: Allowing an emotion to exist without resistance and actually processing it only takes as long as 90 seconds. What makes it linger longer is when we try to avoid or ignore it.
Final Thoughts
Processing your emotions is crucial because unresolved feelings can lead to chronic physical conditions over time. That persistent neck pain or back tension you’ve been experiencing might just be a result of unprocessed emotions that’s been hanging around for too long.
Remember, this is a practice. It might feel a bit awkward at first, especially if you’ve been disconnected from your body for a while. But with time, it can become more natural and familiar. You can even jump between steps once you’re more familiar with the process.
What’s Next
Ready to boost your personal growth, change your way of thinking, and get valuable insights into life’s journey? Listen to “Daring Living Podcast”, where I share tools and tips on how to live a daring and joyful life.
Tune in here.
So, there you have it—a simple guide to processing your emotions and taking charge of your emotional well-being. Give it a try and watch how it transforms your relationship with your feelings.