How to Move Through a Funk Without Pushing Yourself to ‘Feel Better’

This week, I’m deviating slightly from our usual conversations about workplace culture and leadership to talk about something more universal and, I think, more timely.

There’s a lot happening in the world right now. Collectively and individually, many of us are carrying more than we realize. And maybe you’ve felt it too, a heaviness you can’t explain. Like you’re not quite yourself, but can’t pinpoint why. Not every day, but some days. It might last a few hours, or linger for a few days. You might describe it as a bad mood, or feeling flat, or just off.

You’re not alone.

Whether it’s triggered by something personal or professional, or nothing specific at all, these moments visit all of us from time to time. A funk. That quiet sense of misalignment that you can’t quite reason your way out of.

And before we try to shift it, I want to first normalize it.

These moments are part of being human. Especially when we’re living through a time of heightened uncertainty, collective grief, global unrest, and an endless stream of headlines that hit like emotional shrapnel. Even if nothing major is happening in your life, your system might still be on overload.

In the world of mental health, we talk about cumulative stress or micro-trauma, small, consistent exposures that build up over time. They wear on your resilience and can quietly nudge you into disconnection, anxiety, or burnout.

So if you’ve found yourself in a funk lately, for no clear reason, just not quite yourself, I want to offer a few thoughts and tools that might support you.

Not to “fix” anything. But to walk with it a little differently.

The Urge to Distract (And Why It’s So Common)

When we don’t feel great, most of us want out. It’s only natural. We reach for something to soothe the discomfort, maybe it's scrolling, numbing out with a show, jumping into work, or reaching for a glass of wine.

Have you noticed what you tend to reach for when you're in a funk?

In cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), this is known as avoidance coping. And it’s not inherently bad, as it often provides short-term relief. But when distraction becomes a default pattern, we don’t give our emotions space to process. We press pause on them. And over time, those pauses start to stack.

As Carl Jung reflected, “What you resist, persists.”

We don’t clear out difficult emotions by ignoring them. We carry them. We store them. And eventually, they show up again, sometimes louder.

I’ve noticed for myself that the moments I try to power through or over-function my way out of a funk are usually the moments I most need to pause. Maybe you’ve been there too, where the more you push, the heavier it all feels.

Sometimes, distraction is a necessary break. But if you’re finding that it’s becoming the main coping tool in your toolbox, here are a few others you might explore.

Ways to Move Through a Funk (Without Forcing a Fix)

Let’s start here: your emotions are not problems to solve. They’re messengers. And they usually want acknowledgement more than answers.

In affective neuroscience, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor explains that when an emotion is felt fully, without feeding it with story or resistance, it often moves through the body in about 90 seconds. But when we suppress it or try to outthink it, it tends to linger.

So what actually helps a funk move?

Sometimes, it’s not about doing more. It’s about softening into what’s already there.

Here are a few gentle ways to begin:

1.) Notice what’s present and name it. You don’t need to analyze or explain it, just acknowledge it. “I feel heavy.” “I feel disconnected.” “Something’s bothering me, but I’m not sure what.” In therapy, this is called emotional labeling, and it can create a subtle but powerful shift. Research shows that simply naming a feeling reduces reactivity in the brain and creates space between you and the emotion. It becomes something you're experiencing, not something you are.

You might journal, speak aloud, or talk it through with someone you trust. The goal isn’t to solve it. It’s just to let it be seen, and often, that alone begins to soften its grip.

2.) Get curious, not critical. If the funk is tied to something specific, try asking:

• What might this feeling be trying to show me?
• Is there a need I’ve been ignoring?
• Have I been crossing my own boundaries? Or letting someone else cross them?
• Is there a place in my life where I’ve gone quiet when I actually need to speak up?

This isn’t about blaming yourself. It’s about offering yourself a gentle spotlight.

3.) Move it through your body. In somatic psychology, we know that emotions live in the body. That’s why sometimes, you can’t think your way through a feeling, but you can move through it.

Try walking, stretching, dancing, swimming, gardening. Anything that gets you moving without needing to perform or produce.

When we move, we regulate. We metabolize stress hormones. We loosen what’s stuck.

4.) Connect with nature. Nature has a way of reminding us that everything moves in seasons. There’s no shame in a cloudy moment. In ecopsychology, even a few minutes in natural light or green space can help reset the nervous system and reduce anxiety.

So take your coffee outside. Feel the sun or the breeze on your skin. Listen to the wind. Touch the earth. These are small but powerful ways to return to yourself.

5.) Reach out to someone. Even if you’re someone who values solitude, connection still matters. In the world of nervous system regulation, there’s a concept called co-regulation. It refers to the way our bodies and brains respond to the presence of another calm, grounded person. We are social beings. And when we’re in the presence of someone who feels steady and safe, our own nervous system often begins to mirror that calm.

That’s why something as simple as a kind conversation, a text from a friend, or even sitting in the same room as someone we trust can help shift our internal state. You don’t need to explain everything. Sometimes just being with someone, without pressure, creates enough space to breathe.

6.) Breathe. Your breath is one of the simplest tools for self-regulation. Breathwork activates the parasympathetic nervous system, your body’s rest and restore mode.

Try box breathing (inhale 4, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4), or lengthening your exhale. Even humming can help soothe your vagus nerve.

There’s something about the rhythm of breath that reminds your body, “I’m safe.”

7.) Practice mindfulness, gently. Mindfulness isn’t about clearing your mind. It’s about observing it. Noticing thoughts without getting swept away by them.

As Eckhart Tolle reminds us, “You are not your thoughts. You are the awareness behind them.”

When you’re in a funk, your thoughts might feel louder. But you don’t have to believe every one of them. You can learn to sit beside them. To let them pass like clouds.

8.) Create something. Anything. Play and creativity activate different parts of the brain, and they don’t require us to be “happy” to be healing.

You might draw, write, cook, garden, knit, or build something with your hands. Expressive arts therapy and positive psychology both recognize the role of creativity in emotional resilience.

This isn’t about making something good. It’s about making something real.

9.) Transmute the heaviness into aligned action. If the funk you’re feeling is connected to what’s happening in the world, things like war, injustice, or climate distress, it makes sense that your system might feel overwhelmed. That kind of weight can leave you feeling powerless.

One way to begin shifting that energy is through values-based action, a practice used in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). It’s the idea of taking small, intentional steps that align with your values, even when things feel heavy.

You might care deeply about justice, connection, care, or community. Taking action, whether through volunteering, advocacy, donating, or showing up for someone, can reconnect you to a sense of agency and meaning. It reminds you that even when you can’t control the world, you can still choose how you show up in it.

A Closing Thought

More than anything, I hope you offer yourself compassion.

Dr. Kristin Neff’s research on self-compassion reminds us that it’s not weakness, rather it’s strength. When we meet ourselves with gentleness, when we stop trying to shame ourselves into betterment, we open the door to healing that actually lasts.

You don’t have to push yourself out of the funk. You don’t have to explain it. You don’t have to hide it.

Sometimes, just staying close to yourself is enough.

These moments of heaviness aren’t always problems to fix. Sometimes, they’re quiet invitations, to slow down, listen more closely, and honor what’s really asking for your attention.

If you're in it, or if it finds you again down the road. I hope this offered a small exhale. You’re not the only one who’s felt this way. And whatever your next step looks like, may it be one that honors what you need.