I have been in a funk!
It’s not a unique experience — I’d wager you’ve had one too — but this one has lingered longer than my more typical, occasional few days of meh. So, I am concertedly trying to navigate my way toward the light, without pushing against the cave walls with such force that I bring the whole thing down on myself.
Here is what I’m practicing, broken into the five places a funk tends to impact: your body, your environment, your habits, your mind, and your people.
P.S. None of this is meant to stand in for therapy or professional mental health care. If what you’re feeling is heavier or different than simply feeling “down”, please reach out to a professional. It is the strongest thing you could do.
The Lauren Letter will always be free. But if this space has become something you look forward to—a small ritual in your week, a source of inspiration, a reminder to approach life with more intention—you now have the option to support it.
Your Body
Gentle movement. It’s a cruel cycle: when you feel crummy, the last thing you want to do is move your body. But when you feel crummy is usually exactly when you need to. I’ve taken the pressure off myself to do some intense bootcamp or hour-long regime, and instead I reach for classes that feel restorative — pilates, barre, the occasional walk (bonus points if you can use that time to get outside!).
Whole foods. I love a McDonald’s french fry as much as the next girl — honestly, probably more than her — but I try to get at least some whole foods into my day, along with blood sugar stabilizers like nuts and spinach.
Get out of bed. Getting out of out of bed is allowed to be your biggest victory some days. Get up, straighten up the sheets, and fluff the pillows – even if you’re just going to climb back in. the bed.
Hygiene. Hygiene sounds like the easiest ask on this list, and somehow it can sometimes be the hardest. Get up, shower, brush your teeth, take your medication, change your clothes — even if it’s just into a fresh set of pajamas. On especially the hardest days, tell yourself this is all you have to get done.
Buy clothes that fit. It is not a coincidence that hard seasons often arrive alongside a changing body. This is the moment to invest in clothes that actually fit — quality, reasonably priced pieces (Quince has become a go-to) that feel good on and don’t cut off your circulation. Cut the tags out, too. Who cares what they say.
Cut out alcohol. I’m not talking about giggles with girlfriends over a glass of bubbles — that kind of joy is medicinal too! I’m talking about a nightly glass of wine that can creep up into a habit, then a crutch, then a dependence. It’s one of the easiest things to normalize and one of the worst things for your body during a hard season. Even moderate drinking can leave you more anxious the next day — I get horrible “hangxiety” — because of how alcohol disrupts your brain’s chemistry as it wears off. It also interferes with the deep, restorative stages of sleep your body actually needs to recover, which only makes stress and emotional regulation harder the next day. If you do only one thing on this list, do this.
Sleep. Speaking of sleep — protect it fiercely. Put the phone away an hour before bed, dim the lights, and aim for a consistent eight hours. Sleep is not a luxury during a funk; it’s the foundation everything else is built upon.
Your Environment
Digital-free morning. I try my very hardest to now have my mornings start without a screen. For the first hour of my morning, I only touch my phone to turn my alarm off and use a mindfulness app. During this time I focus on hygiene, meditation, gratitude journaling, my The Daily Stoic reading, and small tasks around the house, like unloading the dishwasher, while I sip my coffee and listen to classical music. I once heard someone say that you wouldn’t invite a thousand people into your bedroom each morning to shout at you — so why let your phone do basically that?
Read. I have also fallen back in love with reading over television. There’s something about a novel that asks you to empathize – to live briefly inside someone else’s experience – that pulls you out of your own head in a way that is wholly unique. You also can’t read and doom-scroll at the same time!
Put on feel-good music. Time to tuck Phoebe Bridgers away. While I stick with classical in the morning, by afternoon and evening I play feel-good, dance-around-your-kitchen music (the With Love, Meghan playlist is a perfect curation for this!).
Cocoon. Getting out of bed matters, yes, but so does giving yourself permission to retreat — to light the candle, romanticize an ordinary evening in, and pour back into your own mind instead of pouring out. This is a season to trim your social calendar (within reason – more on that later).
Your Habits
Keep your to-do list short. Focus on non-negotiables only: the work project with a hard deadline, bills, a call to your grandmother on her birthday. The dry cleaning, a closet purge, even the six-month dental cleaning can wait a few weeks. And the emotional cousin of a minimal list is releasing the guilt that comes with it. Also, if you’re the kind of person drawn to a list like this in the first place, your “bare minimum” is likely still more than most people manage on their best day, ladies am I right?
Watch your spending. I am an emotional spender, so during hard seasons I quite literally delete my saved credit card from my phone and browser. This is not the season for impulse purchases — a new book or a favorite candle, sure, but know your own triggers, and build in the friction that protects you from yourself.
Your Mind
Download Joy 101/Headspace. I have two mindfulness apps I alternate using each morning: Joy 101 by Hoda Kotb and Headspace. Headspace is perfect for learning how to meditate, breathwork, and tailored courses to certain life events (financial troubles, trying to conceive, body acceptance). Joy 101 features some breathwork and meditation sessions, but it also incorporates into its curriculum life coaching, health and longevity tips, prayer, and even fitness. Both you can complete tailor to your preferences, too!
Read The Daily Stoic. I have read the daily entry from this book most mornings for almost three years now, and it has taught me how to recklessly accept what is in my control (and, more importantly, what is not). If you don’t like something, stop engaging with it. If you can’t change it, stop fighting it and start accepting it. If you can change it, do something about it instead of complaining. It’s a lifechanging approach, which I don’t say lightly!
Practice gratitude. A gratitude practice is the fastest way I know to get out of your own head and romanticize your actual life. It doesn’t have to be profound — it can be your dog’s snores, your friendly boss, or the smell of your morning coffee. I have found a journal is the easiest way for me to stay consistent.
Remember the only way out is through. Name it to yourself, out loud if you can. I’m in a funk. I don’t love how this feels. But I’ve been here before, and it didn’t last forever. Naming it takes so much of its power away. Kind of like Voldemort!
Your People
Share how you’re feeling. I don’t mean you have to post about it on Instagram or announce it on your team’s Slack channel. But, when a friend asks where you’ve been, or your partner notices you seem a little off, don’t be afraid to say the true thing. Naming it out loud to someone else takes away so much of the monster-under-the-bed feeling that comes with carrying it silently. And, connection is the antidote to isolation.
Send warmth to others. Especially to the people whose lives look easy from where you’re standing right now. Funks have a way of traveling alongside comparison and, if we’re honest, a little envy. I think often of something borrowed from Brené Brown: when she pictures herself in the lane beside someone else in the pool, instead of comparing strokes, she simply thinks, I hope you have a great swim. You cannot hold both comparison and genuine warmth for someone at the same time. Sending it to the people who seem to be thriving right now doesn’t just soften your own funk — it builds the compassion you’ll carry the next time someone else is having a harder season than you.
Your Only Rule
This isn't about forcing yourself to still show-up as your 100% self, efforting your way through a tough season – that is a recipe for burnout. In the same way, it's not about giving up entirely when things can't be perfect. Instead, focus on showing up in some capacity, however small, every single day.
P.S. I promise to always keep The Lauren Letter free as my little exercise of trying to make the world a bit more beautiful. If, in return, you could considering giving this post a “like” or share with a friend, it would just mean the world to me.
Excellent advice for actually living a good healthy life! Well done article 💕
Needed this! Thank you so much 🤍