Funk

Meh. Blah. In a lull. Taking a spell. Uninspired. In a trough. In ‘The Dip’. In a funk. Lost your mojo. Lost your groove. Out of the swing of things. In a rutt. Feeling lost. Fizzled out. Unplugged. Disconnected. Drifting aimlessly. Lost your lust for life. Directionless. Stuck. Stagnant. Hit a wall. Feeling average. Underwhelmed. Sluggish.

Call it what you want. It’s uncomfortable. Like punching under water our effort does not yield results. The funk swallows up all your best intentions and renders your ‘Operation: cheer up’ ineffective.

It’s frustrating, unpleasant, depressing, confusing, draining and necessary. Yes, that’s right; necessary. I have spoken about cycles before, and this is a natural part of the cycle.

When you are in a funk stop fighting it! It’s like quicksand and the tighter you cling to denial the deeper you will get. Instead honour this place you are in, focus on how you are feeling and actively search out the doubts and unanswered questions that are flirting with you from the darkest corners of your psyche. The more of these loose ends you have been brushing aside, with good reason, in order to pursue your latest project be that a job, relationship, building a house, focusing on a child the longer the funk will take to work through.

The faster you invite these questions into the light and the more thoroughly you investigate and integrate them the quicker you can leave the funk behind. Try these techniques next time your feeling ‘stuck’:

1.      Meditation: If you are a seasoned meditator then focusing on your practice in a funk will often hasten the clarity you are seeking. But you don’t need any previous experience in meditation to utilise it as a technique. You can simply clear you mind and ask your mind what area of life or loose end to focus on and allow an answer to arise (see here for instructions) or you can utilize a lead visualization to help you uncover your doubts.

2.      Solitude: Spend time alone. You would be surprised how much easier it is to hear your thoughts when you are alone. Alone is hard to achieve these days we are often connected to others via our treasured communication devices. You want to take the home phone off the hook (if you have one), turn off the computer, turn the mobile, iphone or blackberry to silent and go where you wont be disturbed. Hint: your living room or bedroom are usually not great options. Go for a walk. Go to a market or a park alone. Take a journal or a notepad and a pen.

3.      Writing: Journal. Journal a lot. Use a pen and paper. Yes old school is best, for a few reasons. First, you can’t search the web or get email in a journal. Secondly, its too easy to delete words or whole pages that make you uncomfortable on a computer. Lastly, the most valuable thoughts are the ones that come when you have been writing about benign things for a few pages and out onto the page pops a thought that makes you double take. This is best done alone where no one will read your thought or interrupt you. You could do this every day or once a week – whichever suits you.

4.      Quiet places: Go to the library, the art gallery, a church, a temple, for a walk in nature. These are places we don’t go often, they get us thinking about things other than the usual work – friends – family  – food – money – and begin us thinking about the abstract, our place in things and what we want.

5.      Go away: Take a weekend off and go somewhere. Low key is a good option. Like a few nights in a little getaway just a few hours from home.