I thought I was getting better, but I woke up one day and felt at my lowest again. What should I do now?

We all have our “off days,” and there is grace in knowing that we are not perfect. Your role model, your boss, the most successful individuals and athletes have their “off days.” Progress, life is not linear.

Rather than focusing on “doing,” be with yourself and identify what emotions are coming up and what may be physically coming up in your body. Give yourself time and space to process. Our bodies and mind are incredibly complex, and even if we are not cognitively aware of it, our body remembers and stores memories, experiences, feelings etc. Has anything happened the day before or perhaps even a year ago around the same time? There may be a trigger that you are not consciously aware of. If you are working with a therapist this would be great to bring to session to unpack and explore.

And perhaps maybe there is no trigger. Maybe this is symptomatic of burnout, physical exhaustion, and/or a mental health condition. If this is the case, connect with a mental health professional. In the meantime, be gentle and kind with yourself. Do what you need to do to mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually rest and reset.

You may decide to take a mental health day. If you’re not sure what that looks like I would encourage you to treat it as if you were feeling under the weather. Keep your routine for your most basic needs: drink water, eat nutritious meals, take a shower, maybe go for a walk. Stick to the basics.

Kathryn Lee