Feeling Weak: A Guide to Your Emotions

PUBLISHED Mar 12th, 2021 & UPDATED ON Jan 25th, 2023

Weakness is most often thought of as a sensation felt within the body. It’s true! Muscles and bones can hurt so much that one can barely move. You can become so tired and physically exhausted that the thought of even taking a shower makes you feel like you’re about to faint. Feeling weak is the opposite of a party!

People have manyyy different reasons why they might feel physically weak: chronic illness, medication, your job, whatever really. But weakness can appear as an emotion as well.

But this emotion doesn’t travel alone. Unfortunately, it likes to show up with it’s nastyyy pack of little friends that follow it. They’re all super rude and we aren’t fans of them! So, on top of weakness, you might be feeling discouraged, overwhelmed, and don’t know what to do next. We’ve all been there. It’s a terrifying headspace to be in! Just know that what you’re feeling is valid and your emotions matter. You are NOT weak emotionally or physically for being here today. In fact, we’re super proud of you!

Let’s talk about this feeling and break it down a bit, shall we?

A Deeper Look at Feeling Weak

A lot of people who struggle with the emotion of weakness often do because they have to be “on.” All. The. Time. This is especially true if you struggle with your mental health. You don’t want to burden others with your problems, so you keep them inside and pretend that you’re doing ok. It seems to take allllll your energy just to appear fine and put on a fake smile as you walk out into the world every day. Someone better give you a fucking Oscar because you’ve been acting like everything is ok soooo well that people have no clue what you’re going through!

Your body and mind feel like they’re being crushed by this weight that you have to silently carry around with you all day, and by the time you get home from work, you barely have any energy left for yourself. The constant battle with your thoughts takes up all the strength that you have and you’re just so exhausted because these battles, even though they’re in your mind, feel physical. We get it. We’ve been there too! When we feel like this, even the small things like making our bed in the morning feel like climbing a mountain.

You’re exhausted from the emotional toll of having to just get through the day. Our brains never turn off and it leaves us feeling exhausted on a level so deep that we feel tired in our bones. And, our bodies are on constant alert because our minds can’t stop racing and looking for ways to protect ourselves. The worst part is that when we want to sleep, we can’t! Why? Because our minds neverrr slow down. What a catch 22!

How Feeling Weak Shows Up Mentally

Oftentimes, the emotion of weakness is caused by environmental factors that can bring about this feeling. Sometimes, things feel like they are completely out of our control and we’re left to try and cope with our emotions however we can manage. It can become overwhelming and leave us feeling like we don’t have the strength to push our way through the day.

– Constantly thinking

– Emotional overload

– Feelings of hopelessness

– Sense of loneliness or isolation

– Mood swings

– Irritability

– Apathy

But at the end of it all, we make it through to the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that; fighting to care for ourselves in small ways. Don’t beat yourself up for having these emotions. You’re doing the best you can with what you’ve got!

How Feeling Weak Shows Up Physically

Feeling weak often is associated with the physical sensation of weakness. You might feel like you have an entire boulder sitting on your back and an anvil hanging from your stomach. Bearing this mental weight manifests in our bodies in physical ways and leaves us feeling mentally and physically weak.

– Fatigue

– Sleeplessness

– Oversleeping

– Sensory overload

It’s only natural for you to feel this way! Give yourself a little bit of grace and a lot of kindness. Try your best to take care of yourself however you can — even if it’s in small ways! Those small things will add up over time, we promise!

How to Cope With Feeling Weak

Sometimes advice like “exercise,” and “eat well,” just aren’t possible when you’re feeling mentally and physically weak. Coping with this emotion is so much harder than some people could ever understand. But don’t worry! We’re gonna give you some real advice that we know you’re gonna crush.

1. Visualize your happy place

Sometimes our reality just gets to be a bit too much for us and we need to escape. If you can’t afford a vacation, just close your eyes. It’s a lot cheaper AND you can customize your space. So, it’s kind of the better option in our opinion!

2. Comfort yourself like you would a friend

You deserve a hug! Be kind to yourself because you’re going through some hard shit right now. Look at yourself in the mirror and say some nice things to yourself. Give yourself a little pep talk! You might tell yourself exactly what you need to hear.

3. Move your body

You don’t have to go crush an intense workout at the gym or anything, but we just want you to move enough to get your body working in the opposite way you might be mentally feeling. If you’re stuck in bed, we want you to try and do a 180 and go for a teeny walk, stretch, or ride a bike – whatever you feel like you can manage! Baby steps.

4. Engage in something soothing and comforting

Spend some time with a pet, hug a stuffed animal, wrap yourself up in a cozy blanket, have a warm drink, and just get comfortable. Sometimes we need to just have a soft moment with ourselves and give ourselves a MUCH needed break from everything.

5. Practice meditation

Meditating allows us to take a moment and just sloooowwww down for a second. It gives us a chance to try and shift our mindset and cope with our challenges in a healthy and calm manner. It might help you out if you find a guided meditation to walk you through emotions. After a while, you won’t need a guide anymore and you’ll be meditating all on your own like a boss!

Give yourself a hug. Sometimes a little self-love will help you gain a little bit of strength to tackle the day that you have ahead of you and will help you end it on a loving note. We believe in you and we know that you have an immense amount of strength within yourself that you might not even know you have!