You’re in the right place if you’re wondering what to do when you feel empty.

A feeling of emptiness usually arrives with a loss of identity, but not always.

I’ve seen these rise and fall throughout the spiritual journey as one heals.

Priorities change, core values take center stage, and healing takes root in daily life.

Getting to the root cause of emotional emptiness is a journey in itself.

Let’s begin.

This post is all about what to do when you feel empty.

I learned a lot when my own feelings of emptiness came roaring to the surface a few years ago.

One of the ​best ways I dealt with it was in silence.

My adult life was chaotic at the time. The more I tried to fix issues, the worse they got.

It was backwards from everything I knew.

After utter struggle, I finally ‘gave up.’ That was my surrender point where I did nothing.

I stopped working, put my phone on do not disturb and sat there like a lump.

I’m self-employed so I know this isn’t possible for everyone!

Here’s what I discovered in the months that followed as things improved.

What To Do When You Feel Empty:

1. Get Your Blood Work done

Rule out any physical issues as a first step.

I’m recommending this because it will create mental space. If you rule it out, you don’t need to worry about it.

Worrying is mentally exhausting and it sucks the life force energy out of you.

You’ll have no time for joy, creativity or inspiration. You need all three of these to begin filling yourself back up.

I’m sure you have different things you can focus on once your health is in a good place.

2. See a Therapist

Once you rule out the physical, get some support for your mind.

Getting professional help is a load off of your shoulders. It helps to talk to someone outside of your circle.

A licensed therapist can determine if you’re dealing with a mental health condition or mental illness.

If you have a traumatic experience in your history, a therapist is a great resource.

3. See a Healer

As a Healer, I can’t recommend this enough.

Healers can help you access a sense of purpose aligned with your true self.

A skilled Healer can lead you out of lack of fulfillment and help you get to the root cause of the problem.

Healers access what science does not.

We do shadow work, and tap into your inner self through spirituality, energy work and other tools.

4. Do Nothing

I used to mistake my lack of motivation as a problem.

Lack of motivation wasn’t a problem since I was always taking action. I was exhausted.

One of the big things I learned during my shadow time was to give the energy some time to work itself out.

I adopted a, “let it pass” mindset.

It’s important to stay moving, but also create space for processing.

Sometimes this is a break from your responsibilities, or a walk.

Emotional emptiness is uncomfortable. What I’m suggesting you do is tend to the essentials, while you sit with the discomfort.

That space will fill with knowledge, wisdom, insight, support, and resources.

The Universe is trying to help you. Ask for the help, create space and wait it a bit to see what’s next.

5. Talk to a trusted friend or family member

If you’re a verbal processor, consider talking with someone close to you.

Stay away from unsupportive people who catastrophize or contribute to low self-esteem.

It’s not only important to protect yourself, but your ideas and visions as well.

The Universe didn’t give others your ideas, so protect them while you build them!

6. Audit Your Circle

Back when I felt the most alone, I was surrounded the most people.

The relationships lacked depth, emotional connection and closeness.

In fact, I found myself outside the circles more than in them.

I had to ask myself why I was hanging onto people that weren’t hanging on to me. It was only putting strain on everyone.

It also led to chronic stress for me as I was always overthinking the relationships.

The truth is, I had no social life. If I did spend time with them, I didn’t enjoy it at all.

It was the toxic relationship I had with myself that I had to look at. I was unwilling to let go, and move on.

So, if this resonates with you — it may be time to audit your circle, too.

7. Limit Social Media

Social media promotes connection, but let’s face it, it’s nothing more than algorithms.

We don’t even see what we ant to see. And we have less control than we’ve ever had.

The sense of disconnection gets worse the more time you spend online.

It creates a deep sense of emptiness so let’s talk about why.

Instead of doing something in person, you spend time doom scrolling. Time flies by, and you feel bad that you didn’t get something constructive done.

I see it all the time on my daily walks with my dog. People walking their dogs, staring at their phone.

No good morning, hello or how ya doing?

Blank stares, and emptiness. For both of us.

Social media, scrolling and reels provide temporary relief. It’s a nice distraction that has terrible consequences.

It robs you of your time, energy and attention.

They know that, and that’s why the technology is so addictive.

Take your power back by controlling your destructive habits.

You’ll thank yourself once you curb social media time.

8. Do something that makes you FEEL

Once you spend less time online, you have a whole lot more time to be in the present moment.

Here’s a short list of things that make you get back into your body and feelings.

• Watch a movie that makes you cry
• Sweat it out with regular exercise.
• Go to a concert or a live music performance.
• See a performance that moves your emotions, like Phantom of the Opera.
• Write about how you feel or what you’re dealing with. When you want to quit, write for another 30 minutes.
• Read a good book.
• Challenge a fear. If you’re afraid of heights, try rock climbing to start.
• Do something brand new that’s physically challenging. Get out of your comfort zone.
• Join an activities group that’s different than what you might normally do.

You’ll see that some of these revolve around challenging yourself.

It’s in those moments of discomfort that we get into our bodies. It’s temporary, and thrilling and you will love it.

9. Move Your Furniture Around

This is a weird suggestion but it works.

Small changes in your home can shift the energy in radical ways.

If it’s been a long time since you moved things around, do it now.

Even if you can’t make big changes, moving things a couple of inches helps.

It does something to your perspective, and how you see things. It’s almost like new options become available to you that you hadn’t seen before.

If there are things in your place that you’ve outgrown, or don’t like anymore, donate them.

The energy exchange between helping others, and honoring how you feel will help your mood.

10. Add Twinkle Lights

If you’re someone that feels joy around the holidays, you know how a few simple lights can do wonders for your mood.

And even if you don’t like the holidays, this tip will still help you.​

I usually feel down in the spring and summer. They aren’t my favorite seasons, but I try to make the best of them.

Six months out of the year, I am longing for fall.

As strange as it sounds, I realized this year that this sense of emptiness had to do with texture for me.

I decorate more during the fall. All of my favorite things come out of storage, are on display and that brings me joy.

Big question is, why do I wait so long to enjoy this?

I don’t want Christmas decor up all year. But, I am missing texture, color, joy and lights all year.

Next year, I’ll be changing things up starting with twinkle lights.

I’m going to keep garland and lights up year-round.

What can you add to your place to create joy year round?

11. Write about how you feel

Writing is an emotional act that moves emotions. That’s why so many of us avoid it.

Many years ago, in meditation, I heard a message.

“The more you write, the more you heal.”

It has been without question, the truest message I’ve ever received.

The ability to write and process your deeper emotional needs is so undervalued.

Negative emotions need someonewhere to go. To let them go, they need to be given a voice.

When you give yourself permission to feel, acknowledge and write, you give them an outlet.

Your journal is a great place to physically and metaphorically let it all out.

12. Get extra rest

As strange as this sounds, a good night’s sleep can fix a lot of problems.

At the very least, finding a quiet place to get enough sleep can give you clarity.

When you’ve had insufficient sleep, the shadow of a lizard can seem like a towering dragon.

Getting enough sleep means you’re more grounded and centered.

These are both necessary so you can be in your body, and clear on what you need.

When I was going through that difficult shadow period, I slept a lot. On the outside, it probably looked like I was depressed.

I was actually exhausted.

Giving myself permission to sleep healed my nervous system in a way nothing else could.

It got me out of fight or flight, and once I was calmer, I was able to come up with more solutions.

13. Decrease Stress

As odd as it sounds, decreasing my stress levels was the last thing I ever did.

It was because I wasn’t aware I was stressed.

My nervous system was used to severe stress.

Earlier this year, I started experiencing night terrors from an abusive neighbor situation.

In May, I ended up in EMDR therapy and it changed my life.

Within a few sessions, my nervous system calmed down.

I remember thinking, “OMG, this is why I’ve identified as a high-achiever.”

In other words, I was working myself to the bone for over 30 years without realizing it was due to trauma.

About a month after starting EMDR, I woke up to the fact that actually, I am not a type-A high achiever.

Actually, I’m an artist, a creative, and a writer.

To say this realization was jarring is an understatement. I felt like my entire life was a lie.

One of the first new things I did was get a new hobby. Can you guess what I did?

I joined a writing group with other amazing human beings.

It was one of many positive changes I implemented a few months ago.

Part of healing is not allowing your past experiences to haunt you.

It’s to extract the lessons, and rewrite your story.

I help women who’ve outgrown overgiving and people-pleasing reinvent their relationship with money, energy, and self-worth.

Download my free Overwhelmed to Overflow guide to start replacing pressure and guilt with grounded confidence and calm.

This post was all about what to do when you feel empty.