Healing Isn’t Linear
One Bad Day Doesn’t Mean You’re Getting Worse (It Might Mean You’re Healing)
Yesterday was one of those days.
I slept terribly the night before. My body felt heavy. By mid-morning it hit me — that flu-like feeling. Achy. Foggy. Drained.
No fever. No cough. No obvious illness.
Just that familiar something’s wrong with me feeling. FLAT is how it can feel, and out of nowhere fast. Just flat and possibly bleak - when you KNOW this isn’t true. Yesterday’s symptoms were also very physcial which means I felt WEAK.
Cue the spiral…But yesterday was different…because I didn’t panic.
I noticed the thoughts instead of believing them, and I noticed my body without berating it.
And that changed everything.
The Old Pattern: When One Bad Day Becomes a Crisis
For most of my life, a rough day meant something bigger.
A bad night of sleep turned into fear. A flare of fatigue meant something was wrong. A body symptom meant a full mental spiral into investigative healing.
And once the spiral started, my nervous system went with it.
Stress hormones surged. Inflammation followed. Recovery slowed.
The body doesn’t heal well when the mind is in alarm mode.
I didn’t know that back then.
I just thought I was fragile. I was even TOLD that I was fragile. Sheesh.
Healing Isn’t Linear: What Progress Really Looks Like
Here’s the truth that I can see after almost a decade of practice, and knowing myself. (Which also requires liking yourself, and that doesn’t always feel like an easy task.)
I’ve been through a lot of stress lately.
A big move. Leaving a life I loved. Renovations. Finances. Emotional weight.
Even good change is still stress to the nervous system. I find it so curious as to how stress shows up now, because it doesn’t come in the form of food addiction or weight gain anymore. But it finds its way in.
Add one bad night of sleep and your body can absolutely respond with:
• fatigue • body aches • flu-like heaviness • emotional sensitivity
Not because you’re sick. Not because you’re failing.
But because your immune system and stress response are talking.
This is incredibly common — especially in women dealing with hormone shifts, burnout, or chronic stress.
Your body isn’t breaking.
It’s communicating.
The New Pattern: Awareness Instead of Alarm
Yesterday, when those familiar thoughts showed up, I did something different.
I noticed them.
Oh — there’s the “something’s wrong with me” voice. There’s the fear story starting up, and I don’t consciously get afraid, but my body slightly shifts with this thinking.
And instead of following it, I paused.
I remembered.
I didn’t sleep well.
I’ve been under stress.
My body is allowed to have an off day.
Nothing needs fixing. Nothing is going wrong.
And once I stopped fighting the moment…my thinking softened.
I noticed the heaviness and fatigue all day and into the evening. With an early bedtime I still didn’t have the BEST sleep for the second night in a row. However, my energy returned. The heaviness lifted. The day passed without spiraling yesterday, and I’m feeling chipper again today.
Not magically.
Naturally. Somewhat uncomfortably. And even supported by hormones and all the things, I had a crappy day. Knowing your body is a process, and it’s a practice you do not quit, especially when you love or like yourself. The payoff is HUGE. Healing body and mind is transformational. It does require your fullest commitment sometimes.
This Is What Healing Actually Looks Like
The reality of a journey is messy and chaotic, but we expect it to be easy.
Here’s something no one tells you: Healing isn’t a straight line upward.
It’s basically like the picture above that shows the chaos of the squiggly line. Sometimes healing is a dissheveled ball of string with no straight line in sight. Sometimes it feels uncertain, or like it may never come.
The difference is that pain points no longer turn into emotional emergencies which allows my nervous system to feel safe.
• hormones regulate better
• inflammation drops faster
• energy rebounds quicker
• habits stick more easily
Our bodies heal in a calm state — not a fearful one.
One Bad Day Doesn’t Erase Progress
Why One Off Day Doesn’t Mean You’re Going Backwards
This is the lesson you must take away:
A rough day does not mean you’re back at square one.
It often means your body is processing stress and releasing tension.
Progress looks like:
✔ faster recovery ✔ less panic ✔ more self-trust ✔ calmer reactions
Progress does not look perfect, ever.
When your goal is perfection, the outcome only moves the closer you get.
The Mindset Shift That Helps the Body Heal Faster
Curiosity.
Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?”
Try asking:
“What does my body need right now?”
“When have I felt like this before?”
”Who do I need right now”
Rest? Reassurance? Less pressure? Gentleness? Curiosity is the cure. It takes you right out of judgement in any circumstance. You may, or may not know you’re judging yourself. Doesn’t matter if you’re getting curious. Your focus will shift in a helpful direction.
Final Thought
Yesterday didn’t mean I was getting worse or declining or taking a step backwards.
It meant my body was human. I mean, I am 50 years old people!!! (lol)
And the fact that I didn’t spiral? That’s REAL healing.
If you’ve been hard on yourself for every off day — I hope this gives you permission to soften. Your body is wiser than you think, you just might not understand its language yet. And healing is constantly happening, even when it doesn’t feel perfect. Our bodies are stunning creations.
Talk soon!
