Episode #98: Nothing Was Wrong, But Something Felt Off

About this episode

Dr. Luella Jonk discusses the feelings of heaviness that can follow spiritual highs and the importance of realignment rather than constant productivity.

In this solo episode, I'm being honest about something I don't think we talk about enough: what happens after the spiritual highs. It's the Friday after Easter, and instead of feeling joyful and victorious, I've been waking up with this low-level heaviness—not depression, not anything my family would notice, but something quietly off. I'll walk you through: ✅ Why intensity—whether it's Easter, a long-awaited vacation, or a career milestone—often leaves us feeling drained afterward ✅ The intersection of joy and suffering that the cross reveals (and why we can't escape it) ✅ How women especially get stuck in constant mental movement—planning, anticipating, evaluating—even when sitting still ✅ Why the instinct to "fix" ourselves when we feel off is often the wrong move ✅ The difference between circumstantial problems and deeper misalignment ✅ Why I choose work that doesn't make money (my podcast, my writing) and what that says about fulfillment vs. productivity Whether you're coming down from a spiritual season feeling flat, caught in the mental gymnastics of trying to do enough and be enough, or wondering why rest never feels like rest—this episode offers permission to stop…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Luella Jonk

Topics covered

• spirituality
• mental health
• self-reflection
• joy and suffering
• women's issues
• productivity vs. fulfillment

Keywords

• spiritual highs
• mental movement
• joy
• suffering
• rest
• alignment
• productivity

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