Introduction

It feels like you're here — but not inside.

You’re moving through life — but without warmth. You talk, work, eat — following the steps, like a script. Your body knows what to do. And you simply follow. It’s as if you’ve become metallic: put together on the outside, silent on the inside.

This isn’t a breakdown. This is a point of recalibration. You’re no longer fully shut down — but you’re not fully alive either. You don’t feel much yet — but you’re already tuning back in.

Quiet and clear

What’s happening

The brain is starting to come out of “power-saving mode.” But it’s doing it slowly, cautiously. 

It’s like you’re waiting for a signal: "Is it safe to fully be in the world again?" And while that signal hasn’t come yet — you just keep moving, disconnected.

Calmly

What’s important to understand

  • You’re not stuck.
  • You’re not "lifeless."
  • You’re in a transitional phase — where everything feels flat simply because the depth hasn’t switched back on yet.

In this phase, don’t wait for motivation. You need to take small steps — not to “feel something,” but to gently wake your attention. The brain needs days — sometimes weeks — to get used to the fact that there’s no more threat. Only then will it allow you to feel the world again as warm and alive.

Valuable actions

What to do in this phase

✔  Don’t wait for "inspiration" or "waves of feeling."
→ That will come later.
→ Right now, your task is to do small things that can reawaken the body and attention.

✔ Practice "acting without feeling."
→ Pick one simple gesture you’ll do every day — even if you don’t “feel like it.”
→ Example: a cup of tea on the balcony. 3 minutes. Just looking into the distance.
→ Don’t evaluate how you feel.
→ Just do it — and notice one thing: I did it.

This isn’t about usefulness. It’s about retraining the brain to act without analyzing.



Warm water


When life doesn’t feel alive — start with the body.

  • Put your hands under warm running water.
  • Hold them there for 10–15 seconds.
  • Don’t expect to "feel something." Just notice.
  • Say to yourself: “I allow my body to remind me that it’s here.”
Mark yourself in space


When you feel like you exist — but not really in the world — show yourself: you are here.

  • Walk across the room. Five slow steps.
  • Name aloud: “This is a window. This is a chair. This is me.”

That’s it.
Simply — this is me.

You’re already recovering. You just can’t fully feel it yet — because the brain hasn't given permission to "feel" again.

 

I was doing everything “right.”
Waking up. Eating. Answering messages.
Sometimes I even made a joke or two.

From the outside — I looked okay.
But inside — silence.
Not darkness.
Not fear.
Just... flat. Still.

It was like my body knew what to do —
and I was just following along.
No connection. No spark.

Sometimes I thought:
“Maybe this is how it’ll always be now.”

But then I realized —
I was already out of the cold.
I just hadn’t warmed up yet.

So I started doing one small thing each day.
No pressure.
No expectation.
Just a quiet act of showing up.

Sometimes it was warm water.
Sometimes just standing still and saying,
“That’s the window. That’s the chair. That’s me.”

I didn’t feel anything.
But I was here.
And that started to matter.

Don’t rush.
You’re not broken.
You’re not outside.

You’re already almost home.

 



With respect and warmth,  
Serge

izo-1







You search for feeling — but what comes is silence.
And yet it’s from this silence that a new taste for life is born.

And if you need support along the way — we offer two gentle forms of guidance: a book that resonates, and an AI companion that guides.

→ Learn more