How to Return to Your Anchors When You Feel Numb 

Parenting Perspective 

This experience is faced by many parents. Many parents find that life’s pace, constant giving, decision-making, and worry, can dull once-familiar sources of rest. Feeling numb to prayer, reading, or silence is not a failing; it is a sign that your soul is seeking another kind of rest. 

Begin with Small Adjustments 

Begin with small adjustments. Instead of expecting a full return to old rituals, invite a single sensory step back in, touch your prayer mat, open a page of the Qur’an with a quiet intention, or sit in silence for just one minute. These partial re-entries gently reignite presence without pressure. 

Verbalise Your State Softly 

If focus or emotion escapes you, verbalise it softly: ‘Today I feel distracted, but I am still here.’ Naming your state in quiet honesty dismantles the internal barrier and creates space to breathe again. Let your children witness this, not as spiritual performance, but as gentle honesty in struggle. 

Remember, your unhurried presence, even when brief, can speak louder than elaborate acts. When you return in honesty, your child learns that faith and rest are paths, not fixed states. It is not about reclaiming what was lost but rediscovering life in fragments, one moment at a time. 

Spiritual Insight 

Feeling distant from anchors such as prayer or reflection can feel disorienting, but Islam provides clarity and encouragement in precisely these moments of spiritual dryness. 

A Reminder That Reconnection Begins with Recognition 

Allah Almighty states in the noble Quran at Surah Al Shams (91), verses 7–10: 

‘And by the soul and how it is designed (for infusion into the body); thus, We (Allah Almighty) have designed (the soul with discretion) for wickedness and without any doubt success is for the one who developed purity (of the self), and indeed, failure is for the one who embraces (the darkness of ignorance and immorality).’ 

These Verses remind us that reconnection with our spiritual anchors begins with recognition, of our inner state and its need for purification, not condemnation. It is part of our path toward wholeness. 

The Prophetic Model: A Practical Pause 

It is recorded in Sunan Abi Dawud that the holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 

‘If any one of you becomes angry, let him perform wudu (ablution). ‘

[Sunan Abi Dawud, 43:12] 

Ablution is a practical pause, a reset that uses simple ritual to interrupt emotional blankness. The spiritual principle here holds when the heart is numb, small intentional acts, ritual, breath, humility, can bring it back to life. 

You are not asked to return at full energy or fervour. You are invited to return in presence, honest, small, faithful. That is real anchoring, and it is visible to your child in every quiet, deliberate breath you take.