Grounding for Millennials (and Everyone Else)

Millennials are busy. Brilliant. Enthusiastic. And exhausted. Unlike many Boomers when the latter were young, this bright crop of late teens and 20-somethings tends to burn the candle at both ends less by design than by necessity: if they want an education, they may have to work for it, literally. A full-time job and even part-time school means little time left over for homework, friends (thank G-d for texting!) and dare I mention, sleep?

What play- and sleep deprivation can do to an already hyper-speed brain — and body — is destructive, though the damage might not show up for years. Yes, you can handle a lot. But when that camel's load adds one more stick, however slight, the camel can collapse.

One simple solution to lighten the load? Grounding. READ MORE

Are You A Junkie?

"Livin' on Reds, vitamin C and cocaine…" sang the Grateful Dead, and they might have been describing today's adrenaline junkies, hooked not on drugs but on a super-sized life, juggling it all without dropping a ball: power career, marriage, motherhood, perfect parties, posh home, toned body…

Just thinking about it can be exhausting. As I wrote last month in Why You Should Drop Out, books like Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In exhort women to give their all to work so that they'll want to return to the corner office after having kids. And while women certainly deserve to rise to the top like the (organic) cream in their half-caff, burning the proverbial candle to a nub day in and day out can create serious health issues. Such as adrenal burnout.

While all of us are familiar with the term "adrenaline," not many people stop to associate it with the adrenals, two tiny glands that sit atop the kidneys and are responsible for regulating our stress hormones. When your blood pressure rises or your heart starts beating in double-time, that's the adrenal glands pumping the hormones cortisol and adrenaline into your body in response to stress. Which works superbly if you're running from a tiger (or perhaps confronting an angry partner), but not so much as a steady diet. Living like the Energizer Bunny doesn't cut it long-term. You can simply replace Bunny's batteries when they run down; our bodies require continual, comprehensive care.

Some of the areas to examine:

• Sleep: are you chronically exhausted? Believe it or not, going to bed earlier will not only help you get rested — it can help you lose weight!
• Diet/nutrition: grabbing junk food or even "food bars" in place of healthy meals? Even the best food bars are cut-rate fuel.
• Exercise: are you too busy — or too tired? Just a 20-minute walk 3-4 times a week is restorative. Then you can think about adding cardio and weight training.
• Supplements: what do you need to restore balance?
• Work: do you need to delegate more? Hire an assistant or VA (virtual assistant)?

You'll have more to give in all areas of your life when you feel vibrantly healthy. So put yourself first on your to-do list. After all, there's a reason those airline emergency drills always tell you, "Put your own oxygen mask on first!"

Postpartum Fatigue: Planet Birthin' Blues 'n' Bliss

Did the Earth move for you on 11-11-11? Did you feel replete, complete — and absolutely knackered on Saturday, November 12th? I sure did.

At first I attributed my extreme weariness to the bad fall I took Thursday night, which left me barely able to walk on 11/11/11. Talk about being forced to slow down! Then, as I began checking in with others, I realized this was a system-wide energy outage: the exhaustive exhaustion of assimilating a higher frequency, crossing the threshold, midwifing Earth in rebirth! Gaia herself has been cleansing in preparation for becoming a star; it rained on Friday where I dwell.

By sunny Sunday, the exuberance of the new was shining through. Saturday felt like the First Day; it continues to seem like a world washed clean. And yes, we've got a ways to journey; no child graduates a few days after exiting the womb!

The days ahead will not follow any script; one illuminating resource I'm in the midst of digesting (slowly!) is Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse, a penetrating inquiry into regarding life as play and possibility.

We're paving the new road as we walk it, or better yet, clearing a trail. In Bringers of the Dawn, The Pleiadians (channeled by Barbara Marciniak) called this experience "bushwhacking through consciousness". It's never been more literally true than now, as we enter the time that has been foretold for millennia: the Golden Age, the Age of Aquarius, the Fifth World, Home.