Mushy brain... feelin' that?

The collective 'ooomph'

Whenever I feel like I am experiencing something a little more intensely than should be, I reach out to friends to see if I'm the only one "feelin' that."

This week I have felt like my brain is not quite coming back online—it wants to rest, or it wants the body to move--it doesn't want to sit in front of a computer. And when I do push my brain past the comfort zone, it seems to melt. Not just soften a little in the heat, but straight up go-to-puddle. This isn't normal for my brain, except for the period where I was recovering from a concussion. In fact, the energy right now kind of feels concussed. The heat is oppressive. The word on the street is struggle or overwhelm, and the consensus is summer is coming early, and it would be nice for a siesta.

So I reached out to my crew to see if I was the only one feeling this, and sure enough, I wasn't. "I haven't gone live in weeks, I just don't have the energy to," one friend said. "I am sleeping later and taking more naps right now," another remarked. "I just want to hide until it goes away," even, was one extreme.

I haven't dug deep into the astrology, but maybe I don't need to... We just had a full moon, summer solstice is coming up, and we're in between eclipses. All of these energies combined will push us to the point of exhaustion.

I always think of this time of year—the ramp up to the longest day, feels a little like a roller coaster, or a crescendo. Up and up and up the energy, effort, and sun go... and we feel that on a deep level.

So here are a few of the things I've done to support my brain and energy during this week:

• Take rest when needed. Don't be ashamed to get extra sleep or take a break! Our society is GO-GO-GO and we don't work on rejuvenation nearly enough.
• Eat more fresh foods. I've been eating fruit, like blueberries, and more nuts to support my brain.
• Break up your screen time. I'm finding when I have long stretches (3 hours) of computer time in a row, it contributes to a meltdown. So I'm be very conscious of taking 15-20 minute breaks after an hour or 90 minutes of screen time.
• Switch it off. I went to yoga last night and it was such a great reminder to focus on the breath and switch off the brain, or just give it something very mundane to focus on. Do what works for you, but do try to give your brain a rest while you're awake, not just when you're asleep (and even for some of us, that's hard.)

Here's to summer! Enjoy the melt.