Women today are breaking gender norms at every turn. Women run companies and countries. Women lead organizations and steer political campaigns. Despite this freedom, women are facing burnout and chronic illness at alarmingly high rates and many feel too exhausted to truly enjoy their lives.

The current popular usage of the term burnout is broader than its original definition. According to the psychologists who first helped define the term in the 1970s and 80s, burnout means experiencing emotional exhaustion and apathy or cynicism about one’s job, combined with a decreased sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.

While the term as defined here applies only to work life, humans are complex beings and I believe burnout can impact our lives outside of work, including our roles as parents and individuals. I see a lot of overlap between the definition of burnout and chronic fatigue syndrome, which impacts women at a rate 3 to 5 times higher than men. Other chronic illnesses like ...

What feels scary and out of your comfort zone?

For me, being seen, sharing my voice, speaking up, asking questions, posting on social media has been a huge edge.

It's something that starting a business has pushed me to do and I'm so grateful for that.

The way we grow is by doing new things outside our comfort zone.

But it's a bit more complex than that.

Human brains evolved when we lived in groups and depended on one another for survival. Doing something against the status quo meant the possibility of being kicked out of the group, which meant certain death.

This fear is still deeply programmed in our brains. When we address it, we clear the unconscious blocks to our desires and make attaining our goals much easier.

We need to know that we will still be loved, still belong, still, be safe if we try something new.

That we'll be celebrated if we succeed and taken care of if we fail. That no matter what happens we're still worthy.

So if there's something you've been wanting to try but...

This week has me confronting how we continue to live our daily lives as the world burns, floods, melts, freezes. I’ve heard vulnerable accounts of how emotionally taxing and traumatic this week has been. The stress of living through climate change and evacuating from fire after fire has taken a toll.

I’ve seen research showing increased stress and suicidality in farmers living in drought-prone regions. I’ve seen the disastrous impacts of colossal weather events on largely developing and under-resourced countries.

I now understand why apocalyptic stories seem to be gaining popularity. The generation of kids growing up today are used to this. They’re used to wearing smoke masks to play outside, evacuating from natural disasters and rehearsing active shooter drills.

How do we go about living our daily lives when these types of events are the new normal?

Taking care of our nervous systems is incredibly important. Why? If you don’t help yourself get back to...

On average, women today have more freedom than ever before in recorded history and yet we are more stressed, overwhelmed and exhausted than ever. 

Along with pursuing success in demanding careers, women still do the majority of housework and emotional labor in their families. We’ve taken on more and haven’t given anything up which is leading women to face exhaustion and burnout in alarming numbers. This impact is compounded for women of color and women who otherwise fit outside of our heteronormative white culture.

 During the 7 years, I worked at Google, I was diagnosed with a digestive disorder, an autoimmune condition, and Chronic Fatigue. Studies show that these particular conditions impact women at rates rate 3 to 5 times higher than men. When I read these studies I wanted to scream and demand the world tell me WHY??? I know so many women in my community who have faced these same diagnoses and yet no one seemed to know why these illnesses tend to impact...