Awesome Stories 272

/ June 11, 2016

The return of Awesome Stories!

It’s great to be back and reaching out to our community. I’ll have more about my trip and adventures soon, but wanted to share some Awesome Stories for now. This week’s edition brings you solar flight, miracle tree, meditation and the struggle for control.

Solar Plane Successsolar plane, Awesome Stories

Bertrand Piccard completed his around-the-world flight recently by landing in San Francisco after a 3-day journey across the Pacific Ocean. The Solvay team and fans were on hand to congratulate him on the world’s first around-the-globe solar journey. The world tour started in March 2015 and was recently completed with many stops and adventures along the way. The main point was to highlight solar technology and innovation to help us move beyond fossil fuels. Kudos to Bertrand and his partner Andre Borschberg!

Meditation for Your Brain

Researchers have demonstrated that meditation can actually help rebuild our brains in only 8 weeks. Harvard performed MRI testing on people participating in an 8-week meditation class. Beyond the subjective increases in feelings of relaxation and wellbeing, the testing demonstrated significant increases in brain gray matter density. According to Sara Luze, the senior author of the study, “the study demonstrates changes in brain structure may underlie some of the reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing.” Maybe it’s time for me to get more committed to my meditation practice. I could use the relaxation and brain power!

Miracle TreeMoringa Tree, Awesome Stories

Researchers are wondering if this amazing tree could help solve the world’s food challenges. The Moringa Tree, also know as the Drumstick tree, is very nutritious, grows fast in harsh conditions and can be harvested multiple times a year. Despite its scraggly looks, it is hardy and almost every part of the tree can be eaten, including the roots, seeds, leaves and stalks. The leaves contain more vitamin A than carrots, more vitamin C than oranges, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, more potassium than bananas, and more protein than either milk or eggs! And Moringa can help counter malnutrition. Wow!

The Need for Control

I’ve always liked Leo Babuta and his Zen Habits. He offers many practical and simple tips for living a better life. This is an interesting article on all the ways we struggle to control our lives and the simple solution. He suggests that we waste a lot of time and energy trying to control our lives driven by uneasy feelings about the shifting nature of life. He proposes that we take the time to be mindful of our thoughts, feelings and body, but take no action. Gradually, we can learn to trust that everything will work out. We may not get the result we want, but that We Will Be OK. And then we learn to act from love rather than the need to control.

This is a big lesson for me. I haven’t mastered trust or love, but I’m learning to flow a bit better with life.

May we learn to live from peace, love and trust. 

 

 

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28 thoughts on “Awesome Stories 272”

  2. Wow what a selection of awesomeness Brad.. Wonderful that Bertrand had successfully completed his flight. And yes sleep also help regenerate our brains.. Now every time I go for a power nap Brad, I say I am regenerating my brain cells.. 🙂 lol.
    Also that Miracle Tree, How miraculous is Nature, she provides us with EVERY thing..
    Great post links as always Brad, Thank you and good to see these stories back..

    Love and Blessings Sue xx

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  8. Welcome back, Brad. I hope your time away and re-connection with family helped give you the clarity you were seeking.
    I’ve been following Leo for years – he is always inspiring.
    I enjoyed reading the article on the Moringa tree. What an amazing gift it holds – I’ll pass it on to someone who often goes to Central America to teach people about the medicines that grow all around them.
    There’s also a foundation called Moringa that built a school in Ghana – it is a combined project between an American carpenter and a Ghanaian man he befriended. I may have read about it through a link on your blog?

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  9. These are truly awesome stories, Brad. The first one led me on a long string of reading and buying a book too! Thanks for sharing so much awesomeness missed these posts 🙂

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  10. You know…about meditation. I’m going on a meditation retreat on Wed – Sun. It’s my first one, I have NO idea what to expect, and no technology allowed. Even when I go on my supposed “tech fasts” I still might check email once a day (they add up for all the blogs I’m subscribed to) and check my phone at least a couple of times. I’ll be like going back in time by ten years. Haha.
    And speaking of subscriptions, I’m subscribed to Leo’s blog and saw that come in about the whole control thing. Powerful stuff.
    Hope your East Coast adventures are treating you well. Take care!

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    • Enjoy your meditation retreat. It sounds like a worthy stretch. I haven’t gone more than a day without tech in recent years. Leo has some great ideas. I’m back in Arkansas and settling in. Thanks for the encouragement Cynthia. hugs!

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  11. Good to have you back, Brad! I really enjoyed the stories this week. They seemed very timely to me or something. I can’t explain it. The mysteries of life continued to abound– to suprise, and heal, and nourish!

    Blessings
    Michael

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