Looking up at the stars in India...
How to be more mindful with every hour, inspirations from space, and discoveries on inflammation
Hi friend!
Greetings from India this week. I am meditating at Tushita Meditation Center in Dharamshala - where the current Dalai Lama sits. Very short and quick email this week as I am limited on time and bandwidth. (The connection is quite poor up in the mountains)
While I am in remote areas of the world, I love looking up at the sky. High altitude and low light pollution makes the stars, moons, and (sometimes) planets shine brilliantly in the night sky. Something about it brings me ease and relaxation unlike anything else.
In the video this week, I share with you one of my mindfulness tricks: the mindfulness chime.
By setting up an alarm throughout the day to practice mindfulness, we can stop living in a trance-like state where days disappear in the blink of an eye. I've found that since implementing this trick, the smallest thing brings me some of the greatest pleasures of the day.
In Outer Space
I love looking at photos of outer space. We are such small parts of a much larger universe than we can comprehend. Though we cannot emulate the overview effect on land (the experience of looking at the world from outer space), we can read about it and take lessons from many of our space travelers.
Sometimes, I set my backgrounds to outer space as a reminder of this expansive universe. Take a look at these recently published photos by Scott Kelly. Absolutely stunning.
Speaking of Stars...
Recently had a conversation with a friend about my horoscope and it never occured to me to look at my entire astrological chart. She recommended Cafe Astrology for my natal chart and the findings are so spot-on. Try it out. Does this resonate with you?
The Brain-Mouth Connection
A recent article came out sharing advancements in brain-computer linking. By attaching a small impant on the head, thoughts from the brain can be sent to a computer and turn into speech. Wow. The mechanics are genius and worth reading more detail about in the article.
I've been extremely fascinated in this field for a few years now. Elon Musk's startup Neurolink has been working for years on developing implantable brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and a recent press relese reveals that it will come a lot sooner than expected. Bring it on, Elon.
Scientific Revelation
"If you can make Drosophila [fruit fly] diabetic, and then block the inflammatory response systems, you can cure diabetes in Drosophila, the same way you can reverse it in the mouse, in primates, and in humans, provided that you do it with the right tools. Of course, the higher the organism, the more complex these pathways are, so it takes more effort to define the precise mechanisms to manipulate."
It makes you really take a second look at that slice of bread if you don't tolerate gluten very well. Or visiting that buffet, or staying late at night for that last-minute deadline.
As always, thanks for reading!
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Anything else? You can always hit "reply" to email me directly. 💌
Have a beautiful day!
Metta (loving-kindness),
Steven