Researcher and neuroscientist at Harvard, Sara Lazar, have found that your brain structure changes noticeably after less than 8 weeks of meditation. They saw no changes in the control group.

Meditation has been found to increase the brain size – larger volumes of grey matter specifically – in the right orbito-frontal cortex, left temporal gyrus and significantly larger volumes in the right hippocampus.

These areas are especially important in tasks associated with attention, emotional regulation and mental flexibility.

Meditation has also been found to decrease the size of the amygdala. The amygdala is associated with fear and stress responses.

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.” – Edward Bernays (“the father of public relations”), Propaganda, 1928 (note that Bernays’ book, Propaganda, begins with the above quote).

If you told somebody 10 years ago that there existed some sort of secret group or “secret government” pulling the strings behind the scenes of government policy, international law, various global rules/regulations, and more, they would have called you a “conspiracy theorist.” Today things have changed, largely as a result of information leaked by Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and various other whistleblowers and activists in recent years. Their bravery has shed light on the world of secrecy that’s been blinding the masses since its inception.

Ever thought something was impossible?

Yeah, so did I, and sometimes I find myself in that awful mindset.

Sure things might be improbable, but impossible? That’s not a word I like to keep in my day to day vocabulary – in fact it’s one I decided to ban one day a few years back when I began to achieve my impossible.

If you are looking to make the impossible things happen in your life, know that I have a tool for you at the end of this article!

Let me tell you a quick story…

May 2010 was an interesting time for me (Marc Angelo Coppola for some more context). I had only one semester left in university and I had just sold my first real business (an indoor skatepark), which I had been running for 3 years – and with it I had lost my identity.

It seems all the craze is about how to have a spiritual awakening and the awakening movement. And it’s true, the number of awakening people are rising in mass numbers across the globe and what could be more exciting!

Yet, while all of the focus has been “its time to wake up” “it’s time to remember who you are and where you come from”. We seem to overlook an important question. Why are we waking up? There are many theories floating around about this and many explanations have been but whats what’s really going on?

1. We are destroying the earth. Obviously we can’t fight the scientific data of global warming. It’s a fact. As well as the detrimental effects of pollution in our oceans and the mass deforestation of our natural rain forests. However, should the human race carry the weight of this guilt? That, we are such horrible care takers and “its all our fault”. Shame on us? Absolutely not. You see, guilt is a powerful emotion and fear is an infectious virus. Next to fear, guilt is a number one motivator and today I am here to tell you it’s not your fault, so lose the guilt. If you think because you like/need to consume things that you are to blame for the state of the world, forget about it! Do you control the world? No, you control your world, so be conscientious and always try to give back to the earth as much as you take.

Little Tippi is the real-life Mowgli, a child who made her home with the animals just as Rudyard Kipling’s young hero did in The Jungle Book. Showcased in her new book, “Tippi: My Book of Africa”, these magical images chronicle the extraordinary life of a girl living freely in the African wilderness, sharing a unique bond with some of Africa’s most beautiful wildlife.

Born in Windhoek, Namibia in 1990, Tippi Benjamine Okanti Degre travelled through Africa for 10 years with her French parents, wildlife photographers Sylvie Robert and Alain Degré.

From sitting on the back of an ostrich, lying peacefully with a lion cub or cuddling with a caracal, these amazing pictures show an unusual bond and tranquility between man and beast.

By Sayer Ji
Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) openly acknowledges that fracking fluid contains “thousands of chemicals”, but nowhere is there mention of radioactivity in its risk assessments. Now, a new study reveals the “natural gas” industry may be hiding a secret as dark and deadly as the one the nuclear industry has been trying to conceal for decades.

Following recent news that California’s fracking industry will be “repurposing” its toxic wastewater to meet the needs of an agricultural industry driven desperate by the drought, a timely new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives reveals that fracking wastewater is not just a source of dangerous petrochemicals but also a highly toxic form of radioactive waste.

By Carolanne Wright
Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

The Declaration of Independence was drafted on it. The American Founding Fathers urged the fledgling country to grow it. And the first paper was made from it 1,900 years ago. Hemp. It’s one of the most versatile and sustainable cash crops on the planet. For all it’s merits, however, the plant has also been on a “no-grow” list for over seventy years in the United States, due to draconian laws established by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Thankfully, that’s all about to change.

A Modern-Day Gold Rush

As one of the oldest cultivated crops, hemp has a rich and colorful history. Cloth, paper, food, building materials, fuel, plastic — you name it, and there’s a good chance it can be made from the plant.

By Phillip J. Watt
Guest Writer for Wake Up World

We’ve all suffered emotionally throughout our lives. Similarly, we’ve all experienced trauma, regardless to what degree it personally manifested. When we’re born, we’re forced through environmental conditioning, which will always have both its positives and negatives. Our greatest influences are generally our parents, followed by our peers. This ‘programming’ is also deeply embedded in the societal and cultural paradigms of our time.

Yet, once we become an adult, each and every one of us has the ability to alleviate our own suffering by redesigning our mind into a more functional and healthy state of existence.

When we enter into our early teens, we begin to question who we are and the world around us with greater veracity. If our energy, or inner fire, strongly conflicts with how we’ve been ‘taught’, then we rebel heavily. In contrast, if we’ve been given respectful discipline and realistic information from our parents, as well as a really good opportunity to independently explore and create how we think and behave, then we’re less likely to engage the world in contempt. That’s because we’re much freer than others who have been forced into their box.