Update on Bike 4 the Brain Beneficiaries

The 2011 Bike 4 for the Brain event was able to award five $2,500 grants!   The 6th annual charity cycling race, B4B, raised enough money to present five vs. four grants to raise awareness about mental illness in the greater Kansas City area because an anonymous donor matched one of the four $2,500 grant contributions!

A check for $2,500 was awarded to each of the following five organizations by Dr. Ken Sonnenschein, Founder of Bike for the Brain, which is an annual cycling charity event:

1. Suicide Awareness Survivor Support

2. Pathway to Hope

3. Kids TLC 

 4. Wyandot Center Homeless Outreach

5. Niles Home for Children

Congratulations to Dr. Sonnenschein, family and friends, cyclists and volunteers who worked as an amazing team in making the 2011 B4B event a great success in raising awareness about mental illness.

Karen Lang, Your Brain Pro

Coach and Blogger at www.YourBrainPro.com

Colorado River at Navajo Bridge

Summer vacations are in full force.  Summertime is a great time for your brain to break away from work and school to get some serious rest and relaxation!  Here are some brains relaxing as they drift down the Colorado River before heading down river towards The Grand Canyon.  It was fun to listen to the people saying hello and waving to us as their cute boats floated under the Navajo Bridge from where I took this beautiful picture. 

A new visitors center is located at the Navajo Bridge on US 89A which will take you past the beautiful Vermilion Cliffs and drop you into The Grand Canyon on the north side.  Beware when driving in this very remote and beautiful area of Arizona as there are no gas stations anywhere to fuel up!

The USA is a beautiful country.

Karen Lang

Some Brains Prefer Jeep Trails

Some brains enjoy taking popular extreme jeep trail rides into Chinaman Gulch located in Buena Vista, CO.  Here are two YouTube videos featuring Chinaman Gulch for your viewing…

And then there is and the neighbor jeep trail called ‘Carnage Canyon’ which is an absoluately extreme 4×4 route you definately need to plan to winch out when exiting the canyon!   Are you ready to plan a trip as jeep trail riding in the Colorado mountains is a lot of fun.

Here is a YouTube video of Carnage Canyon with 45,556 views!

Different brains prefer different types of hobbies to have fun on a Saturday afternoon.

Karen Lang – Your Brain Pro

Still pictures taken by Karen Lang

www.YourBrainPro.com

Rafting and Teamwork

How you prefer to go rafting down river tells you something about your brain and how you prefer to think and behave.   Depending on what questions comes to your mind first really tells you a lot about how you prefer to think and behave.   For example, when you think about going on a rafting trip do you first think about:

1 How much money will it cost

2. What date/time to go

3. Who is going with you

4. Can’t wait to experience the unknown

5. Can’t wait to post/tell all your friends on Facebook about your trip

 All these questions may come to mind when you think about going on a rafting trip, but which question or statement calls your name first really tells you a bit of information about how you prefer to think.  No answer is right or wrong,  just different.

When you go rafting you are put in a rubber boat with a bunch of  other people who may think differently than you do and this is what makes the trip fun vs. kind of boring.  It might be a boring experience if everyone shared the exact same expressions going through all the rapids together.  Adding diverse personalities / brains makes the trip interesting.

Whitewater rafting down the river with a group of people is like trying to build a team at work too.  It is hard work creating a successful team, but rewarding and fun when everyone is focused on the same company goals by working together through their our strengths to succeed, like making it down river rafting as a whole team without your rubber raft tipping over.   It takes teamwork to make it down river in a raft, canoe, and life.

Rafting pictures taken by Karen Lang.

Enjoy watching these three rafting company videos taken on the Arkansas River in Colorado:

Karen Lang – Your Brain Pro

www.YourBrainPro.com

Kayaking

You may not want to get into the water to kayak, but it is fun for your brain to process this image of someone else kayaking down the Arkansas River in Buena Vista, CO.   Research has shown getting outdoors is good for our brains.

Pictures taken by Karen Lang

Your Brain Pro