BUSINESS, A Nature Time Out                                                            
Painting By Kat Cunningham

Taking a breath of fresh air to reconnect - Three simple steps to workplace balance As I look out the window of my office while writing this, I marvel at how nature is always in complete balance. My nature guidance taught me that the reason for its balance is it knows when to take time out. Even in nature, it has up and down cycles of energy. We push and push to a point of exhaustion in our work schedules. Since there is only one system of nature that was created, we need to take time to see how the rest of nature handles the stress of survival we believe we are under.  Everything has its active and resting periods during a 24-hour cycle. Human Nature is the only creation that does not recognize this. Because we have removed ourselves from the concept that we are just another form of nature, guided by the same physical laws, we have created separation. We have gone so far as to design our spaces (building structures) to be totally void of our natural connection, cutting us off from visual balance. Those that have their head in a cubicle are totally shut off from balancing, visual stimulus. 

 WAYS TO RECONNECT It can be as simple as breathing. Stopping for 5 minutes to refocus on balance and energy regeneration is what is needed. Nature told me that the opening and closing of flowers and plants is like our breathing. Not all of them open and close at the same time. Time is not forced by a clock as we live by. Time is connected to the elements, seasons, weather conditions, and growing patterns. Birds flap their wings to regenerate their energy as a time out. A seagull showed me that hovering, wind gliding over my head, gives them a time out. It is effortless and they “kick back” and let natural forces do the work.

The secret for Human Nature is to learn to co-create with our BI– Body Intelligence. If you ask, your inner voice will inform you what it is experiencing. Our goal is to be more conscious of our space and learn how it affects us. Take a quick inventory. When we are tired and exhausted we need to also regenerate. Taking a 3-breath time out actually massages our organs, relaxes our cells, and re-circulates blood flow. This is such a simple thing to do for our body. I’m not asking you to flap your wings or run around the office like a frustrated chicken - although it would break the tension. You can achieve the same thing as the gull by getting up, walking outside, and feeling the wind effortlessly supporting you.   Another way to reconnect to natural balance is to give the mind a day off by presenting it with a visual stimulus it has been programmed with all its life…a scene in nature. It loves this part because when it sees a picture it goes into the old files of the past and draws up all the data it can find – to the point of adnausium  –  as distraction. The answer here is to reprogram new data to refresh yourself. Think of it as your refresh button on the computer. All of nature knows this secret  –  FOCUS!  What you focus on, you attract to you.

CREATE A VISUAL EXPERIENCE You can recreate the same balanced process by placing a picture in your work space of a happy vacation, favorite place in nature, or a fun summer experience. When you feel tension mount, especially when waiting on hold forever, fixate your attention on that picture and observe what happens. You will feel a sense of relaxation because it is connected to the emotion of being happy, relaxed, comfortable, supported, maybe even a tingling sensation. I believe the mind tells the cells it’s OK, all is safe…let go. For me, I keep a stature of a Dolphin on my desk to remind me of swimming with over 200 wild dolphins in New Zealand. My life changed after that experience, but that is another article about a dolphin saving my life. Once you set this connection to nature in motion it will be in your space as a recognized form of natural balance. Here is the real key my guidance gave me: “The mind will not try to confuse the issue because it has to accept its own programming as nature. It recognizes itself as also nature and cannot deny itself. So it allows what you create without much interruption.

Our answers to everyday balance are simple if we return to our roots as just nature.  

Here are my 3 KatStyle Simple Steps to Balance:  
1- Design your space with a nature-related visual (anchor) – a picture, statue, personal photos.
2- Become aware when stress (built up energy) is happening. Sense your body
3- Close your eyes and take three deep breaths. When you open, focus on your natural visual anchor until you sense a connection and the brain stops its useless chattering


 NEXT WORLD SPACE 2