There isn’t enough credit given to the benefits of changing things around.  Ok, maybe I wasn’t giving enough credit to changing things around.  No one is a fan of surprise change that disrupts our lives or creates unnecessary chaos.  Chaos for chaos’ sake rarely works out well for anyone.  But deliberate intent and focus on changing things up can have great benefits for the mind, body, and soul.  Sure, there are amazing benefits to routine and efficiency—we tend to accomplish more, we know what we are doing/what the goal is, we know what we need to focus on to get it done, we stick to our timeframes, we are able to rely on anticipated outcomes, and as long as all parts are functioning as they are supposed to we yield what is expected and thensome.  However, I noticed a drastic change in my productivity when I started working from home.  I thought it was just the elimination of distraction from the office, the constant pull of people knowing I was physically there and available but as I continued working from home, I noticed a marked increase in knocking things off of whatever to do list I had.  A colleague of mine who focuses on wellbeing for employees shared some thoughts on changing her environment when she had to go to a different location in our system and some of the research she was doing on new healing techniques/techniques for wellbeing.

The technique she mentioned that caught my eye was Forest Bathing (Shinrin-Yoku).  I’ve heard of this before and it sounded absolutely amazing to me.  It was when I read The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield that I first felt the draw toward it.  I loved the idea of maintaining presence while in a forest, surrounded entirely by nature and the degree of connection the main character expresses.  Every time I’ve ever been surrounded by trees I’ve felt an intense calm come over me.  Every time I’ve passed a forest preserve or driven past hills/mountains covered with trees, I’ve had the urge to walk through it.  Trails entice me, I love watching the trees breathe outside my windows.  So I’ve naturally had this connection to the technique my whole life and there is genuine validity to it.  Nature itself lowers blood pressure/heart rate, engages the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing anxiety, and increasing feelings of connectedness—and that connectedness is with self.  There is grounding when we are near such a high energy source.  So this technique is demonstrative of the benefits of even temporarily changing our environment but it hits on so much more.  Sure, temporary change can stimulate us but it can also inspire us for something bigger.  It can revitalize us, connect us to our purpose again, still us enough to show a new way.  Change can be the catalyst to the stillness/peace we are looking for.

As I step into one of the biggest changes I’ve made in my life, I feel the difference in me.  I made a conscious choice to do something different for myself and my family and it means giving up nearly everything I have known/done for the last 8 years and giving up what I’ve worked for over the last 23 years.  But it is the culmination of the bigger picture, the next step into my evolution.  Perhaps more of the unveiling of who I really am.  I thought I wanted a specific type of power, to call the shots, but I’ve realized that there was so much bureaucratic bullshit with it that I would never be allowed to accomplish what I wanted to regardless of what I did.  I see the toxicity of what I’ve been living in and I feel the weight of who I used to be falling away.  The expectations I’ve known for a while that don’t work, the unnecessary pressure, the behind the back jockeying for position.  I have moments of clinging to it because that is still familiar.  It still feels weird to be that person who calmly goes with the flow, who follows her instincts, who listens to her spirit, who tries to find guidance and connection in something greater, who has taken control of her personal habits and is taking care of herself, who stands confidently on her own two feet. But all of this came from changing things around.  Do we have to disrupt our entire lives to find the benefit of change?  No.  We just need to make the conscious choice to find where we belong because we have that knowing—and then we need to get there.