Thursday 31 October 2013

Boosting Performance of Ethical Investments the Natural Way
Harmony on a Macro Scale via Micro Social & Environmental Symbiosis

Image Collage: What Was True for the Greeks is still True Today...
Heal Your Microcosm First - Ecosystems Help You Heal the Rest ~ www.peapodlife.com
Embedded Image Sources:
Microcosm-Macrocosm: machinatorium.wordpress.com: 120 // MSN2 / Research / Microcosm & Macrocosm
CEO: socialmarketbuzz.com: Social Market Buzz: CEO Leadership
Planet Hollywood Resort & Las Vegas Strip: wikipedia.org: Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino
Planet: ericsson.com: Ericsson: Technology For Good Blog - planet-earth

In some sense man is a microcosm of the universe; therefore what man is, is a clue to the universe. We are enfolded in the universe.
~ David Bohm
Read more at brainyquote.com: BrainyQuote - Microcosm Quotes

We are a microcosm of the universe. It is an ancient axiom which we cannot reasonably deny. We are products of our environment and our thoughts, words, actions, habits and character unfold our destiny (Lao Tzu, Mahatma Gandhi, et al).

Yesterday we attended an Ethical Funds presentation by NEI Investments hosted by Meridian Credit Union at Cutten Fields in Guelph, Ontario. The talk was given by Robert Walker, Vice President, Ethical Funds & ESG Services, NEI Investments.

What struck us during the presentation was the rise in Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) and Environmental Social Governance (ESG). The terminology we use at PeapodLife is Social Environmental Economics (SEE) as it relates to different aspects of the business process: SEE Valuation, for instance.

The logical goal of companies operating under an ESG framework is, after all, to affect macrocosmic change (positive changes beyond the narrow scope of shareholder value; one might say shareholder values, where values denotes something quite beyond material gain, called SRI or SEE in our terms).

Affecting macro change is difficult. No doubt about it. It is highly complex and impeded on all sides by innumerable competing interests. This is why nature does not affect macro change. It does not, and we see time and again in nature: fractal geometry, chaos mathematics, and biology.

Image Collage: Even the largest mammal on the planet is a macrocosmic expression (organism) of a perfect microcosmic design (the living cell) and a repeating process of cell division & specialization.Images Source: 

Nature perfects micro changes, then relies on intelligent application of those changes along an escalating framework of infinitely complex cause and effect relationships, called chaos by some.

Why can’t companies tap into the same natural process, on which the entire fabric of nature is based?

Using rainforest ecosystems to heal the microcosmic environment in which they work, CEO’s, their managers and employees will immerse themselves in the calming yet invigorating and inspiring energy field of a high-order ecosystem. Our ecosystems are designed to support the highest expression of all beings that are a part of them. When we are in their proximity, we count as members of said ecosystem.

The ecosystem is intelligent. It is self-regulating, largely self-supporting, and most importantly self-organizing. It comprehends that its survival depends in no small part on the success of the human beings whose living/working environment it calls its own. To that end, it must support not just the physical and mental well-being of said humans, it also strives to create an emotional bond; literally, a space of love.

How many great artists, philosophers, thinkers, scientists, designers, mathematicians, leaders, etc. have found inspiration in nature? We have taken for granted the scientific process at work. This is not just quaint anecdotal evidence or trivial coincidence. Nature seeks the evolution and highest expression of all its creatures: for all our posturing, we are still mostly intellectual animals.

And yet, we have the profound potential to be so much more. We have the potential to allow a new, “bottom up” kind of process to take hold in a positive upward spiral of chaos. If our microcosm was a space of symbiosis and harmony, and we were a part of that energy field, it is that harmonic energy field which would influence our thoughts, ideas, behaviours, words, actions, habits, character, and destiny.

Whereas until now, our industrial and post-industrial age has seen humanity live & work in largely toxic environments devoid of true natural expressions (and the macrocosm of the planet reflects this), we can begin changing the tide, quite rapidly, we might add, by making a dramatic shift at the microcosmic level in indoor environments of the movers and shakers: the leaders making decisions for companies, organizations and governments shaping the future of this humanity and the planet as a whole.

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Confessions of a Designer:
We Feel what is Beyond Measurement

Image: Sunnylands Center, Palm Springs Florida
“It’s not imitating the house in any way; it’s just instilled with the feel of some of the elements. It frames your experience as a visitor."
~ Michael S. Smith, Santa Monica designer
Source: palmspringslife.com: Design of the Times
These are the words of Santa Monica designer Michael Smith, on crafting a relaxing public space with the atmosphere of a grand living room. He mentions no measurements; no quantitative analysis whatsoever. No materialistic science of any kind.

And yet, as interior designers go, Mr. Smith must have some quantifiable credentials. After all, he did furnish the private living quarters of the White House for President Obama and the First Lady.

We live in a funny world: a world in which the ruling class has always measured success empirically on one hand, then used their wealth and power to wrap themselves in a feeling which cannot be measured...truly.

One can say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and one would be right if one was referring merely to aesthetics. But a designer’s language—especially a designer of spaces—lies not in the realm of aesthetics. We design spaces which feel a certain way.

We all know feeling is not the same as thinking; and, we know it is impossible to put a measure on qualitative aspects of a space. You can take all the physical measurements you want (dimensions, lighting, surface area, temperature, and thousands more) then take that data and try to reproduce the space with the same qualities and you will fail…miserably. Why is that?

I never really gave this much thought, actually. At least, not until I embarked on the whole PeapodLife project, started spending time with our ecosystems, and began comprehending for the first time the language I had been speaking my whole life as a designer.

What a designer feels is energy, but it is not energy which can be measured using any physical method. This is because the energy we feel is not physical in nature; it is subtle.

No one can deny their experience of “bad vibes;” of suddenly experiencing “the heebie jeebies” for no apparent reason.  Conversely, we have all experienced any number of “warm and fuzzy” feelings in countless different circumstances, often with no clear material cause. 

Science—particularly neuroscientists, armed with their fancy MRI’s, EEG’s and laboratory experiments—will disagree, of course. Their ceaseless efforts to reduce the human experience to electrical activity in the brain are as we speak advancing such noble pursuits as branding and advertising.


Image: Photo of woman wearing “Neuroscience Brain Hack” device by Neuro-Focus. | Photo by Gene Lee

Science assumes that “life energy” is the product of the physical organism. If there is such a thing as “bad vibes,” it likely has to do with electromagnetic fields (measurable) and their effect on the central nervous system and the brain.

How long can science ignore that the foundations of reality are energetic? They have built the $7.5 billion euro Large Hadron Collider for the purpose of detecting the Higgs Boson and other theoretical particles which give mass to energy.

Science seems desperate to assert the 3-dimensional worldview (that physical reality is primary). There is a disconnect, however. And we all can and do experience that disconnect: with every experience of non-physical reality, experiences which science desperately wants to convince us are merely products of our conscious and subconscious mind housed purely in the physical brain.

With our ground-breaking work on the ecosystem, PeapodLife brings biology to the discussion in a meaningful way. After all, there is no better way to observe the nature and foundations of life (and life energy) than from a biological framework.

By working with the underlying matrix of life—which is subtle, non-material energy—our ecosystems are able to achieve what no conventional materialistic approach to plants can. Certainly, we work in 3-dimensional reality, and the design of our ecosystems exist to support the bodies of ecosystems which are likewise material.

But the cause-and-effect relationships between 3rd and 4th dimensional are far more subtle, complex, non-linear, and precisely the reverse of what conventional wisdom would have us believe. How do we do it? Measure it? Prove it?

How do you know when a design works? You don’t think it through. You don't measure it. You simply feel it.

This is the starting point.


Martina Ernst
President and Co-Founder of PeapodLife a Division of Wo-Built Inc.

Tuesday 8 October 2013

3 Secrets to Using Nature to Grow Your Business: Amazing New Keynote for Green Business Associations!

PeapodLife Project Director, Attila Lendvai's Presentation 
“How to Add More Green to Your Portfolio”
Toronto, The Hyatt Regency, March 30, 2013
2013 @ peapodLife.com

Did you know that 50% of the North American workforce has complained of Sick Building Symptoms and 14% reported a decrease in productivity? Did you also know that the majority of office workers experiencing Sick Building Syndrome see a significant reduction of these symptoms when they spend more time outdoors? (Source: san-marcousa.com: ROMA: Eco-Sustainable Technologies: Benefits of Breathable Buildings: Statistics USA: Indoor Pollution: Sick Building Syndrome (SBS))

What if we could show you a way to improve the air quality and productivity in your work environment by bringing the outdoors into your office in a completely unique and unprecedented way to allow your workers and your business to thrive?

Three Secrets to Using Nature to Grow Your Business

In this informative and life-changing seminar, you will learn:
  • Hidden dangers lurking in your work environment literally sucking the life and profits out of your business. “Aargh!” (Venting won’t fix it).
  • How to get Mother Nature looking after your HR productivity, reliability and wellness issues.
  • Discover the world-changing secret to Bio-Networking a sustainable business model that enhances your human capital, protects the environment and increases your profitability.


Photo: PeapodLife's Booth at The Property Show
Martina Ernst, President and Co-Founder of PeapodLife and
Attila Lendvai, Co-Founder and Project Director of PeapodLife
PeapodLife (www.peapodlife.com), a Division of Wo-Built Inc (www.wobuilt.com)
2013 @ wobuilt.com
About the Speakers

Martina Ernst is the President and Co-Founder of PeapodLife (www.peapodlife.com) a Division of Wo-Built Inc.
Martina is a design & build specialist who helps businesses improve the quality of their work spaces. Her education, both in architecture and business, and her 25-year building industry expertise give her a unique approach to designing spaces with a balanced emphasis on aesthetics, practicality and profitability.
Martina was recently featured on Extraordinary Women TV, the radio shows Small Business Big Ideas Show and From a Woman's Perspective.
Martina's passion is to provide the healthiest indoor environment possible for her clients.

Attila Lendvai is the Co-Founder and Project Director of PeapodLife (www.peapodlife.com) a Division of Wo-Built Inc.
Attila is a passionate social entrepreneur with one eye on the big-picture; the other on the bottom-line. He has 20 years of international experience as a consultant and manager of both for-profit and non-profit ventures, working with companies such as IBM, ABB, Gas de France, Nova Scotia Power, Georgian Bancorp and Emilio & Coco. A seasoned speaker and emcee, Attila is also a blogger and author of The Attlas Project – SEE the World in a New Light, and contributing author of Competitive Intelligence and Global Business.
Attila was recently interviewed on AllTalkTV.com with David Grossman and is a regular contributor to GreenAddition.blogspot.ca.
Attila has made PeapodLife his life’s mission to bring clean air indoors to serve humanity in a deep and meaningful way.

Three Secrets to Using Nature to Grow Your Business

This exciting new keynote speech is available to organizations, associations, and their corporate stakeholders. We’re also happy to present to large corporations, governments, anyone who is sick and tired of working in Sick Buildings and want to know the secrets to higher productivity and employee satisfaction, the natural way.

For more information, contact PeapodLife today!

PeapodLife Building Ecosystems & Technology
Phone: 416.402.2679
Email: info@peapodlife.com
Web: peapodlife.com
Twitter: @peapodlife
Facebook:  Peapod Life Building Ecosystems & Technology
LinkedIn: PeapodLife
YouTube: PeapodLife
Vimeo: PeapodLife PRO
Blogger: PeapodLife


Thursday 3 October 2013

Experience our Latest Ecosystem Installation at the Inner Garden: Room 384, 401 Richmond Street West (at Spadina) Toronto

Photo: PeapodLife's Ecosystem at UrbanSpace, 401 Richmond
Genesis Eco Fund sharing office space in the Inner Garden
Room 384, 401 Richmond Street West (at Spadina), Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
2013 @ peapodlife.com

Come and experience an Ecosystem with us!

Today we are happy to announce that we have moved a modified Angolo Ecosystem Unit into the Inner Garden located at 401 Richmond Street West, Room 384. Genesis Eco Fund has taken part-time shared office space in the Inner Garden (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays).

Genesis Staff & Volunteers will be on-hand Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during office hours for ecosystem viewings and one-on-one Q&A sessions (by appointment). In addition, Genesis will be hosting information sessions, lunch & learns, and evening events as part of its community outreach and educational mandate.

Why the Inner Garden?

The Inner Garden is a shared space hosting an array of grassroots, arts, cultural & conscious events. Its stated goal is to cultivate collective opportunity for teachers, healers musicians, performers and facilitators to connect, share and gather with a heart-centric community, in love, service, and re-discovery, in the spirit of the following quote:

“Wisdom is knowing I am nothing,
Love is knowing I am everything,
and between the two... my life moves."
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
Source: theinnergarden.ca: The Inner Garden: Torontos Sacred Gathering Space

The Inner Garden’s philosophy, mission and approach are aligned with the vision and mission of PeapodLife and Genesis Eco Fund, expressed in the following passage from their website:

“The western garden: lush, visible, surrounding the house. Gardens in the West, are often designed for walking (i.e. doing),
The Eastern garden: hidden, thus invisible, in the center of the house, protected. Gardens of the East are intended for rest & relaxation (i.e. Being).”

Read more about the distinction between Western and Eastern Gardens and what they say about our lives.

Photo: PeapodLife's Ecosystem at UrbanSpace, 401 Richmond
Genesis Eco Fund sharing office space in the Inner Garden
Room 384, 401 Richmond Street West (at Spadina), Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
2013 @ peapodlife.com

Why an Ecosystem?

It makes perfect sense for the Inner Garden to have an ecosystem. Their mandate and activities in the shared space define it as a sanctuary: a space to not just be, but be at one’s very best: to realize oneself…one’s true Self. Sanctuary is what PeapodLife’s ecosystem technology is all about.

If we are products of our environments, we deserve the best possible environments.

It makes perfect sense, then, for everyone to have their own ecosystem; their own inner garden sanctuary…a place which balances the workaday world “out there”—with all its stresses and challenges –with a space of tranquility and harmony “in here.”

Everything happens for a reason.

PeapodLife is confident our ecosystem and not-for-profit division, Genesis Eco Fund, will make a valuable contribution to the Inner Garden, help others experience the priceless value of being in an indoor ecosystem sanctuary, and demonstrate how being in an indoor ecosystem sanctuary is the key to revitalized, creative, productive and stress-free doing.

After all, we still have to live. To truly live we must be in the world. Ecosystems not only remind us to be in the world but not of it, ecosystems help us be: more relaxed yet more awake; passive yet infinitely more creative; calm in mind yet infinitely more imaginative; balanced in mind, heart, body and infinitely more effective at whatever it is we do.

In short, ecosystems show us the way of doing being & being done. Come any one of the many events held at the Inner Garden at 401 Richmond (at Spadina), Room 384, (or, Contact Genesis Eco Fund to pay them a visit) and experience the power of the ecosystem for yourself.  

About Genesis Eco Fund:

Genesis Eco Fund is a registered not-for-profit corporation and the non-profit arm of PeapodLife Building EcoSystems & Technology (a Division of Wo-Built, Inc.) Supported in part by proceeds from PeapodLife sales, Genesis also runs fundraising and crowd funding campaigns. For more information about Genesis and their latest campaigns, please visit www.genesisecofund.org.

Photo: PeapodLife's Ecosystem at UrbanSpace, 401 Richmond
Genesis Eco Fund sharing office space in the Inner Garden
Room 384, 401 Richmond Street West (at Spadina), Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
2013 @ peapodlife.com