Patricia Katz

REFLECTION: The evidence is in, and it’s decisive.

* When employees take part in corporate sponsored fitness programming absenteeism and turnover are reduced.

* Every dollar invested in wellness initiatives creates significant returns through reduced staff turnover, gains in productivity gains and a drop in medical claims.

* Informal breaks cut down on mental strain and increase feelings of well-being. Micro breaks maintain or increase productivity.

Integrating renewing, re-energizing breaks into busy workdays creates major returns on multiple fronts – not just for employee wellness and engagement but also for organizational productivity and profitability.

The business case has been well established over the last decade and continues to grow in strength. I’m attending the National Health Work and Wellness Conference this week in Toronto, and will be sharing more of the most recent findings with you in future messages.

ACTION: So what does this mean for you and your organization? (more…)

I’ve just spent the last few days of September enjoying the start of the fall season here in Vermont and New Hampshire.

While husband, Dave, took an Artisan Bread Baking at Home class at King Arthur Flour in Norwich, VT, I rambled the highways and byways with camera and sketchbook at hand.

This is a fabulous time of year to be in New England.

The fall colors are spectacular, and driving down any road is a treat – pure and simple.

I’ve posted a couple of images here for your enjoyment.

You’ll find a more complete set of pics and paintings on my Facebook page. See the Vermont Venturing album.

Montreal – always a unique experience. Here are a few bits from our recent 24 hour visit.

We stayed in Plateau Mont Royal area at Auberge de la Fontaine near Parc La Fontaine on Rue Rachel. The park and its green spaces are great for a stroll – and the whole area is uber bike friendly. Pictured here is the fountain itself – at the end of a broad walking boulevard.

Also, pictured here –  a little wildlife – in the form of a free range three year old intent on communing with a neighborhood squirrel.

Speaking of communing, I enjoyed my chat with the Whisperers. Les Chuchoteuses is the official name for this fabulous bronze sculpture by Rose-Aimee Belanger on Rue Saint Paul in Vieux Montreal.

If you’re down in the area, I highly recommend dropping info for lunch at Olive Et Gourmando – a sweet little bistro. I’ve eaten there several times over the years and never been disappointed.

Stumbled across this pint-size sculpture in a residential sidestreet. I call her InnukChick. Quite the wig! And if I’m not mistaken, that is a bonafide chicken foot on the end of her walking stick!

And, finally, a sketch I did from the balcony of our room – looking down on the balcony next door. While I did this sketch, 5 squirrels made forays up and down the staircase. Nervy little fellas!

Always something interesting to see and do in one of Canada’s great cities.

I spent a couple of days travelling to and working in Halifax last week. What a beautiful city with so much to explore.

I was greeted by a fabulous sunset on the day of my arrival. Have to say those Atlantic sunsets can easily rival the beauty we see on the prairies.

The next day, with a few daytime hours to spare before getting to work, I decided to adventure to an area that I had not visited before. Hydrostone Market is a block long village that was one of the first to be rebuilt after the Halifax explosion of 1917. It was originally designed with concrete bricks and tree lined avenues to recreate an English style suburban garden feel.

It was recently restored in 1993 and now you’ll find a vibrant community of shops and restaurants. I strolled a few of the bystreets – where an ivy covered veranda caught my attention. Set up my stool and my sketchbook and captured it in the morning sun.

Enjoyed an almond croissant and coffee at Julien’s Bakery. It was fun watching the locals come and go for their morning visits and errands.

Shopped the village strip, and then settled down at Epicurious Morsels for a late lunch of smoked salmon, seared scallops, on a bed of spinach with a bacon vinagrette. Gave me time to catch another sketch of the vibrant street scene.

Hydrostone is a bit off the beaten path – but  a great place to spend a few hours in the autumn leaves and sunshine. Thank you Halifax.

REFLECTION: How is your energy these days? Feeling bright and chipper, ready to take on the world? Dragging your backside out of bed in the morning, wondering how you’ll make it through another day? Or, maybe somewhere in between?

If you’ve explored the area of energy management, you’re probably familiar with the four categories of energy that can be drained or recharged: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. The thing is that it’s not always clear what causes an energy shortfall, and what needs attention.

For example, you can be emotionally drained by relationship issues, and experience that as physical exhaustion. You can experience fuzzy thinking and a lack of concentration, and assume it’s because you have too many things on your mind. That fuzziness may, in fact, flow from the fact that you’re feeling totally disconnected from purpose and direction. You’ve sprung a leak in your spiritual gas tank!

Crossed wires can explain why our efforts to recharge may prove futile. (more…)

REFLECTION: Sometimes a turn of phrase is all that’s required to accomplish a shift in experience. See if this change in phrasing makes a difference for you.

Most of us have a ‘To Do’ list of one kind of another. Many of us have multiple ‘To Do’ lists – for our various roles as parents, employees, bosses, and volunteers. September is often a season of new beginnings. We fire up projects that have languished over the summer. We register ourselves and others in fall activities, and generally ‘get back at it’ after our summer hiatus. Partner our own intentions with requests from others, and it doesn’t take long for those lists to mushroom into a full blown state of overwhelm.

At the point of seeming too muchness, it’s easy to forget why we wanted to do these things in the first place. Yet at some point we were actually looking forward to many of them. Tapping back into that initial desire and intention could change your everyday experience.

ACTION: Try this as an experiment. Turn your ‘To Do List’ into an ‘I’m Looking Forward To’ list. As you note down the activities at hand, think about how much might be looking forward to: sharing this experience, moving that task forward, making a contribution. Let that excitement and anticipation fuel your energy as you work your way through your day and your list.

Full credit goes to speaker friend and colleague, Sam Horn, for bringing this concept to my attention. I encourage you to read more from her about how you might turn this idea of reframing your ‘to do’ list into a short, medium and long term ‘ looking forward to’ list. See the link to Sam’s blog post in the resource of the week link below.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Begin each day as if it were on purpose.” – Author Unknown

RESOURCE OF THE WEEK: For Sam’s commentary on ‘To Do or To Look Forward To’, see her Serendestiny Blog.

READERS WRITE: In response to last week’s message on ‘Flourishing‘, Pause reader NM writes: This is great, Pat. Thank you! I would also note about the Relationships area, that (in addition to positive connections with others, what also matters is) a positive relationship with one’s self.

On September 8, between 50 and 60 friends, family, clients and colleagues joined me in celebrating my 25th anniversary in the speaking business, the launch of my latest book (Press Pause…Think Again), and the public debut of my watercolor paintings and prints.

It was a great afternoon. It felt so good to be surrounded by all of these supporters and encouragers. I’m grateful for their presence in my life.

I’m also delighted to still be doing what I love after all these years – helping others ease their loads while building a more thoughtful and appreciative world.

I’m relieved to finally have the latest book off the press and on its way into the hands of people who are looking for a bit of relief and encouragement.

And, I’m tickled by the positive reaction to my adventures into the world of art.

I thought you might enjoy sharing in a few images from the event. You can see more photos from the day in my Facebook album. You can learn more about the new book and arrange for your very own copy by visiting the Pause Shop. Please stay tuned for upcoming bulletins on the art front.

REFLECTION:  There’s no shortage of advice out there on how to live a more satisfying life. I’ve even been known to dispense a word or two myself! 🙂 Sometimes, though, the source gets lost along the way.

For example, there’s an echo of advice living somewhere deep in my mind that prescribes these three pre-requisites for happiness: something to do, something to look forward to, and someone (or something) to love.

There are elements of that buried wisdom in what was my most engaging read of the summer: Martin Seligman’s latest book, Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being.

In his earlier work, Authentic Happiness, Seligman noted three essentials for happiness: Positive Emotion, Engagement, and Meaning. Positive emotion boils down to good feelings (pleasure, warmth, comfort, etc.) Engagement is about using your best strengths and talents to be in flow – deeply absorbed by the activity at hand. Meaning relates to being in the service of something larger than yourself.

Over the last decade, further research has extended Seligman’s thinking and theory. (more…)

REFLECTION & ACTION: The motto of the University of Calgary (where I studied for my master’s degree in continuing education) is “Mo shuiles togam suas.” It’s a Gaelic phrase taken from one of the psalms. Translated, it means: “I will lift up my eyes.” What an inspired call to action!

My seminar participants tell me their overloaded days are often spent with their heads down-not eyes up. With their noses to the grindstone preoccupied with tasks and details, they wade their way through each day’s responsibilities, always fretting about the details.

If that’s true for you, try shifting that practice just a smidge. As you move through your day, take a moment here and there to lift up your eyes. Step out of the car-lift up your eyes. Step out of a meeting-life up your eyes. Tune in to the bigger picture and the reason you are about to pursue the tasks at hand. You’ll find a broader, higher, deeper purpose. (more…)

I’m spending the week here in Bend, Oregon, at the Art In The Mountains program. Taking a watercolor class from well known Wisconsin artist, Karlyn Holman.

Bend is a beautiful high desert location. Too bad we’re not spending time painting plein air. There are such beautiful landscapes around us.

I flew in a day early to have some time to explore and did get out to see a waterfall on the Deschutes River and some of the countryside around. Bend, itself, is a sweet city – very walkable and picturesque in the downtown and Old Mill areas.

The class is quite experimental in nature – in addition to watercolor, ink, prints, collage. All kinds of new materials and ideas in the mix. Good for stretching the creative mind and spirit. Thought you might like to see a couple of bits from the first couple of days.