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Why does TOTONOE, that supports the conditioning of working people, choose to focus on bonfires as one of its themes? Here are four reasons why I recommend bonfires for professionals, based on my love of yoga and research papers.

1) Healing with the fluctuation of 1/f
2) The color of the fire leads to liberation of the mind
3) Promotes communication
4) Meditative effect resets brain fatigue.
5) Summary

1) Healing by 1/f fluctuation

Have you ever had the experience that you feel sleepy when you are in the passenger seat of a car? In addition, babies who don’t sleep well at home will mysteriously fall asleep when you drive….

It is said that this is due to the “1/f fluctuation” in the sound of a car driving.

“The “1/f fluctuation” is a condition where the sound seems to be regular, but in fact it has irregular fluctuations. This “fluctuation” is said to calm and soothe the mind. That’s why adults and babies want to sleep in the car.

Bonfires also have this “1/f fluctuation,” which has a healing effect. Moreover, bonfires have the 1/f fluctuation in the flames and in the sound of the fire, so you can kill two birds with one stone, healing both visually and audibly. It’s perfect for healing when you are tired from work.

2) The color of the fire leads to liberation of the mind
Our emotions and actions are also influenced by colors. This is called the color effect, a psychology that is also applied to advertising.

According to color psychology, the warm orange color of a bonfire is expected to have a positive and liberating effect on the mind.

A bonfire may help you realize your true feelings and come up with creative ideas that you hadn’t noticed before.

3) Promotes communication
Historically, fire has the power to promote communication, as seen in the hearths and braziers in Japanese houses and the fireplaces in Western countries, where families gather around them to enjoy meals and conversation.

I found an interesting study that demonstrated this effect.

A female college student and a housewife, who had never met each other, were paired up and asked to spend 50 minutes in a room with and without a fireplace, and their behavior and feelings were compared.

According to the results, the women who had a fireplace tended to nod their heads more often, and the amount of time they spent in conversation was shorter.

There are various possible reasons for this, but I think it is the result of the feature of fireplaces and bonfires that “a sense of unity can be obtained even without eye contact” by conversing with each other while looking at the fire.

4) Meditative effect to reset brain fatigue
As someone who recommends meditation for improving work performance, controlling stress, and recovering from fatigue, this is the effect I want to focus on the most.

The reason why I recommend meditation is because it has been shown with scientific evidence to be effective against the fatigue of modern people.

However, if you recommend meditation to people who have never tried it before, most of them will either reject it, saying that it is not for them without feeling the effects, or they will not want to try it in the first place.

On the other hand, a bonfire is a meditation that is easy for newcomers to try because all you have to do is stare at the flames. This is because the more you are aware that you want to meditate, the further away from the meditative state you will be. Bonfires are very good in that you can get the effects of meditation without being deeply conscious of it.

The advantage of being in a meditative state is that it suppresses the distractions of the brain. This allows you to focus on the “here and now,” which can help you free yourself from stress, anxiety, and fear, and become aware of your true feelings.

The reason why I want to recommend this effect to businessmen is because the brain is dominated by distractions, which is the cause of the fatigue of modern people.

These distractions account for 60 to 80 percent of the energy consumed by the brain. Meditation can take the brain from idling to stopping the engine, so to speak, and give it a rest by suppressing distractions.

In addition, when you are working, you may unknowingly
Evaluation from the people around you
Social status and title
The way you think things should be.
When you are working, you may unknowingly be living in armor…

Meditation is a time when you can gently take off your armor, like peeling off the skin of an onion one by one, and encounter your pure self, giving you peace of mind.

By having this time, you will be able to truly reset the fatigue of work.

Conclusion
I have given you four reasons why I recommend bonfires to professionals.

Surrounding a bonfire heals the body, opens the mind, removes distractions from the brain, and regulates both body and mind. These effects can be expected just by watching videos of bonfires on YouTube. This is a recommended method because it can be done easily at home.

Also, if you gather around a real bonfire with your friends, you can talk more honestly than usual and get stimulated by their stories, which may lead to new insights that can help you make a breakthrough in your work.

When you are tired of work or feel stuck, why not try a bonfire?

Written by:

Eri OGA

TOTONOE Supporter
Instructor/ Yoga Researcher