Fractals: The Mathematics of Abundance Consciousness
A consciousness of the similarities between you and others can bring a fuller sense of inner peace and abundance into daily life.
An example of the self-similar property of geometric fractal shapes is a tree. The trunk has branches. Each branch is a smaller version of the trunk with branches. Even the leaves have a central vein, which is like a tiny branching trunk. From large to small there is a self-similarity, a sameness in the pattern but each part of the structure differs in other ways. Each branch is similar to the wholeness in pattern and function but also unique in size, color, texture, thickness and more.
With this uniqueness comes abundance, an abundance of structures, cells, shapes, and variety. If a tree was just one big trunk with leaves coming off of it, the overall mass of the tree would be significantly smaller. The fractal shape of a sequoia tree is designed to catch the most sunlight, distribute the most nutrients from the ground and through the sap. Trees, designed for an abundance of growth and productivity, produce wood for homes, paper for books, fruit and nuts, as well as vital oxygen for each of us to breath.
Your blood vessels, lung structure and branching nervous system fibers are also designed for the greatest possible blood, oxygen and information distribution. A healthy heart beat is a fractal pattern designed to maximize your adaptability. Adaptability means you can flexibly accommodate an abundance of situations and opportunities. If there were only one way for your heart to beat, you wouldn’t be able to shift between running up the stairs and walking along a beach at sunset. Your heart would either be pounding as you enjoyed the water lapping at your feet or would not give you enough juice to get to the top of a flight of stairs. The fractal patterned variability in your heart beat allows you to adjust and to live.
Your body, your health, your ability to heal is not like an on-off switch. It is more like a dimmer switch and the healthier you are the greater the range. The dimmer or brightener switch effect accommodates what is known as “the Goldilocks Principle.” When you have an abundance of choices, opportunities, and responses you can find the one that is “just right”—just right for your success, just right to enhance your relationships, just right to express your creative genius into the world.
Here is an exercise to enhance your consciousness of fractal patterns, improve your eyesight and help you find yourself in the fabric of life. It is from “Lights, Color, Action, a Vision Recovery Program.
Try this Fractal Tree Vision exercise outside in a place that has trees, when you have a chance. Or at each step close your eyes and do this as a visualization, imagining, for example, a huge beautiful oak tree. The healing properties of noticing the natural patterns work even when you are looking at a painting of a tree in natural landscape.
1. Look around yourself. Notice the light. How bright is it? Notice the colors and shapes around you. This is the “before” measurement of how you feel in your skin and in your environment. Notice how you feel, how relaxed your head and shoulders are. Feel whether every part of your body is comfortable. Take a minute or two to check in with your body and emotions. Then take a minute or two with each of these steps.
2. Choose a tree for this exercise (real or imagined or in a painting). Stand about 20 feet or seven meters from the tree. Notice the overall shape. Do you recognize the kind of tree it is? It doesn’t matter whether you do or not. Are there any birds that you see or hear? Are there any crickets or bugs making sounds? Is there a wind blowing, moving the tree? Notice the overall color of the leaves and branches.
3. Walk a little closer, so that you are about 10 feet or three meters from the tree. What is different from this distance? Do you notice more detail in the roughness of the bark? Notice the angle at which the branches come off the central trunk. See how the leaves are not all the same color and that there are shades and variations in the leaves. Does your body feel different as you look at the tree from this distance?
4. Now go even closer so that you are about three feet or one meter from the tree. Anything new that you notice? Look at the detail in the textures, the edges, how one branch flows into another or how the color on one part of the leaf gradually changes hue. How do your eyes feel now about a meter from the tree?
5. Again even closer so your face is just a few centimeters or inches from the tree. Look at the ridges and swirls in the bark. Is the bark on the trunk different from the bark on the branches or is it a smaller version? Notice the texture of a leaf. Trace the edge with your fingers. Feel the bumpiness.
6. Then close your eyes and imagine you are looking through a microscope at the bark or leaf or fruit or blossoms of the tree. What details do you notice? How does the tree feel different to you? How do you feel different?
7. Now reverse the process and back up so you are about three feet or one meter from the tree. What is different, when compared to the earlier time you were this distance from the tree? Do you notice anything new? Is there a new smell in the air? What has changed?
8. Back up even farther, so you are about 10 feet or three meters from the tree. Do you get a different feeling from the tree? Does the energy around the tree, or around you feel different? Calmer? More charged? What feels different?
9. Now back to the starting place 20 feet or seven meters from the tree. Take a good look and notice the details, the variation in the shapes and colors of this individual tree.
10. Finally, Look around yourself. Notice the light. How bright is it? Notice the colors and shapes around you. This is the “after” measurement. Notice where in your body you feel better. How relaxed are your head and shoulders. See whether every part of your body feels comfortable. Take a minute or two to check in with your physical self and your surroundings.
You have just experienced an individual tree, which is unique and yet has a pattern. The various parts of the tree, a smaller or bigger versions of each other are an important part of the whole. With this exercise many people experience a sense of relaxation, improved eyesight and a greater sense of well being. I would love to hear about your experience. You can contact me through my website.
About the Author
Kimberly Burnham, PhD, The Nerve Whisperer, recovered her vision despite an ophthalmologist’s curse when she was 28 and working as a professional photographer. He said, “You have keratoconus, which is genetic so there is nothing you can do about it. ” With complementary and alternative medicine, Kim assigned a new meaning and today at 55 she has better vision than when she was 28 or 40 for that matter. Kim helps people improve their eyesight, gain new insights and create a more beautiful vision of their life. She has just started a yearlong blog series, That Intersection Point, to help you improve your vision.