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During this time of uncertainty, we at FSorb are committed to continuing to offer you tips and practices to help support a quiet and healthy mind. The present-day pandemic and spread of the Coranviras is generating massive amounts of stress due to the change and uncertainty across the globe. In times like these, we’ve found it helpful to come back to some basic emotional intelligence and presence practices so we can truly respond from an empowered and grounded place. We know many people right now are feeling anxiety about their health, concerned about their business or work, or feeling immobilized by travel bans. The common denominator of what many are feeling is fear. Fear is one of the most ancient and core human emotions that is often felt in the solar plexus area. It is important to remember that fear is a normal, healthy, human emotion. Embarrassment around feeling fear or trying to tell yourself not to be afraid just increases the grip of fear. The feeling of fear can range from a slight undercurrent of tightness in the belly to a gripping, breathless feeling in the abdomen leading to a full-on panic. If you are feeling any level of fear along this spectrum, there are ways to catalyze this potentially challenging experience into an opportunity for personal growth and enhanced emotional intelligence. The Mechanics of Fear Fear is a core human emotion felt when under real or perceived threat. It is first and foremost, a survival mechanism. When we detect a source of stress, the brain sends out a cascade of hormones that prime us to either fight or flee from danger. These hormones can cause an increase in heart rate, shallow breathing, and shut down of normal functions, like digestion, to reserve blood flow for muscles. The most ancient parts of our brain associated with safety and survival kick into gear. This limits our access to the most evolved part of the human brain, the prefrontal cortex, which enables us to plan, innovate, and solve complex problems. This explains why when people are in fear they can feel a range of discomfort in their bodies and often act in irrational ways. Additionally, prolonged experiences of fear (such as daily anxiety and stress) puts the body into a compromised state that increases the chance of chronic disease. Catalyzing Fear into Personal Growth Any situation that has the potential to generate fear (such as the current state of affairs in the world) is an opportunity to get to know yourself better by becoming familiar with your personal physical and mental fear responses. With the right practices and tools, we can learn how to regulate our bodies’ responses to fear and develop stronger, more stable nervous systems to keep us grounded and present even in challenging times. How to Face Into Fear and Build Resilience Step 1: Identify your body’s experience of fear. Locate the physical sensation of fear in your body. Where do you feel it? What does it feel like? (An example would be feeling a tight, churning sensation in your belly or shallow breathing in your chest.) On a scale of 1-10 how intense if your fear (1 being slight anxiety, 10 being total panic)? Step 2: Deepen your breath Fear often dysregulates the breath. Spend 5-10 minutes taking deep, full belly/chest breaths. Step 3: Express Your Fear Being willing to say out loud, to yourself or others, “I feel scared,” is a masterful emotional intelligence move. Many people worry the opposite might be true— that “letting the cat out of the bag” will only intensify their fears. In fact, fear thrives on being kept secret, and only once revealed can it begin to lessen. Step 4: Move Even small physical movements (like wiggling your fingers and toes) can begin to move the energy of fear through your body. More intense movement, like fully body shaking or bouncing helps return the body to balance in times of stress. All animals engage in “therapeutic tremoring,” or shaking, after a stressful experience to return homeostasis and release the stress hormones caused by fear. You can encourage this process by voluntarily moving and shaking the body. Step 5: Claim Healthy Response-Ability In moments of fear, many people can feel out of control. You can give yourself your power back by discerning what is within your own responsibility, or personal ability to respond, and what is not. You cannot control the spread of coronavirus throughout the world, the ban of travel, or the mandatory shut down of your business. You can control your personal willingness to address, express and move the energy of your fear to restore your body and brain into a balanced state. From this state of balance, you will be better equipped to make powerful and rational (not panic-based) choices on how you would personally like to respond to your circumstances. We hope you find these suggestions to be helpful and worth passing along to others. If you have any questions please let us know.

Our nervous systems are constantly filtering the sensory overload that is a reality of life today. Emails and texts ping day and night, and we are rarely without a screen in front of us. We scroll through the whirlwind of posts and ads on social media. Distractions can seem like they are coming from everywhere, and that everyone is constantly trying to juggle multiple things at once. Multi-tasking has simply become a way of life. Unfortunately, this modern day habit doesn’t change the biological fact that the human brain does not function optimally while multi-tasking. While we have the tendency to congratulate ourselves for our multi-tasking skill, the fact is that to do more than one thing at a time requires that the brain is actually switch quickly between tasks. Multi-tasking depletes the oxygenated glucose in the brain, diminishing our capacity to focus and reduces productivity by as much as 40%. On the flip side, solo-tasking, or deliberately shutting off all distractions and focusing on one thing for a period of time, increases ability to think creatively and get more done in a shorter period of time. Even more deliberate focusing of the mind, such as in a practice like meditation, has been shown to reduce and anxiety emotional stress long term and reduce the activation of the amygdala, the part of the brain that lights up from fear or worry. In short, multi-tasking stresses us out, but focusing and being present to one thing can make us more productive, creative and feel more peaceful. Here are our top tips for breaking the habit of multi-tasking and being more present: 1. Reduce technology distractions Even though your home or work life may require you to have your devices on, taking as little as 20 minutes to turn everything off and focus on a task in front of you can help you be more productive. If your work or life doesn’t require you to have your devices on all the time, but you notice you do anyway, begin to shift into “check-in times”. Maybe you decide you will only check your email or social media twice per day, or only check your texts or voicemails every few hours. Pick a frequency that feels right to you. Bonus points if you leave your phone off or in airplane mode the rest of the time. *Tip: Maybe you can only do this on weekends, but even 1 day per week of reduced technology distractions can help you be more focused and present in life. 2. Meditate Meditating for as little as 15 minutes a day can help train your brain to focus. A lot of people are intimidated by meditation, but it doesn’t have to be hard. One easy beginner meditation goes like this: eliminate all distractions, find a comfortable chair to sit in, set your timer for 15 minutes, and close your eyes. Decide on your “focus point”: something neutral to bring your attention to, such as your breath, counting silently to yourself, or repeating a word silently to yourself (like “peace”). One of the mistakes beginners make is getting frustrated because they cannot maintain focus, and inevitably their thoughts wander. This is normal! The trick is to simply let these thoughts pass by, and gently bring your attention back to your focus point. This might happen 100 times over a 15 minute period, and that’s okay. You’re building the muscle of focus, and just like physical muscle building, you wouldn’t expect yourself to lift heavy weights when just starting out. 3. Breathe Deeply When we're stressed out we often unconsciously cut off our own flow of oxygen without knowing it. Next time you feel overwhelmed, notice your breathing. Are you breathing high and shallow into your chest? If so, take three deep belly breaths and observe how your internal state shifts. 4. Notice What’s Going on In Your Body So often when we’re trying to do too many things at once, we ignore signals from our body telling us to slow down. One tool we recommend is to do a quick body scan multiple times throughout the day: scan each part of your body from your head to your toes and notice any sensations. Tightness in your shoulders, tension in your jaw, or even hunger in your belly all signal a request from your body to do something different. This could be as simple as moving from sitting to standing, eating a protein rich snack, or taking a stretch break. In the long term, overriding or ignoring body signals (because of being too much in your head) can lead to chronic pain, muscle tension, or disease. The bottom line: multi-tasking may feel like the modern way of doing things, but this bad habit could be doing more harm than good. Choosing to slow down and bring more presence into your life can enhance your health, happiness, and productivity.

It can be challenging to attend a multi-day event full of visual stimulation, people trying to sell you things, loud chatter, and many conversations. How often are you leaving feeling inspired and re-energized versus exhausted and cranky? We believe there are three important steps to balancing the hustle and bustle of an event like NeoCon while also enjoying your time and keeping your immune system intact. Of course, it's important to keep yourself resourced with clean eating, regular sleep, deep breathing and hydration. Bonus points for taking time to exercise! If you really want to up your game, consider implementing the following three practices for a meaningful and memorable NeoCon experience: Presence Presence is a popular word and under-utilized skill. Are you able to be present with each conversation without thinking about multiple other things or looking beyond the person's shoulder for the next person to talk with? If you have a time limitation, consider starting your conversation by setting expectations around your availability and asking of theirs. Once locked in, remember to breathe deeply into your belly bringing energy back to yourself with each in breath. Make solid eye contact to maintain focus. ollow step #2 and be authentic by sharing whats happening in your inner experience. Authenticity Have you ever felt uncomfortable in your own skin? Pretending to be something or someone that we aren’t can be uncomfortable and exhausting. Most of the time we aren’t aware of the many ways we create this incongruency within ourselves. Authenticity starts with asking yourself, "Is what I say and what I think matching what I chose to do?" In other words, do your actions match your desired way of being? If you want to be in integrity with yourself and others try answering honestly when someone you know and like asks how you are doing. If this feels scary you can start by clarifying with them, “Do you really want to know?” If they confirm yes, tell them what is actually happening for you. For example, "Wow, it’s great to see you and I notice I have a lot of racing thoughts about the multitude of conversations I’ve just had, and I’m finding myself challenged to be fully present." This will bring a higher level of integrity to your own system as well as to the relationship. Concealing even the smallest type of information can dysregulate your system and prevent authentic connection. Appreciation If you want more joy in your life, it is important to overcome unhealthy criticism by developing a practice of authentic appreciation. Often our predisposition to criticism is the number one habit robbing us of the ability to express appreciation of ourselves and others. Try this appreciation practice as a way to begin shifting away from self-criticism. Each evening write down 5 things you appreciate about yourself. As a bonus, challenge yourself to share those things you appreciate about yourself with another. Tell them you are working on creating a habit of self appreciation and invite them to do the same. Even if they are small, find a way to move beyond the critical voice. If this is too much of a stretch, at least find something authentic to appreciate about people you interact with. It can take years of practice to cognitively restructure your internal self-talk, to generate self-appreciation and allow others to appreciate you without brushing it off. By practicing self appreciation daily, you open the doors to giving and receiving more appreciations from others with ease. In time you will likely notice your relationships are stronger and more loving. A life based in appreciation feels so much better than one guided by criticism. If you fall out of practice, simply recommit to appreciating. Practicing presence, authenticity, and appreciation during a big event can help conserve your energy and allow you to get the most out of the experience. If you're attending NeoCon, or another large event in the future, set an intention each morning when you wake up to focus on one of these three key themes. Notice what kind of opportunities show up for you to practice these skills. And watch the magic happen! P.S. We will be at NeoCon Booth 7-3012, please stop by and grab a Kombucha. #officedesign #sustainabledesign #quietthemind #presence #mindfulness #commercialdesign #commercialinteriors #reuserecycle #openoffice #neocon2019 #neoconshows

ACOUSTICS MADE HEALTHY Eco-friendly acoustic wall and ceiling panels THE FUTURE FOR SOUND ABSORPTION FSorb is an environmentally friendly acoustic product made from recycled polyester plastics (up to 81% post consumer). ​ Completely safe to human health, it is highly durable, and easy to work with. If you want the best price point on a healthy acoustic panel that won't fall apart, doesn't contain chemicals or fiberglass, and is easy to keep clean, we are your resource. Read more IMPRESSIVE STATS Ideal for retrofit and new space Install direct or suspended Smooth textured and easy to install Stocked in standard 4×8 panels Custom cut to any size or shape Contains no VOCs, or chemicals Hypoallergenic (no fiberglass) DIGITAL BROCHURE NRC 1.05 Sound Ratings > FIRE: CLASS 'A' Fire Test > 24 COLORS Selection > FSorb is the healthy building choice for top acoustic performance, durability, enhanced voice absorption, and thermal properties. WHAT OTHERS SAY Westside School “FSorb provided us a healthy acoustic product for our school at an economical price point we could not have received with any other product.” Bottle & Bull Pub Patron "When they first opened it was really loud and uncomfortable. After they installed FSorb it changed a lot and we can now talk and understand each other without shouting." Sellen Construction The sequencing of our construction required acoustic panels be installed before chilled beams in the exposed ceiling and before building enclosure. FSorb was moisture resistant, easy to clean, durable, and cheaper than the specified product SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

READY FOR SHIPPING FACILITY HOURS: We like visitors, although our manufacturing operations vary depending on what jobs we have going. If you would like to see our products or learn more about the many ways they can be installed, please contact us for an appointment. Weekdays 8am - 5pm ​ CONTACT US: 844-313-7672 info@fsorb.com ADDRESS: FSorb® 15135 NE 90th St.Suite 200 Redmond, WA 98052 ​

Connecticut Distributors: L&W Supply North Haven ​195 Sackett Point Road North Haven, CT 206-239-7448 203-239-7448 203-239-7752 Sales Reps: L&W Supply Massachusetts, Connecticut, Westchester County NY ​Courtney Keller 12 Cob Drive, Westport, CT, 06880 Court ney@ck-collection.com 206-360-2836