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Dear Friends, Fans and SoulMates,

One thing presence does is help us recognize, consider and act on what we might call “intuition.” We can ignore intuitive feelings, and we can also misinterpret intuitive feelings out of fear. The key is to be quiet, remain aware and listen to yourself. Viktor Frankl writes in his classic book Man’s Search for Meaning, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”

With this as a context we decided, for this edition of Wellness Tonic, to focus on Wellness through Presence.

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness.
If you are attentive, you will see it.

Thich Nhat Hanh ~

Wellness Tonic To-Go

Daily Calm | 10 Minute Mindfulness Meditation | Be Present

My beloved father, my Valentine forever, passed away unexpectedly on January 29th; today was his 91st birthday. I had just been to visit him at home in Jamaica, and within ten days of my return he left us – my sister, brother and me – during an overnight hospital stay. I will forever cherish his memory and my last visit with him.

There were many moments before I left for our visit that I might have thrown in the towel because of travel restrictions, my own trepidation about traveling during a pandemic, the numerous stumbles getting Covid tests (Was it the test date or the diagnosis date that was required? Did it have to be a PCR or could it be a rapid test?), Would my plane actually take off during an unprecedented number of flight cancellations?

These questions and more clawed at me. But something kept telling me to carry on and every second of doubt was met with a steady resolve to stay present, to get everything done, and to get there, for what I didn’t know would be my last visit. My gut, my intuition won me over because I was present to a feeling that said, “You want to see your father; it’s been two years since you saw him in the flesh; you miss him, you want to go.”  I remained present to my feelings, above the din of my doubting voice.  From my view, following this urge was the greatest gift ever.  A moment of presence can change your life.

Photo Credit: millian/iStock

Life moves very fast.  Blink and you may miss something great! What does Oprah do to stay present?  You’ll be pleasantly surprised!

How do you practice presence?  How has it made a difference for you?  We’d love to hear from you!  So, please get in touch at Food For The Soul.  Trust your intuition, my friends, and most of all, be WELL!

Wholeheartedly,
Your Food For The Soul Team