The First Present from which All Presents Come is Presence

We look before and after, and pine for what is not; Our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught.
― Percy Bysshe Shelley

Be here now. Take some time throughout the day wherever you are, whatever you are doing.  Take a break to awaken your senses.  Give yourself the gift of presence.

Why?

1. The present moment can be your muse, the place from which creativity arises.
2. The present moment is the pause that refreshes. Recharge your battery.
3. This moment is a break in the habitual pattern of thoughts that run through your mind day after day, the beginning of a whole new mind.
4. You are giving yourself the gift of increased sense and sensibility.
5. You are making presence your new normal.
6. When you are present, you open yourself to new possibilities.
7. Presence brings the clarity necessary to enhance those abilities
   most important to you.

How:

1. Notice your breathing. Feel the expansion of the chest and abdomen on the in breath. Feel the relaxation and letting go on the out breath.
2. Scan your body. Are you warm, cool, comfortable? Where is the feeling?
3. What do you see? See color, motion or stillness, near and far.
4. Notice surrounding smells. Take in these scents.
5. Notice the surrounding sounds. Pause for your own sound bite.
6. Feel the air touching your skin, your clothes. Run your thumbs over your
   finger tips.
7. What is the taste on your tongue, your lips? Savor this moment.

The rich, sensory experience is right here in this moment, available to experience fully, and most often to your delight!

If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves.
― Maria Edgeworth