Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Caroline Welch, Scribe, $29.99.
The message is loud and clear — and the essence is hard to miss — for women, in particular. The co-founder and CEO of the Mindsight Institute, Welch has skillfully laid out the way in we should ‘live intentionally rather than on autopilot’.
It’s fair to say many women find themselves thrown in various random directions and being preoccupied after being overwhelmed by the demands of family, work and multiple responsibilities. Welch takes us on a mindfulness journey to help us de-stress and cultivate inner peace.
According to the corporate litigator and Judge Judy’s production attorney, we do not need countless hours sitting in silence to be more present in our lives — the key is to practice mindfulness wherever we are and whenever we can. The Gift of Presence is a realistic, user-friendly guide for women who need to be serene and seek to concentrate in the midst of life’s storms.
It’s a much-needed pourboire for us all — filled with practical insights and fascinating science about the power of mindfulness. By interviewing more than 100 women from diverse backgrounds, Caroline Welch has compiled real life examples of how ‘being present enriches our lives, allows us to find purpose and meaning, to recharge and renew ourselves, and to pivot when we need to course-correct’.
Look on it as a life-changing book that reveals what we already hold in our hands: the keys to a more harmonious life. We simply need to look within in a variety of wise ways that lead to a richer, less stressful, more balanced life.
With a master’s degree in communications and skills as an English teacher, Welch steers us into developing four inborn abilities we all possess that will allow us to become more resilient and centred in our lives: presence, purpose, pivoting and pacing.
She offers a wealth of insight and sage advice about pacing, multi-tasking, relationships, and other essentials; and, as a result, readers will find themselves thinking in new ways about their own home life, work life, and the fine art of simply being in the world.
This is a mindfulness guide for women that can “literally change our baseline way of being”. Now “there is a way to live with presence, starting today, that can bring more calm and well-being into our lives so that we can move beyond surviving to thriving”.
While there is no way around tending to the roles and responsibilities in our lives, states such as presence, joy, and clarity can become enduring traits.
Name the four inborn abilities we all possess that will allow us to become more resilient and centred in our lives. If your answer is correct, then you could win one of four copies of The Gift of Presence. It will make an ideal Mother’s Day gift on Sunday, 10 May. Entries should be sent to [email protected] by Monday, 20 April 2020. Names of the winners will be announced in Frank Cassidy’s PS-sssst…! column on 21 April 2020.
