For Presence by John O'Donohue

Airtime with Pat is now exclusively on the Patreon platform for its second season. The host expresses gratitude for the support of the first paid member at the Infinite Tier and plans to focus on gratitude, compassion, and guided meditations this season. They are also working on an ear massage technique to reduce anxiety. The host then introduces a poem by John O'Donohue called "For Presence" and emphasizes the importance of being present in our lives. They guide the listener through a brief meditation exercise before sharing the poem. The host concludes by encouraging listeners to engage with the Airtime community. Welcome to Airtime with Pat, part of the Airtime community as well as a podcast intended to help each of us listen more deeply to the divine always around us, the divine within us, the divine within others, and seeing the divine throughout creation. Today marks the beginning of Airtime only being on Patreon platform, and the very beginning of our second season, so this is super exciting. Special welcome and shout out to Brian Sigler, Airtime's first paid member at the Infinite Tier, and to Mel Sigler for becoming an Infinite Tier member as well. Your financial and community support are greatly appreciated. Plans for this season include more gratitude and compassion work, as well as some of what I hope will be helpful guided meditations, and right now I'm working on simple anxiety reduction through ear massage that soothes the vagus nerve and the parasympathetic nervous system. So welcome, and that's a bit of what we can look forward to this season. With that, I'm so glad that you're here to spend some time to listen together and to build this community together. Today as we open our season, I'd like to offer a poem by John O'Donohue titled For Presence. It's a poem that I come back to frequently, and by frequently I mean a couple of times every week. I do so because I need to be reminded about presence and the importance that presence has in our lives. I also go back to this poem and others in its book, titled Blessing the Space Between Us. Sometimes those spaces in our relationships are really thin and almost liminal. Other times those spaces in our relationships feel thicker, like a fog, and we're not quite sure how to get through it. Before I read the poem, let's take a minute to prepare ourselves for being present. Become fully present to yourself for just the next few minutes. This time is a gift that you can share with yourself. As you become more and more present in the now, you can leave the past in the past, and your future to-do list will still be there when you're done being present with yourself. As you become more present in the now with yourself, you will naturally experience more presence of yourself, and more presence of others, and of creation, and more presence of the divine. Let's start with a few deep breaths. Get yourself in a good posture for presence, sitting in a way that is not too tight and is not too relaxed. Let's get ourselves into a posture for presence, sitting in a way that is neither too tight nor too relaxed, but comfortable and upright. Press both feet on the floor, hands resting in your lap or at your sides. We're going to breathe in through your nose and then out through your mouth. We'll do three deep breaths like that. In through our nose and out through the mouth. Two more. Last one. In and out. Now you're invited to listen to For Presence by John O'Donohue. Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence. Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses. Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon. Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path. Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity. May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame. May anxiety never linger about you. May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul. Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention. Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul. May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder. May you be present and filled with presence throughout your day. Everyone thanks for listening to For Presence with me today. Reach out with a post or a chat and let's keep building this airtime community.