Stop for a Moment

Stopping to visit with a butterfly who landed on my knee.

Primary Food(TM) is the notion that what we put into our lives, minds, and souls nourishes us first while the foods we put into our mouths provide only secondary nourishment. This concept is one of the core teachings at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where I began an amazing journey into a life of sharing good health and abundance.

By respecting the moments of grace scattered throughout each of my days on this planet, I find myself visiting with the likes of the butterfly pictured. This delicate creature stopped by our milking stand the other day and extended her proboscis to explore my sweat-soaked bluejeans. Not my idea of refreshment, to be sure, but the exploration kept her in place for several minutes. Undaunted by the stamping goat doe on the stand who, once milked, was ready to return to a day spent busily foraging through the woods for tender greens, this butterfly stayed and stayed.

Her presence provided one of those moments of grace where I just stopped to breathe and contemplate the greatness of the natural world around me. Having time in one's day to contemplate the delicate joints of a butterfly's legs, or the striping pattern on her antennae, or the way she moves about and probes with her proboscis--this time is a true blessing when we chose to take advantage of its offerings.

Cultivating health involves more than simply the foods we put into our mouths, or the exercises in which we engage, it involves those moments when we just stop, listen, breathe, and feel.

Consider one of those moments in your day. Did you take full advantage of the opportunity it presented to you? Commit now to stopping for just a moment today and appreciating what the world is offering to you.