New York, New York - Jamaican born author, minister and two time 9/11 survivor Pastor Oral Patrick has launched his motivational speaking tour Introducing Oral Patrick, in support of his health and wellness book Restorative Healing Begins With Rest.
Co - authored by his daughter Deborah Patrick, Restorative Healing Begins With Rest chronicles Patrick’s battle with various health ailments following his volunteer service over several months amidst the ruins of the World Trade Center site- his former place of employment. He avoided possible death by being fired from his job on September 10, 2001, less than 24 hours before the planes would smash into the Twin Towers. In the book, he shares methods incorporating the resting of mind, body and spirit which proved successful in helping him achieve a full recovery after over a year of debilitating illness.
The Introducing Oral Patrick tour will initially take Pastor Patrick into churches, colleges, alumni associations and other places of business in the New York Tri State area. It features an oral presentation in which he shares the story of the life altering spiritual and physical events he encountered before and after 9/11, and the everyday tools detailed in the book that he believes we can all employ to regain and maintain optimal health. The presentation is followed by a moderated Question and Answer session with the audience, and culminates with a sale and autograph signing session for the book.
According to Patrick, the idea for the tour arose following a highly successful press campaign he did in August and September to promote the book during the nation's annual 9/11 commemoration events.
“I did an extensive media tour doing interviews with many print, radio and television outlets here in the USA, Jamaica and the Caribbean," he recalls, "And the response to my story - which so many people were hearing for the first time- was quite overwhelming. The idea that I essentially survived 9/11 twice- firstly by being fired from my job on September 10 and therefore not being in the World Trade Center the next day- and then secondly after having to recover from several illnesses I contracted while being a volunteer at the site later on - led to significantly increased interest in the book. And so my team and I decided that we really needed to take the story on the road to the people who may need to hear it- anyone struggling with spiritual, physical or emotional ailments or who wishes to maintain the great overall health that they may currently have, or who may just want to learn more about how essential rest is for the human body to function correctly. So we will start with the New York Tri state area, which is home to me, and expand outward from there."
The Introducing Oral Patrick tour began in early November at the Grace Episcopal Church in Jamaica Queens, and was hosted by the church's Father Rudolph Anthony. According to Patrick it proved a resounding success, with many congregants purchasing multiple copies of the book for family and friends.
"This gives us a great deal of encouragement going forward as we look ahead towards venturing into other states and hopefully internationally in the near future."
Born in Old Harbor, Jamaica and a graduate of Vere Technical High School and The University of The West Indies, Patrick, along with his parents and eight siblings, immigrated to the USA in 1987.
After being fired as a Computer Systems Engineer on Floor 83 of One World Trade on September 10, 2001 due to staff layoffs at his company, Patrick was heading back into the city from his New Jersey home the very next day to seek new employment when the two planes slammed into the towers. He watched from a Manhattan deli as both structures- including the one he had worked in up to the day before-crumbled before his eyes. Within days he returned to the site of the tragedy for what would be the first of several weekly trips, determined to ascertain the whereabouts of his former co-workers and other friends who had worked nearby. He would eventually become an informal volunteer, handing out water to first responders as they went about their tasks of rescue and recovery.
But over the next few months, his health dramatically deteriorated with changes in his vision, breathing and skin tone as well as skin rashes and respiratory congestion. As months passed and his symptoms became worse, he realized that conventional medical methods were proving wholly ineffective for him, and he began pouring himself into the world of natural healing, doing an in depth study of wellness and how to overcome chronic illnesses.
“After consulting with several natural health practitioners," he recalls, ”I learnt that almost any device will work again if you unplug it for awhile and then reboot it- even our bodies. So I decided to put rest to the test. ”
In very short order, his mood, sight, hearing, appearance and mental clarity dramatically improved. His joints, previously arthritic, were pain free and more flexible when he moved around. Again in good health after having been unemployed and financially challenged during his illness, he dramatically turn his life around within the next two years by starting several successful businesses and ultimately began to share his message of physical and spiritual healing as pastor of Word Of Wisdom Church (WOW) in his community of Teaneck, New Jersey.
He was inspired to write Restorative Healing Begins With Rest by others with whom he shared his healing methods and who have enjoyed similarly excellent results.
He maintains that it was rest alone- within the trifecta of body, mind and spirit- that brought him back to health, stressing that “Rest is not merely sleep. Resting the body involves avoidance of junk food in our diet as well as periodic fasting, so that the life force that normally goes towards digestion will go towards repairing the body instead. Resting the mind requires meditation, which reduces and eliminates stress hormones such as cortisol, allowing the body to return to proper balance. Resting the spirit is about authentic and complete self acceptance, with full gratitude for who and what you are in totality, which allows you to be calmer and more centered. In our Introducing Oral Patrick presentation, I explore these concepts from the book with the audience in more detail, in an enlightening yet entertaining presentation that has proven life changing for many."
