Sheinelle is back!

Co-host Sheinelle Jones returned to the 3rd hour of TODAY on Monday after missing six weeks following surgery to fix a lesion on her vocal cord.

She sounded great on Monday as she said hello from home to co-hosts Craig Melvin and Al Roker.

“It feels very weird. What did I miss?” she joked. “It’s good to see you guys.”

Sheinelle had been providing regular updates on her progress from home, which included not being able to speak for the first two weeks after the surgery.

She shared the great news on March 27 that her voice was starting to come back, complete with a cute cameo from her daughter Clara.

She reflected on Monday about a meditation given to her by Savannah Guthrie that came in handy during her time away.

“It was really helpful, and it talked about what to focus on as opposed to what you can’t focus on, and some things to wrap your mind around,” she said.

Sheinelle had two important takeaways from her recuperation.

“The gift of silence and being still,” she said. “We’re all so busy, very rarely do we give ourselves permission to sit still, and in that I found clarity, I found peace.

“At first it was very difficult, I’m not gonna lie, ordering a chai tea on a memo board or trying to talk to the kids. But after I just embraced it, I kind of found a gift in that.”

Not being able to speak for such a long stretch also had another benefit.

“And the second thing is the power of listening,” she said. “Really, we can apply that to the situation that we’re in right now. You’re home with your kids this morning or you’re with your spouse probably more than you’re used to. I noticed that when you can’t speak, your ears perk up and you’re hearing things that you’ve never heard before.”

Sheinelle is now hoping to carry those lessons with her now that she has returned.

“My kids were more inspired to talk to me, and now that I can talk again I’m committed to trying to keep that, if you will, to listen more in all areas of our lives,” she said. “I think it’s been really helpful. So I found a gift in all this really.”