The Practice of Presence is about making a new start by coming alive to this present moment, wherever we are, without changing our conditions. It is in the present that we will find meaning and heal the wounds caused by hate, violence and the suffering that is an inevitable part of life. By practicing attention to our own presence we can learn to receive in a new way everything that comes toward us -- the demands, the seductions, the possibilities for joy and nurture.

In The Practice of Presence the reader will find practical guidance on how to seek daily what we truly desire behind all the urgencies and obligations of our lives: contact with our own immediate inner truth. The book contains the seminal ideas and experiential activities of five great spiritual paths as seen through the lens of a seeker’s experience. Some of them are well known like T’ai Chi, prayer and meditation. Others, like the Alexander Technique and Jungian studies, are not usually thought of as spiritual, and the Gurdjieff teaching is relatively unknown.

Each of these paths to wholeness is complementary to the others, calling on the body, mind and feeling in unique ways that can lead to a growing integration of all three. The author, Patty de Llosa, has studied all of these paths intensively for many years, while pursuing fulltime activities as a journalist, parent and teacher.

Morning Light Press (morninglightpress.com)


Learn about Patty's latest book, Taming Your Inner Tyrant: A Path to Healing through Dialogues with Oneself, at www.tamingyourinnertyrant.com.

Her third book, Finding Time for Your Self: A spiritual survivor's workbook—52 reflections and exercises for busy people, will be published in the spring of 2015 by Sussex Academic Press.

You can email Patty at: patty@practiceofpresence.com

 
             
 

This new translation has just appeared in Czech from Malvern Publishing. You can order it here.

 

A downloadable audio version of The Practice of Presence, read by the author, is available at http://silverhollowaudio.com/

For audio samples, click here or click here

A Spanish translation,
"La Práctica de la Presencia,"
is available at www.editorialganesha.com.

 

You can also read Patty's most recent articles:

See "The Work in Life" issue of The Gurdjieff International Review at www.gurdjieff.org

and "The Spiritual Dimensions of the Alexander Technique" http://alexandertechnique.
com/articles2/llosa