The Practice of Presence: Five Paths for Daily Life 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: Five Paths for Daily Life 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.
Visit the website for The Practice of Presence: Five Paths for Daily Life here.
A Spanish translation, La Práctica de la Presencia, is available here.
The Practice of Presence also appears in Czech from Malvern Publishing here.
A downloadable audio version of The Practice of Presence, read by the author, is available at Silver Hollow Audio. For audio samples, click here or here.
ACCOLADES
“The Practice of Presence is a warm, welcoming, and wise testament to a life of search well lived, and an invaluable source of advice to those who would wish to live equally well.”
—Jeff Zaleski, editor of Parabola magazine
“How Patty de Llosa has made the most of her life and what a well-read, determined, well-educated, well-trained woman she is! I find the book compelling, informative and well woven together.”
—Marion Woodman, Jungian analyst and author of many books, such as Addiction to Perfection, The Pregnant Virgin, Dancing in the Flames (co-authored with Elinor Dickson), Coming Home to Myself (co-authored with Jill Mellick) and The Maiden King (co-authored with Robert Bly)
“In this unusually personal book, the author shares her experience of five different inner paths. Along the way, the reader is treated to a unique adventure, while being companioned by Patty’s well-written descriptions of her journey. It is left for the reader to see which of these experiences beckons or promises to contribute to his own life’s path, while appreciating how they have come together richly for her.”
—Joseph P. Wagenseller, Jungian analyst, president of New York ‘s C. G. Jung Institute, and faculty member of the Graduate Psychology department at Columbia University Teachers College
“In this honest and insightful book, Patty de Llosa shares her journey and inner discoveries working with some of the greatest teachers and teachings of our time. What is especially touching about this book is that the more candidly she speaks of her struggles, the more hope and evidence she provides that there really is such a thing as a path to inner freedom and great meaning that waits to be discovered in the midst of just this wounded life so many of us live.”
—Jacob Needleman, professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University and author of many books including Lost Christianity, Time and the Soul, Money and the Meaning of Life, The Heart of Philosophy and The Wisdom of Love
“All experienced and some inexperienced spiritual seekers glimpse, from time to time, what St. Augustine called “another reality.” But how are we to get to live there? In this fascinating new book, Patty de Llosa offers the serious seeker five bridges to that other reality. As she demonstrates, Jung’s analytic psychology, Gurdjieff’s enigmatic teaching, T’ai Chi, the Alexander Technique, prayer and meditation can be used in various combinations to suit the seeker’s needs at different periods. In the clamor of the spiritual marketplace, this book speaks in a new and clear voice.”
—Shimon Malin, professor of physics at Colgate University and author of Nature Loves to Hide and The Eye That Sees Itself
“The Practice of Presence reflects a good insight from the author’s personal experience. As the old Chinese proverb states: ‘he who tastes knows.’ Patty has certainly tasted and she knows.”
—Walter Carrington, master teacher of the Alexander Technique, author of Thinking Aloud and The Act of Living
“An honest and forthright appraisal from the depths of her own experience, Patty de Llosa offers us a humane glimpse down five significant roads for self-development. This book is an engaging tribute to authentic human inquiry, written for those seeking to discover important options for their own enrichment of mind, body and spirit.”
—Daniel Singer, teacher at the American Center for the Alexander Technique, Circle in the Square Professional Acting Program. Stella Adler Studio of Acting, American Academy for Dramatic Arts and author of The Sacred Portable Now
“Patty de Llosa’s compelling new discoveries in diverging streams of inner development yield a new synthesis of self. A must read!”
—David Appelbaum, professor of philosophy at the State University of New York (New Paltz), and author of The Shock of Love and Everyday Spirits