The Book: Choosing Presence
Choosing Presence:
How to Access God's Peace and Release Fear, Anxiety, and Stress
Without Brother Lawrence, a seventeeth-century Carmelite monk, we wouldn't even be thinkng about the practice of presence.
- Jim Heaney
Brother Lawrence’s seventeenth-century spiritual classic The Practice of the Presence of God showed how cultivating presence can be the salve to stress, anxiety, worry, and fear, all of which continue to plague us today. Now, in this contemporary complement to Brother Lawrence’s work, author and contemplative teacher Jim Heaney explains in clear, accessible language why presence is essential to connecting to and sustaining a vibrant inner life.
Drawing on Christian scripture, spiritual luminaries from the Christian tradition, the social sciences, and personal experience, Choosing Presence thoroughly explores why this practice is so effective at alleviating compulsive negative thinking, and offers a practical guide to incorporating it into your own life. With an emphasis on action, each chapter includes:
- A spiritual intention to help bring in stillness and connect with God’s spiritual energy
- A step-by-step guided breathing practice
- Three questions to help you gauge your progress
*Choosing Presence also includes a detailed question-and-answer section that will help you overcome common obstacles to practicing presence.
The Choosing Presence Leader's Guide
As we begin to practice presence and realize the benefits of committing ourselves on a regular basis to this practice, many of us want to share it with others. Therefore we’ve created the Choosing Presence Leader’s Guide with all the information you need to form a small class along with additional study materials. In this guide you’ll find the following:
- How to open each class.
- Instructions for using the Presence App.
- A review of key terms used in the book.
- Prompts to stimulate discussion and journaling.
- How to close each class.
In order to download our guide, we simply ask that you subscribe to our newsletter where we share helpful tips and build our community of men and women choosing to practice presence.
Don't forget the Practicing Presence App!
The book’s free companion app, Practicing Presence – A Christian Way, will assist you in deepening your commitment. It is free and available for iOS (iPhone) on the Apple App Store and for Android at Google Play.