The Presence Process: A Healing Journey Into Present Moment Awareness
by
Showing us how to step beyond our personal physical, mental and emotional afflictions and addictions, and by empowering us to facilitate ourselves into wholeness, this work aims to take a bold step into a new paradigm of healthcare.
Paperback, 325 pages
Published October 1st 2005 by Beaufort Books..
Average rating4.34 ·
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Sep 16, 2014B.N. Carman rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
This book is a must-read for everyone seeking emotional maturity so that you no longer end up in emotionally-distraught states. If you suffer from illnesses (curable or incurable), addictions, you feel like your life's stuck, or you feel awful or hopeless, this book's process is what you're looking for.
Everyone can benefit greatly from this book. And yet 99.999% of people on the planet don't know how to do what this book teaches--emotional processing. It's the most important thing anyone could ever learn in life: how to love oneself unconditionally so that one's dysfunctional emotions (fear, anger, grief, and any mixture of them) will integrate. The more a person integrates, the more they feel whole, like their authentic self. Their life balances out, and when tough times come, they're not triggered by them emotionally anymore. Or if they are triggered, they know exactly how to deal with those triggered emotions so that they don't get overwhelmed and go into a downward spiral.
I was good with psychology and knew myself pretty well before I started this process. But no matter what I knew about myself, and no matter what emotional work I did, I could never seem to get my emotional issues corrected. No one could tell me how. When I read through The Presence Process and let it guide me through the 10-week process, I saw actual emotional transformation. I didn't fear uncomfortable emotions coming up anymore because I knew how to handle them. In fact, I wanted them to come up. The more they came up, the more I got to be with them unconditionally and get used to them or let them integrate. I had no idea how to love myself unconditionally before I read this book. Now I understand how to do it, and I do it daily in order to help integrate my uncomfortable, dysfunctional emotions that drive my less-loving behaviors. When I actually feel the emotions integrate, it's amazing. I laugh and cry (happy tears) at the same time. It's hard to describe unless you've experienced it. I can be happy and depressed at the same time, which seems counter-intuitive or even impossible, but it's actually not. The point is that even when I feel a depression within me, I'm still content and have no problem with it.
When I finished my first Presence Process, I could feel my emotions much better than I ever had in the past. That made life so much more enjoyable! The process made me better at feeling instead of trying to "make me feel better." Yes, this process has the side effect of us feeling better as we continue to do it, but actually, it's about getting better at feeling. We can finally feel the uncomfortable feelings we've repressed from long ago that have been driving our unsavory behaviors. This reverses our desensitization to feelings so we can finally experience them and process them. Feeling those without condition and without judgment has amazing results. The better we are at feeling everything inside, the better we feel our own innate joy and peace. There's nothing better than that.
I used to go to movies before and I would feel a little bit of emotion and I might shed a tear or two, but that was about it. But about eight weeks into the process, after my first big conscious emotional integration, movies became a whole knew experience. I'd watch a movie and feel all of these sensations throughout my body from the emotions running through me. It made movies really cool. It gave life a whole other dimension that made it so much more enjoyable. Music does the same thing to me, as well as powerful scenes in books or in life.
When I finished my second presence process, I felt awful because of all the stuff that it drudged up. But you know what? I didn't freak out about it. I was really excited that all of that stuff had come up and I finally got to deal with it. I enjoyed it. It was tough at times, but not bad, really, because I knew how to deal with the uncomfortable feelings. And I knew all of it was surfacing to help me mature emotionally. The process usually brings up issues to deal with in little bits, but sometimes it brings them up for quite a while. It works like that because we're ready for it and we're asking for it so we can make progress.
The book puts everything in life into perspective, connecting it all so that we understand how everything works and how it's all working together to help us, not hurt us. It flips your perspective on life. I never thought I'd be excited to feel pain, but I am now. When we no longer fear pain, we stop trying to control our life to make it "happy." Instead, we take life as it comes and it's a lot more enjoyable. It's so much easier like that. And we become very unconditionally loving and giving, too.
UPDATE
It's been three years now since I started doing The Presence Process and did five of them back to back, and then continued with the breathing (except for one stint where I was experimenting with not doing the breathing for a while--I edited that into my original statement above). Life is pretty good now. I'm not 100% emotionally mature--that's a long, long process--but I'm doing much better than before and I continue to make progress. I haven't done a presence process in around a year and a half, and I'm not sure I need to bother doing another one. I just make sure I'm diligent about dealing with emotions when they come up and about doing the daily breathing practice in the morning and evening. I've gone through times of depression and anger and who knows what else, but none of them caused me to break down. I took them all in stride and was fairly content through most of it.
Depression is caused by repressed anger. I started out in life repressing all my anger, which caused a lot of health problems and little emotional issues. So finally, that anger is starting to come up--that's what I'm dealing with now. Which means I'm finally confident enough to deal with it. I don't get rid of it or repress it. I actually do my best to contain the anger and keep present with it as much as possible throughout the day. By doing that, I've gotten used to feeling it for long stints without reacting to it. I'm not always successful at that, but I do pretty well most of the time. That's huge progress for me. I used to just stuff anger and end up depressed periodically. That's not good for anyone. Anger is a secondary emotion, always repressing fear along with grief. So I find that when I the anger has been around enough, I'll end up processing the grief during my breathing sessions or when I have some privacy. When it integrates, the anger that was held in place by it will be gone because it's no longer needed. It has nothing to repress, no reason to attempt to control that emotion anymore. Anger's one of the most difficult ones, so I'm glad I'm finally doing well with it.
Don't be hard on yourself at all and take it slow and easy. You will progress at exactly the speed you're supposed to. No need to judge yourself or your progress in any way. Whatever you do and whatever happens is required.
I highly recommend this book to everyone, no matter what your situation. It can really change the way you approach life and make it a lot more enjoyable. (less)
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Dec 08, 2016Bharath rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
The Presence Process is an exceptional book – has the right intentions and is very practical. The problem with many self-help books is they take a random thread from ancient philosophy and blow it up into an entire book filled with fanciful jargons with little or no practical value. Some are also risky as they tend to promote delusion and false hope with unproven techniques.
The core premise of Presence is very similar or even identical to the philosophies of Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism. However, the book steers clear of terms used in religious texts. And hence the book is about experiencing your oneness with presence, with an experiential process.
Time plays an astonishing influence on our minds. When we live in time, we see life as a challenge to be overcome rather than experiencing it for what it is. The reasoning mind is in a constant evaluation mode trying to relive the past and leap to the fears of the future. Most of us know this is bad – but it is a habit we cannot break free of. The presence process does offer a workable way to be free.
The approach with a weekly plan of action is gradual and eases you into the core philosophical aspects with excellent conceptual introductions to each chapter. The process of self discovery moves on to the higher goal of eliminating the illusion of separation from everything else in the universe.
I did not follow the week wise plan and read through the book, digesting the concepts. I did initially consider sticking to the plan but since I have practised mindfulness since some time now - I decided to read through the book. I do intend to follow the week wise plan with a second read shortly. Even in the absence of following the plan, I still know that the process will work since I practice much of the experiences described in slightly varied forms, and it has worked for me.
The only suggestion I possibly could make for the book is that the author could have explored and outlined other & more advanced meditation techniques. However, it might have detracted from the simplicity of the book which anyone can read and practise in it's current form.
This is a book I would strongly recommend to everyone. It is in fact invaluable to those relatively new to mindfulness. (less)
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Sep 26, 2012The Goon rated it it was amazing
Shelves: psychology, enjoyed, spirituality, self-help, new-age
I've read 'The Presence Process' three times now, and each time I did the ten week program. I even joined a group that discussed this book once a week. I've met people who have read, 'The Presence Process' upwards of 15 times. They've got their copies of the book underlined, highlighted, book marked, annotated and adumbrated.
'The Presence Process' is a clear and easy to understand guidebook for a person looking to heal their emotional body and move more into the present moment. I have found the book to be a useful tool for personal growth and healing. It's a good book, with easy to follow instructions that really seem to work! (less)
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Sep 11, 2010Dulcinea Contreras rated it it was amazing
"The Presence Process" has captured a man's spiritual evolution from awakening to current moment, allowing the reader to relate to the triumphs and challenges along the journey. He takes the reader through his highly integrative spiritual practices as he faced deep physical pain and offers practical steps of energetic pathways that can foster a powerful relationship to oneself and others, creating a strong foundation to one's very own experience of life in a state of awareness. This book goes above and beyond by taking the process from the mental state to the emotional state rooted in the heart, requiring a complete surrender to the human emotional process. Michael is offering an opportunity with his insight, a meaningful and valuable offering to become whole, as a mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional being. (less)
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Nov 28, 2012Fadia Almarzooq rated it it was amazing
Best book I have ever red, it really guided me to the way to peaceful mind and spirit.
I red this book twice
and planning to read it a third time soon.
I found the answer of many things I experience and why I face the same situation every time and why i fall in the same problem every time.
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Aug 30, 2013Nely rated it it was amazing
This was the best 25 bucks I have ever spent. It’s a miraculous process for anyone who wants real change. It does take a whole lot of guts to enter the process and it’s a book that’ll find you when you are ripe for the work. The process itself is very simple. Once you recognize the causal point of your distress, it’s simple enough to change. However, your fear, anger, and grief will be brought the surface to be integrated. Staying conscious through the storms these emotions are going to stir is the most challenging part of this work. By the time you finish the 10 week process, you’ll feel like you’ve lived ten lifetimes. This book will also unravel why affirmations and the advice given in books like the “Secret,” doesn’t always work. It’s not for everyone, but for those who do decide to take the leap, life will never be the same. (less)
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Apr 23, 2012Lauren rated it it was ok
Shelves: put-down
So my therapist (who I really adore) brought this to my attention. I simply don't have the dedication this "process" insists upon. I'm all for finding time for myself, and I think that integration of trauma is indeed important, however the demands of this work require way too much time, effort, and non-variance. I would start to think, "Sure yeah, I can do a variation of this step, and perhaps find it useful", but then I'd read that unless you do EXACTLY what is written, (which again, asks a LOT), then all of it is for nothing. I disagree with this. Also, some of the tone is borderline condescending, and often-times anti-medical. It's his way or the highway. All or nothing. I'm putting it down, but will keep it on my shelf until maybe my "me" time becomes more accesible. (Perhaps when Anthony's off to college, haha). I'm hoping to read some other opinions of self-help that can assist me during MY process...not demand I follow theirs. (less)
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Nov 01, 2014Diane de Simone rated it it was amazing
Many of us have no clue that we're walking around with a layer of pretense; that our hearts are defended; that we're not meeting life as it comes to us, openly, now, in the moment.
We have little clue that we don't have a clue, that we don't have a life, or make a life, but rather we ARE life itself: we're life, we're consciousness expressing and experiencing itself always anew.
You can read books. You can visit favorite gurus. You can meditate twice daily, You can walk the walk for months on end. But ultimately -- in order to strip yourself down to the heart of you, in order to release the immense love and life force that's being held there -- you have to self-facilitate yourself through some process.
Michael Brown, in this book, is offering you a brilliant process, a process I did three times and may work through again sometime soon.
I've been called a healer, a therapist, some folks' guru, teacher, certainly friend -- really I'm merely a lover who knows more now, since working with The Presence Process, than ever before. There was a me before...and then there is a me in the afterwards of this, some four years on. Michael's work begins you on a journey you will never ever regret. He will help bring you gently to your knees in gratitude. And you too will end up knowing that gratitude is the ONLY attitude while you're here alive, as a being showing up as a human life. (less)
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Mar 19, 2019Jillian rated it did not like it
Shelves: psychology, spirituality, self-help-how-to-s
I could not get through this, or understand why it's so highly recommended. I downloaded it off of Audible and I'm waiting to get a refund. The narrator was terrible, and the first few chapters are mere marketing, telling the reader how "wonderful and life-altering" the presence process is...without ever explaining WHAT it is. It sounded like a woo-woo marketing informercial and was seriously irritating. This book needed to get to the point much faster, or at least be way more engaging to hold my interest. (less)
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Jul 26, 2011Mo rated it it was amazing
Read this twice and benefited from the central message in ways that are still proving to be powerful for me a year later. If you're not ready to be accountable for your life and choices, buy it and dip into maybe just the first chapter for now. When the time is right, revisit it. You will learn about yourself, what holds you back, what keeps you stuck (and all the origins of this behavior) as well as how to move toward and through the drama and trauma to be your best self now! (less)
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May 06, 2015Carole rated it it was amazing
Shelves: psychology, religion
After a conversation about how hard it is know what stories were are telling ourselves that keep us mired in the same tired habits of behavior, an acquaintance recommended The Presence Process to me. One can approach this at many levels, but after doing a little exploration about Michael Brown and listening to his overall philosophy and a couple of hours of YouTube.com audio files by him, I decided that I liked his approach and that it was worth my while to read the book and work through the presence process as he presents it. I have been a student of Buddhism for a number of years and have found that the emotional hooks and these old reactions that seem to arise frequently have been very hard to unwind even when I have had a pretty clear insight about their "origin". I easily added the breathing sessions, morning and evening, to my day (why has that been so hard in the past) and maintained my regular hour+ meditation practice. I found the tools in the book useful in priming me to notice when I had reactive emotional patterns come up, and increased my tolerance for allowing myself to simply feel them. I found many of the terms he used more explicit and helpful in my daily musings that the other terms that I have used in the past, and steering clear of intellectualizing I think really helps. I am currently taking a short break and then will recycle through the process again. (less)
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Jan 16, 2013Sheila rated it it was amazing
I'm in my second reading and so appreciate the insight and the work. It takes courage, and faith. I read another review from a Christian perspective; I too am a Christian, and Browne's language doesn't offend me or put me off in any other way. A rose by any other name is still a rose. I highly suspect that Presence is not offended by being referred to as Presence instead of God or Holy Spirit. It is what it is. Thank you Michael Brown. (less)
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Oct 25, 2018Jason Fella rated it it was ok
Ok, so I'm now in a position where I feel I can very objectively and thoroughly review this book. As for a little background on me: I'm an experienced meditator (about 15 years) and practice mindfulness daily (although sometimes I slack off). I suffer from severe depression and anxiety disorder, and chronic, debilitating fatigue. So, I should be a prime candidate for this process, right? First, the good parts about the book:
*The breathing process he describes does indeed require mindfulness, so it's a good thing.
*The first part of the book really is very encouraging and inspiring, and I found myself getting quite excited about it.
*The Presence Activating Statements are useful, perhaps not necessarily as an affirmation in itself, but as a way to bring yourself back to the present moment.
Now for the not so good:
*This book is very repetitive. He defends himself by saying he wrote the book specifically for our subconscious minds, so it might not flow in a way we find natural or comfortable. Haha really? I've heard that claim before in these types of books, and it's a great way of making yourself sound way more knowledgeable and intelligent than you probably really are. Our subconscious minds are infinitely variable. A thousand people's subconscious minds will have a thousand different triggers, responses, etc. so there is simply no way a person could write a book for our subconscious minds. Sorry. So he could've tightened up the writing in the book, for sure.
*Secondly, I was surprised at how much he really glosses over the idea of mindfulness, since that is what the book is mainly about. He makes it seem that doing the EXACT breathing technique he describes, and doing the presence activating statements are the ONLY ways to cultivate mindfulness, and that is laughably untrue. You could do literally ANY type of breathing, and as long as you were mindfully focused on it, you would be cultivating "present moment awareness" as he calls it. You could also do literally any activity, and still cultivate this awareness, as long as you were being mindful.
Ok, so the proof is in the pudding, right? Time to put my money where my mouth is. I did one round (10 weeks) all the way through. About half way through, since I wasn't getting any "results" I decided to double the amount of time he recommends, since I was so used to longer meditations, anyway. Went all the way through that first round with absolutely no objective change in my life, emotional state, physical condition, mindset, perspective. Just NOTHING.
But I decided to go a second round, which I'm half way through, now. Still absolutely no hint of any emotional release, integration (he loves that word), my outward life, internal shifts, etc.
So, should you read this book and try the process? Absolutely. Your mental/physical health are worth the time and effort. And it does seem to help a lot of people. I'm actually sorry I have to give this a bad review, but I can only review it based on my own experience. I will continue to finish the second round, and if something actually changes, I will be happy to amend my review. Well, best of luck with it, should you chose to try it. (less)
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Aug 08, 2017Clara Florence rated it liked it
I've completed the Presence Process (as required) and honestly I wonder if it does anything at all. There are stories of it integrating stuck emotional states, bringing you into closer alignment with your authentic self etc. But really? People often describe physical sensations, the feeling of being in an intense level of emotion etc. Yes I experienced that too but at the end of 10 weeks of that my life is no different than at the beginning, in fact much worse off emotionally. As in, my emotional states are more highly variable and challenging to deal with on a moment by moment basis.
I doubt I got anything out of it. The odd epiphany here and there about myself, but the same as basically sitting in an park introspecting. Nothing more than that. My experience didn't change at all of the all the regular fixtures and people in my life. There are exactly as I perceived them to be to begin with.
I'm beginning to realise that an awful lot of this new age stuff is nothing more an auto suggestion. If you are expecting to have some rollercoaster ride of of emotional journey you do. And then typically ascribe some felt elevated state as a result and call it life changing. But what part of your life actually changed? Did your friends and family suddenly lose their irritating habits? Do you now no longer get irritated? Not for me. Everything is unchanged after 10 weeks of this stuff.
I think this is basically why I've lost all interest in New Age material, it only has the profundity you give it through auto-suggestion. Most people practising new age philosophy are still living the same lives they did before but ascribe some vague notion of it being life changing to their experience. (less)
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May 04, 2016Laurie rated it it was amazing
This book and the process within is a transformational tool that everyone can benefit from. I read "Be Here Now" many years ago and believe in the importance of being present. But, until I read this book, I did not have the tools to get there. I am very grateful to Michael Brown for writing this book and showing me the way.
The process in this book is not for the faint of heart. You must be willing to feel the pain fully in order to integrate your past and become fully present. This book is enlightening and inspiring and a true to gift to the world. (less)
