Presence

by Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, Betty Sue Flowers

A review by Colin Whitby

One of the great things about publishing this web site is that I get to meet some wonderful people and they in turn direct me to things that they have found enlightening. When speaking with Liz Morrison she gave me a list of people to see and books to read, and the first book on her list was Presence.

At first sight this book appears to be a long read, with small type and many pages, but don’t be put off by this, it’s very engaging and easy to read and understand. Over the past few weeks I have been dipping in and out of the book and there have been so many insightful moments it has been a challenge to choose one or two to highlight.

The book is written like a conversation between the co-authors, where they explore how energy can shift in a group of people when everyone accesses their still calm place together. The results they have discovered are quite astounding, and whole systems can be changed if this group creative energy is tapped. This fits well with the work that Soleira Green has been doing, which I have been greatly influenced by and have experienced first hand.

One example that stood out for me, bearing in mind much of this issue is about the ‘shift’ in consciousness currently taking place, was the analogy of a prisoner who was released after a lifetime behind bars. He had become so used to life as a prisoner that, although he was now free, the fear of change and the choices that were now possible were just too much for him, and he took his own life rather than live this new life of freedom.

The authors of Presence feel that there are many of us feeling this way, that we are now doing our spiritual work and finding ourselves and our power, only to come back into a world that does not match our new ‘freedoms’. It’s one thing to do the odd meditation, or clear our energy and find our passion, but how do we as individuals, as groups, or as a race, co-create together in such a way that we all manifest a world where we can all live in harmony?

In Presence we share the thoughts of the authors who have considerable experience in guiding groups of people to share their passions and find ways of articulating this process so that we can all tap into this way of working. For me this is the key to everything, we need to learn to move groups of people to work together from the heart, as a natural process rather than being seen as a bit scary ‘group huggy’ kind of thing, and make this part of everyday life.

We see this working in Alan Wilson’s work with children, and with Colin Turner’s work with global corporations, it is happening, and with the evidence provided in the Shift movie, we see how groups of people are working together in brand new ways.

Presence is a great read, full of insights and ‘ah yes’ moments, I would strongly recommend it.

http://www.presence.net/

Stephen O’Brien

By Colin Whitby

Stephen O’Brien’s tapes have been used in our household for many years and still give us a great deal of comfort and guidance. With good use of background sounds (i.e waves, bird song, water flowing) you will be transported by his lilting Welsh brogue to places of safety, calm and self awareness. Using his tapes has enhanced our real life experiences of walks along the beach and in the countryside. A must for those who wish to enjoy meditation at a slow and steady pace.

http://www.stephenobrien.co.uk/tapes.htm

The New Visionaries

The New Visionaries
Evolutionary Leadership for a Vibrant World
By Soleira Green

By Colin Whitby

If you buy this book you will find that we have already featured two of Soleira’s New Visionaries for our first edition, which is the kind of synchronistic happening that is becoming the norm these days. We had approached Neil and Jane quite separately for The Magic of Being only to find them featured in Soleira’s book too, which shows that this network is growing and connecting quite naturally, something which we will see much more of in the future. I loved reading this book, as it reminded me of so much of Soleira’s work that she has shared over the last few years, and introduced some exciting people who are living their truths.

I find that Soleira’s own introduction says it all:-

Welcome to the work of new visionaries… people who invent everything anew for the co-creation of a vibrant new world. This book is an adventure into the leading edge of leadership today. No other leadership work I know covers the exciting terrain of connective, transformative, evolutionary leadership. From here, the world opens up its gateways to a vibrant, creative reality and we are filled with the immense and wondrous power of potentiality. We dive with great glee into visionary adventures that occur with the ease, grace and playfulness that connective leadership offers.

This is the kind of language that Soleira uses to great effect throughout the book to engage and inform us on this amazing journey we are travelling – I do hope you decide to join us and become a New Visionary.

Colin.

Mediation Bible

By Colin Whitby

This is a comprehensive handbook for those wishing to investigate the art of meditation. This well thought through book includes meditations for calming and centring, living mindfully, developing love and compassion, solving problems, manifesting your dreams and connecting with the Divine. There's also advice on meditation postures, creating a sacred space and establishing a daily meditation practice.

We loved the way this book offered many different approaches to meditation, giving the sense that these should be explored without the need to stick strictly to one method or another. If you’ve not tried mediation before, or if you have but found the process confusing, this book may help you find a way through. See Amazon for an excellent review

The Biology of Belief – Bruce Lipton PhD

By Colin Whitby

Bruce takes us on a journey into the strange and fascinating world of micro-biology to illustrate his discoveries around how thought can (and does) impact every aspect of our lives.

We travel with him on his own personal discoveries which show us that it can be challenging to follow our instincts rather than follow conventional thinking, proving the world is round when everyone else thinks it is flat.

I loved the examples he sites of how thought or belief can impact how we heal, something that as a healer I have often pondered. Why is it that patient ‘a’ can experience a full and miraculous recovery when patient ‘b’ , with the same problems and treatment, does not recover or improve.

In one of the stories a surgeon decided to test which of his techniques helped his patients the most. He routinely carried out knee operations to relieve joint problems, using two different techniques together. Which of these was the most effective, did he need to use them both? He decided to carry out three controlled tests, one with the first technique, the second with the other, and a third without doing any surgery at all (he simulated the operation).

The results surprised and confused him. All the patients reported improvements, even those who had no effective treatment. Their trust or belief in him and his methods appears to have played more than a small part in their recovery, it was fundamental to their healing.

If you have an interest in how the biology of belief impacts our lives this is an excellent read, it’s not too technical for those of us who are not micro-biologists and gives an insight into some of the new thinking going on in the medical world.

The book is now available in paperback, having been published by Cygnus books in the UK