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Product Description The basic principles of meditation and mindful living are explained in this guide for everyday living. Ideal for individuals and spiritual friends to use alone or with one another, "Inviting Silence" is a thoughtful primer on finding silence and a practical manual on meditation for seekers of every persuasion. From Publishers Weekly A writer, therapist and meditation teacher, Norris pens an invitation and a challenge: be still. She writes for those who begin to experience spiritual yearning, as opposed to those who are already students somewhere along the spiritual path. As such, her instructions on beginning to meditate—becoming acquainted with and comfortable in silence—are simple and gradual. The material is logically organized, covering in friendly and flowing language what a beginner needs to know: Pay attention. Breathe. Sit up straight. Stick to it. Work with others to support a practice of silence. She rarely uses the term "meditate," as if that were too much spiritual jargon. This is paradoxically consistent with the best teachers of meditation, who know that the practice of paying attention is intended for everyday life as well as for the focused, intentional practice of meditation. A published poet, Norris chooses an evocative form for her words: a kind of spiritual blank verse, short unrhymed lines that themselves encourage slow reading and pausing to think and digest. ("In our present culture/silence is something like an endangered species....") This small, gift-sized book successfully gives a gentle nudge toward a demanding spiritual discipline. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review "Gunilla Norris’s simple precepts for meditating and living have a translucent quality. We can all benefit greatly by observing them." —Thich Nhat Hanh, author, Peace Is Every Step "Just reading this book makes you want to sit down, take a deep relaxing breath, and refresh your spirit." —Jack Kornfield, author, A Path with Heart "Luminous and elegant, this book takes us step by step through the process of meditation and answers our most important questions about spiritual practice." —Gail Straub, author, The Rhythm of Compassion About the Author Gunilla Norris is a meditation teacher and psychotherapist in private practice and the author of Becoming Bread and Being Home. She lives in Mystic, Connecticut.