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Present Moment Awareness: A Simple Step by Step Guide to Living in the Now. 20th Anniversary Edition.
Filled with easy, accessible anecdotes and exercises, Present Moment Awareness shows readers how they can drop their emotional baggage, calm their worries about the future, and start enjoying the peace and happiness that can only be found in the present moment. Through a series of simple but enlightening concepts, Duncan, who retired a multimillionaire before the age of 30 and has become a word-of-mouth phenomenon, shows how we can discover the true causes of our stress and discontent, transform our emotions from rulers into advisors, and start enjoying our lives, right here and now.
120 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2003
23 people are currently reading
669 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 20, 2007
This book will improve the life of anyone who reads it. It is a peaceful and soothing zen-like read that teaches you the benefits to living in the moment. When the present moment is not drowned out my all the mental baggage (humming sound containing past problems and future worries) you become more aware and attuned to opportunities in the present moment. More opportunities equals more chances to live life to the fullest. Read it. It also has some great mental exercises and breathing exercises that will help you meditate. Wow. Great book.
February 3, 2009
this is the first book like this I have read. I enjoyed it and found myself calmer when actually doing the principles.
Need to read it again.
Need to read it again.
December 26, 2013
Powerful concept. Had previously read Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now." Whereas Tolle was more philosophical, I found this book to be much more practical with some great experiential exercises.
April 14, 2023
I recently learned how to float on water, albeit only for a short time. This was a major milestone for me, considering I have been unable to overcome my fear of drowning for over three decades. After reading Shannon Duncan’s Present Moment Awareness: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide to Living in the Now, I realized my inability to swim was caused by Negative Core Beliefs that stemmed from my childhood as a six-year-old. I had been unable to break past some bullies’ mockery that my “skinny” body could never float on water. Shannon discusses that my challenges were in the form of distorted realities, which affected my perception of swimming.
Present Moment Awareness is a self-help book that will dare you to live in the present, where you experience life consciously instead of passively living through ordinary activities. This book is divided into four phases that readers need to experience. The first phase is ‘The Power of this Moment’, where we learn the need to pay attention to all our body senses. The second phase reveals the limitations in our lives that are often a result of self-limiting beliefs. The third phase delves into our emotional vulnerabilities and subsequent reactions to other people. Finally, the fourth phase is a clarion call for us to establish the origin of our discontent and thereby deal with our emotional reactivity.
I commend Shannon for the organization and presentation adopted in this book. With the sole aim of helping people live in the present, he did not write this book to sound like a manual that should not be challenged or questioned but rather like a conversation between friends about their experiences, challenges and the solutions that worked for them. I appreciated the intertextual depth of this book, which factors in the testimonies and lived experiences of Shannon’s acquaintances, quotes from reputable individuals and practical exercises to test the practicality of his recommendations.
The book is a 20th Anniversary Special Edition, with contemporary and valid ideas that other readers quoted on different topics have validated. I, for one, have had to apply the Core Exercise in situations where I felt emotionally disoriented or provoked, especially where I was not at fault.
The author also takes an open-minded approach, inviting readers to try the ideas they find helpful and discard those they do not seem to benefit from. Moreover, the discussions are presented in prose and bullet point formats, where the former gives readers a comprehensive discussion. At the same time, the latter summarizes subsequent discussions to enhance easy comprehension by readers. There is nothing that I disliked about this book that will prevent me from awarding it a five-star rating.
I found no errors while reading Present Moment Awareness: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide to Living in the Now and I believe it must have been professionally edited. I recommend it to parents and caregivers in extension, as they will immensely benefit from the insight on how their treatment of children ultimately affects the adults those children grow up to be. The book will equally benefit adult readers, as they will learn to apply the wisdom learnt from past experiences to current situations.
Present Moment Awareness is a self-help book that will dare you to live in the present, where you experience life consciously instead of passively living through ordinary activities. This book is divided into four phases that readers need to experience. The first phase is ‘The Power of this Moment’, where we learn the need to pay attention to all our body senses. The second phase reveals the limitations in our lives that are often a result of self-limiting beliefs. The third phase delves into our emotional vulnerabilities and subsequent reactions to other people. Finally, the fourth phase is a clarion call for us to establish the origin of our discontent and thereby deal with our emotional reactivity.
I commend Shannon for the organization and presentation adopted in this book. With the sole aim of helping people live in the present, he did not write this book to sound like a manual that should not be challenged or questioned but rather like a conversation between friends about their experiences, challenges and the solutions that worked for them. I appreciated the intertextual depth of this book, which factors in the testimonies and lived experiences of Shannon’s acquaintances, quotes from reputable individuals and practical exercises to test the practicality of his recommendations.
The book is a 20th Anniversary Special Edition, with contemporary and valid ideas that other readers quoted on different topics have validated. I, for one, have had to apply the Core Exercise in situations where I felt emotionally disoriented or provoked, especially where I was not at fault.
The author also takes an open-minded approach, inviting readers to try the ideas they find helpful and discard those they do not seem to benefit from. Moreover, the discussions are presented in prose and bullet point formats, where the former gives readers a comprehensive discussion. At the same time, the latter summarizes subsequent discussions to enhance easy comprehension by readers. There is nothing that I disliked about this book that will prevent me from awarding it a five-star rating.
I found no errors while reading Present Moment Awareness: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide to Living in the Now and I believe it must have been professionally edited. I recommend it to parents and caregivers in extension, as they will immensely benefit from the insight on how their treatment of children ultimately affects the adults those children grow up to be. The book will equally benefit adult readers, as they will learn to apply the wisdom learnt from past experiences to current situations.
March 7, 2022
The book goes over a lot of helpful exercises to help someone be more present in their lives, while also providing explanations as to why being present in life is very important. Most of the book consists of explaining Present Moment Awareness and the benefits. Some of the chapters though have examples of how to stay in the present and not always look toward the future. Duncan does a good job of providing the reader with the proper reasons behind his philosophy. Throughout the book, the reader understands Present Moment Awareness better. The main criticism that I have toward the book is that it doesn’t always keep the reader engaged and makes me lose interest occasionally. The book is great when it comes to describing the ideology but at times it reads like a textbook, which isn’t at all what the book is supposed to read like, in my opinion. It gets boring because of that and really starts to seem repetitive at times. Overall the book does a great job at explaining Present Moment Awareness and how it is not healthy to always be looking ahead instead of just focusing on the moment/ present. The book does suffer from repetition at times and slows down, but that is because Duncan wants to make sure the reader completely understands his philosophy. In the end, I like the book to a point. It provides helpful knowledge but in a direct and not interesting manner.
December 31, 2020
3.5/5
It's not that it's necessarily a bad book; it's just really quite basic.
Duncan provides some good insight into human emotion and the way our childhood experiences influence our lives and, in particular, our reactions to emotional situations. Duncan also offers helpful exercises that help one begin to live a meditative life in the present moment.
That said, I found myself putting the book down for months on end. I felt like I was mostly just reading what I had already learned through other mediums.
It's a great book to introduce a beginner to present moment living, but there's just not very much depth for those who are looking for something more.
It's not that it's necessarily a bad book; it's just really quite basic.
Duncan provides some good insight into human emotion and the way our childhood experiences influence our lives and, in particular, our reactions to emotional situations. Duncan also offers helpful exercises that help one begin to live a meditative life in the present moment.
That said, I found myself putting the book down for months on end. I felt like I was mostly just reading what I had already learned through other mediums.
It's a great book to introduce a beginner to present moment living, but there's just not very much depth for those who are looking for something more.
April 1, 2023
I received this Kindle book from Goodread Giveaways.
This is a basic introduction of mindfulness, defusion, and other cognitive behavioral strategies that can help us stay in the present moment. These are practices that have been around for decades, if not centuries. The author does a nice job of presenting the skills with examples and uses repetition to enhance learning. Overall, just okay for me.
This is a basic introduction of mindfulness, defusion, and other cognitive behavioral strategies that can help us stay in the present moment. These are practices that have been around for decades, if not centuries. The author does a nice job of presenting the skills with examples and uses repetition to enhance learning. Overall, just okay for me.
October 13, 2024
I've read about the things in this book in other books. Nothing new for me - except for the Focus Tool" that I decided to try (with an intermittent timer app on my phone) that may help me stay in the present moment when I hear that chime. My (brief) notes are here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l...
April 22, 2020
Basic.
April 15, 2023
just another self help book
It is written well. Not as boring as some meditations and self help books, but still no different than most.
It is written well. Not as boring as some meditations and self help books, but still no different than most.
November 9, 2012
This book is about how to live in the moment. Much of which I already knew. But I also have doubts about whether or not it is even possible to actually live in the moment, not to mention why would I want to ignore the future. My metaphor for life is a tightrope walker with one eye on the rope below him and the other on the destination. When I have worked on breathing exercises with Buddhists, I did find them a bit boring. I also felt many of the members were just a tad on the phony side.
Then there is a chapter on the "illusion of limitations." As Marcus Aurelius said, "our life is what our thoughts make it." Once again though, some limitations are real. Past experiences can distort our present reality and prevent us from moving forward. There are lessons to be learned. Kierkegaard said it best, "Life must be lived forward, but it is learned backward."
Don't be afraid to question and change your beliefs. That always sounds great to me for the other guy. Beliefs can limit you. Henry Ford said, "He can who thinks he can and can't who thinks he can't." We need to sometimes accept what is, but isn't that a limitation? We need to do what we can with what we have where we are. Eckhart said there "are no problems only situations to deal with in the now." Sounds like a problem to me.
Horace said, "Whoever lives in fear will never be a free man." Things that can alter our mood when we feel we need to do something: sex, television, work, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, tasks, rage, exercise, adrenaline, food, hoarding, shopping, cleaning, and spiritually. Pretty much covers everything doesn't it? I guess that's why I write poetry.
"What the mother sings in the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin," says Henry Ward Beecher. In other words, we are affected by our parents. We can have negative and positive core beliefs. One particular problem is parental discipline from out of control parents. There are so many things that define us, rather than ourselves.
Then there is a chapter on the "illusion of limitations." As Marcus Aurelius said, "our life is what our thoughts make it." Once again though, some limitations are real. Past experiences can distort our present reality and prevent us from moving forward. There are lessons to be learned. Kierkegaard said it best, "Life must be lived forward, but it is learned backward."
Don't be afraid to question and change your beliefs. That always sounds great to me for the other guy. Beliefs can limit you. Henry Ford said, "He can who thinks he can and can't who thinks he can't." We need to sometimes accept what is, but isn't that a limitation? We need to do what we can with what we have where we are. Eckhart said there "are no problems only situations to deal with in the now." Sounds like a problem to me.
Horace said, "Whoever lives in fear will never be a free man." Things that can alter our mood when we feel we need to do something: sex, television, work, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, tasks, rage, exercise, adrenaline, food, hoarding, shopping, cleaning, and spiritually. Pretty much covers everything doesn't it? I guess that's why I write poetry.
"What the mother sings in the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin," says Henry Ward Beecher. In other words, we are affected by our parents. We can have negative and positive core beliefs. One particular problem is parental discipline from out of control parents. There are so many things that define us, rather than ourselves.
August 30, 2012
An excellent book for an introduction to being present in the now. As titled, the book provides simple and basic steps to addressing happiness, our emotions, our thoughts, meditation and staying present. Having already read a number of other related books, i felt that this book was too basic. However, for anyone who is starting to learn and discover about awareness and mindfulness, this book is a good way to start.
June 11, 2014
Reasonably approachable introduction to the topic of Present Moment Awareness. More useful than the much more esoteric "The Power of Now" (Tolle). Duncan's book, however, doesn't contain any earth-shattering revelations.
April 10, 2024
One of my favorite books on present moment awareness, how to be still, quiet, and be one with ourselves and nature. Exercises to teach how to live in the now, which is so very important in this day and age. We learn how to ground ourselves.
July 27, 2007
liked the concept of being self aware and removing the "traffic" from your mind, but it was hard to get into
Currently reading
October 3, 2010Loaned to me by a dear friend, taking it to the beach for some sunshine inspired reflection.
June 23, 2012
Its all right, too much other distracting matters.
April 4, 2014
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