What is Presence Practice?

Not directly. No high-quality trials of this specific meditative presence technique were found, so its own effects remain untested rather than disproven (Smith et al., 2024). A further catch is that much of the published literature using the word 'presence' actually describes nursing presence, a separate concept about how caregivers attend to patients, not the meditation popularized by Eckhart Tolle (Stockmann, 2018), (Plessis, 2016). Treat the research base as emerging and largely conceptual, and read any benefit claims as borrowed from adjacent mindfulness work rather than confirmed for this practice.

Possibly, though this is untested for the practice itself. Presence Practice rests in open, alert awareness of the present moment rather than any single object, and each time you notice the mind has wandered and reorient to direct experience, you exercise meta-awareness and sustained attention, the plausible route by which a crowded mind may feel less pulled by thought. These mechanisms are inferred from broader mindfulness and focused-attention research, not from studies of this specific technique, since trials of it were not found (Smith et al., 2024). A quieter mind is best read as how the practice may work and something to try for yourself, not a demonstrated effect.

Restlessness usually means your attention is missing its familiar anchor. Focused-attention meditation always gives you somewhere to return to, but resting in open awareness leaves the mind nothing specific to hold, and that absence can surface as restlessness or unfamiliarity early on. This is an experiential, practice-informed observation rather than a measured effect, since this specific technique has not been directly studied. Many practitioners find the settling deepens over repeated sittings rather than arriving in the first one, and keeping a simple anchor like the breath within reach can help if it feels unmoored.

Use care. For most healthy adults Presence Practice is low risk, but no safety trials of this specific technique exist, so this caution is inferred from related contemplative practices rather than measured (Smith et al., 2024). Because the practice rests in objectless awareness, attention with no fixed anchor like the breath, that missing anchor can occasionally amplify intrusive thoughts or a sense of detachment, which matters most when trauma or acute distress is present. Approach it gently, keep a concrete anchor within reach, open your eyes or stop if it turns unsettling, and use it alongside a clinician's care rather than in place of it.

Possibly, for some people. This caution is inferred from related contemplative practices rather than measured in Presence Practice itself, since no high-quality safety trials of this specific technique have been published (Smith et al., 2024). It points to depersonalization or derealization, feeling detached from yourself or that the world seems unreal, which matters most for people carrying trauma or moving through acute distress. If open awareness starts to feel destabilizing, ground yourself by opening your eyes, naming a few things you can see or touch, or returning to the breath, and use the practice alongside professional care rather than in place of it.

Start short. Three to five minutes in a comfortable seated position lets you notice how open, objectless awareness affects you before committing to longer sittings, and it helps to keep a simple anchor like the breath or your feet on the floor within reach in case resting in awareness feels unmoored. Extend the time gradually as the practice settles you rather than stirs up restlessness. This is reasonable starting guidance for learning the practice rather than an optimal or evidence-based duration, since this specific technique has not been directly studied.

The difference is emphasis. In open-monitoring meditation you observe whatever arises, thoughts, sounds, body sensations, noticing each without following it, so attention stays with the flow of content. Presence Practice instead settles into awareness as a whole, the simple felt sense of being alert and present, rather than the items passing through it. The two overlap heavily and are best read as near neighbours: no high-quality trials have tested Presence Practice on its own, so this is a distinction of emphasis, not a claim that either works better (Smith et al., 2024).