Preview
  • Teach Us to Sit Still

  • A Skeptic's Search for Health and Healing
  • By: Tim Parks
  • Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
  • Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (24 ratings)

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Teach Us to Sit Still

By: Tim Parks
Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
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Publisher's summary

Teach Us to Sit Still is the visceral, thought-provoking, and inexplicably entertaining story of how Tim Parks found himself in serious pain, how doctors failed to help, and the quest he took to find his own way out.

Overwhelmed by a crippling condition which nobody could explain or relieve, Parks follows a fruitless journey through the conventional medical system only to find relief in the most unexpected place: a breathing exercise that eventually leads him to take up meditation. This was the very last place Parks anticipated finding answers; he was about as far from New Age as you can get.

As everything that he once held true is called into question, Parks confronts the relationship between his mind and body, the hectic modern world that seems to demand all our focus, and his chosen life as an intellectual and writer. He is drawn to consider the effects of illness on the work of other writers, the role of religion in shaping our sense of self, and the influence of sports and art on our attitudes toward health and well-being. Most of us will fall ill at some point; few will describe that journey with the same verve, insight, and radiant intelligence as Tim Parks. Captivating and inspiring, Teach Us to Sit Still is an intensely personal - and brutally honest - story for our times.

©2010 Tim Parks (P)2014 Audible Inc.
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What listeners say about Teach Us to Sit Still

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Ein wunderbares Buch

Großartig, ein Augenöffner und super gelesen! Ein Plädoyer für mehr Gelassenheit, Neugierde und ein gutes Leben.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A glimmer of hope

If you’re experiencing pain in your sensitive areas and feel hopeless after many trips to the doctor, this book is sure to give you hope! Highly recommend

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

Enjoyed greatly. Book about pelvic pain and meditation and healing. Mixed w literary references and life lessons. Well written and read.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Charming but voice is dumb and icky

The story was unexpectedly nice, but this actor is a fool. He played the wry, ironic lines for hur-hur laughs and didn't seem to grasp the meaning of many sentences. A real pity.

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a deeply funny tale about pain and the brain

i have listened to Tim Parks’ autobiographical book five times (over a few years). it keeps fascinating me. it is in turns profound, surprising, insightful and very humorous. it made me think about modern medicine, the relationship between language, thinking and our bodies - and quite a few other things!
i might well listen to it again sometime ….

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Review

Boring and laborious. Only finished because I was trapped on a long ride without internet.

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Painful to get to the end of this book

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I am just going to say my low review is because I just don't click with his style of writing . To me he gets side tracked with stories branching off of stories and uses a high vocabulary that is not necessary to make the point. Keep it simple and to the point

What could Tim Parks have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Get to your main topics and keep it simple .

How could the performance have been better?

Use less fancy words and keep your story simple

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I had compassion for his pain . I just don't click with his style of writing at all.

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