Dancing at the Still Point: Retreat Practices for a Busy Life

Retreats give us a space for contemplation and developing our relationship with God, but they aren't always possible. So can we still appreciate and detect the everyday God, even without special 'holy' places and spiritual practices?

Dancing at the Still Point is a book for those who can't or aren't ready to go away for a residential Christian retreat, but who want to be in daily relationship and connect with God in a satisfying way.

In sessions that you can work through at your own pace, Gemma Simmonds guides us through the practices and disciplines of retreats, such as being still physically and spiritually, developing a habit of prayer and learning some basic discernment skills. With insights from the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, she explores how we can fold these practices into every day and shows that a rich life of prayer, in which we have time and space to let God be present, is achievable even in a busy working or family life.

Practical and flexible, Dancing at the Still Point will help you find a richer and more balanced life, where the spiritual takes its rightful place amid all the other calls on time and attention.

Dr Gemma Simmonds CJ is a sister of the Congregation of Jesus, Director of the Religious Life Institute and Senior Lecturer in Pastoral Theology, Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, Cambridge. She teaches Christian Spirituality at the Cambridge Theological Federation. She has been a spiritual director, retreat giver and lecturer for over 25 years, working globally. She is the author of The Way of Ignatius (SPCK, 2019).