Shakespeare & Co. is pleased to host a reading and discussion with Missoula-based author Lee Klinger Lesser on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at 5:30 pm. Lesser will read selections from her new book, Return to Our Senses: A Path to Stability in an Unstable World (Bell Ringer Press, April 2026). This event is free and open to the public.
About Return to Our Senses: A Path to Stability in an Unstable World:
Wars, economic insecurity, climate change, social upheaval: We live in a deeply unstable time—one in which circumstances seem to conspire against personal equanimity and mindful action. That’s why Lee Klinger Lesser wrote Return to Our Senses: A Path to Stability in an Unstable World. Klinger Lesser is a longtime teacher of Sensory Awareness, a somatic mindfulness practice that helps us settle into the moment and find purpose and joy in it. By returning to our breath, our senses, and our body we build resilience, calm, and the ability to respond to challenges in mindful, creative, and constructive ways. In these times of overlapping crises, we need these skills more than ever. Klinger Lesser has worked with people who have been on the front lines—both literally and figuratively—of some of the most frightening and traumatic events human beings can confront. She’s helped military veterans, survivors of sexual assault, prison inmates, wildland firefighters and many others find peace and engage more effectively in the world.
Throughout Return to Our Senses, Klinger Lesser shares step-by-step practices that readers can use anytime to cultivate peace and clarity, and to meet the needs of any given moment. “As we navigate our way through personal challenges and the precarious future we are facing on our shared planet, how we meet each moment affects our lives and the lives of those around us,” she writes. The many stories she shares from her work show the transformative power of Sensory Awareness in action. They include a wrongly convicted prisoner on death row who has become an advocate for justice and a mentor to people around the world; a military veteran, struggling addict and victim of childhood abuse who went on to become a lawyer making a difference; and many more.
Klinger Lesser learned the practice of Sensory Awareness from Charlotte Selver, who pioneered these skills at another time when the world was in crisis. Surviving Nazi Germany, Selver immigrated to the US and went on to teach Sensory Awareness throughout the world—often with Klinger Lesser beside her. In Return to Our Senses, Klinger Lesser makes the invaluable practice of Sensory Awareness accessible to readers far and wide and invites us to use it to transform ourselves and the world.
Author Biography:
Lee Klinger Lesser has devoted a lifetime to the study and practice of embodied awareness, education, and service. Her work is based on a deep respect for our inherent connection with nature, the resilience of the human spirit, and the power of community. She studied Sensory Awareness with Charlotte Selver, the founder of this practice in the United States, and has been offering the practice nationally and internationally for fifty years. Lee lived at the San Francisco Zen Center from 1978 to 1983, and Zen practice has continued to inform and enrich her life.
She holds a master’s degree in education from Bank Street College, and has worked as an early childhood educator, coach, and college instructor focusing on equity and family support. Lee began offering programs to military veterans in 2008 and was the co-founder of Veteran’s PATH, a nonprofit organization that served military veterans through mindfulness, community, and nature-based programs from 2015 to 2023. Her teaching and facilitation extend to diverse and often demanding contexts, including trainings for wildland firefighters, retreats for climate activists, and long-term work with communities facing stress, uncertainty, and change. Lee teaches Sensory Awareness bilingually in Mexico and Spain, bringing embodied practices across cultures and languages.
She is also a mother and grandmother, roles that continue to enrich and expand her life. A deepest hope is that we will join together and work towards a better future for the children and future generations on our precious planet.
Lee Klinger Lesser