Welcome! Are you curious about the Mindful Revolution going on right now? Want to know why everyone from athletes like LeBron James, Derek Jeter and Michael Jordan, celebrities like Anderson Cooper and Richard Gere and businesswomen like Arianna Huffington have embraced the practice?
Or maybe you’re curious why entire teams such as the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bulls and companies like Google, Target and General Mills have promoted mindfulness offerings?
You’ve come to the right place.
This 6-week eCourse is designed to introduce you to many basic mindfulness exercises. You will be guided through many of the same practices offered in the 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR) which helped kick-off the mindful revolution in the west over 30 years ago and which is widely considered to be the most well-respected mindfulness program today.
This course is a recording of a class I held via teleconference with live participants. The class discussions have been edited out (to protect privacy) but summarized when appropriate so you still get the valuable insights that were shared.
Here’s how it will work…
Each week, you will receive:
an audio recording of the class (approximately an hour and 15 minutes in length). It will be downloadable to your phone or computer.
class notes summarizing any key points, any poems that were read and other information to supplement the lessons.
a guided audio mindfulness practice for you to listen to for homework for 6 days out of the week. The length of the practices are from 25-45 minutes. You will receive a total of 5 guided practices throughout the course.
Occasionally you will have:
other exercises to do for homework and forms to fill out to help illustrate the lessons we are working on.
optional YouTube videos to watch to support the concepts. Here is a short one right now by one of my most brilliant teachers, Jon Kabat Zinn.
FAQs:
Why should I take a mindfulness class online?
If you have access to and can afford to take a mindfulness class in person with a skilled teacher, I highly recommend you do that! I don’t think there is a substitute for the in-person presence of a good teacher or the beautiful, supportive community that develops when people are cultivating mindfulness together. However, if this scenario isn’t available to you, and you are self-motivated and willing to do the practices on your own, you can still benefit.
What if I’m too busy and I don’t finish in 6 weeks?
You can download everything to your computer and take as long as you want to finish.
How much will this cost me?
Take advantage of this SPECIAL:
Only $59, or less than $10 a week (regularly $89)
How much time will this take me?
Ideally, you would set aside anywhere from 30-50 minutes of practice on most days. Like anything else, you get out of this what you put into it. If you’re learning any new skill (like playing the piano) you become more skilled the more you practice. Having said that, you can still plant seeds and find value with shorter amounts of time.
Actually doing the guided homework practices is probably the most beneficial part of the course. It is what will help rewire the brain in ways that reduce stress and promote positive emotions. Brain changes correlate with hours of practice.
Speaking of the brain, what is the science around this anyway?
There is now a fairly large (and steadily growing) body of scientific evidence that shows that regular mindfulness practice can change both the structure and the function of the brain in ways that create more ease and health in body and mind. Even the Harvard Business Review is jumping on the bandwagon!
You can read more about the research and data around mindfulness here. Benefits of mindfulness practice can include:
stress reduction
decreased anxiety
greater optimism
increased self control
better concentration
improved memory
heightened empathy
better immune system function
more successful social relations
increased satisfaction with parenting
improved sleep
reduced symptoms of ADHD
increased clarity
greater body acceptance and less preoccupation with weight
decreased binge eating
painful experiences are perceived less negatively (both physically and emotionally)
lower blood pressure
improvement in symptoms from such disorders as: headaches, PTSD, fibromyalgia and even certain skin disorders
The Bottom Line: The mind-body connection is powerful!!! We have more control over our well-being than we’ve been led to believe.
What you’ll get:
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION AND CLIMBING BACK INTO THE BODY
- how mindlessness gets us into trouble: physically, emotionally and inter-personally
- what mindfulness is and how can it restore balance to the body and mind
- how thoughts, emotions and physical sensations affect each other
- in this culture that reveres thinking, we will start climbing back into the body
Week 2: FINDING STILLNESS AND USING THE BODY AS A COMPASS
- messages from the body, how we can tune in and let it guide us
- using the breath to find stillness
- the universality of the wandering mind
- the power of self compassion
Week 3: THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF PAUSING
- working with discomfort: physical and emotional
- what we can learn from unpleasant events
- mindful eating: each meal is an opportunity for being fully present
- your body is still talking…are you listening yet?
Week 4: COMING TO OUR SENSES
- intentions vs. goals: an important distinction
- what are you thinking?? are your thoughts serving you or causing suffering and how to get unstuck
- how do you know it’s not a blessing? looking deeply at the stories we tell ourselves and what messages we send
- becoming intimately familiar with our automatic reactions to stress; are we getting in our own way and if so, how to mindfully step aside
- deliberately cultivating positive emotions
Week 5: HOW CHANGING OUR WORDS CAN TRANSFORM OUR HEARTS
- the dark quiet places are where the treasure is always buried; going deep into stillness
- how to communicate effectively so we don’t get derailed in day-to-day interactions
- working mindfully with “difficult people” in our lives so we can find freedom no matter what!
- the intelligence of the heart: how to access it and why it matters
- walking your way to stillness
Week 6: REWIRING THE BRAIN FOR MORE LOVING RELATIONSHIPS
- exercising our compassion and kindness muscles-for self and others
- actively cultivating gratitude, making space for what is going right
- verbal aikido
- bringing it all together-personal recipes for freedom and practical magic using mindfulness practices
If you’re IN and want to start improving your mind-body connection right now, click HERE* to register.
You will get immediate access to the Week 1 curriculum.
*By registering for this course, you acknowledge the privacy policy and disclaimer.
“Everybody needs this, and how you teach mindfulness makes it so clear.”
~Stacy Paulsen, Balanced Living Strategist, Santa Clarita, CA
To learn more about your guide for this journey and to see more testimonials, please click below:
Erin Sharaf
