COURSE

Mindfulness For Absolute Beginners

This course will teach you how to practice Mindfulness Meditation. It begins with a broad overview, outlining introductory methods to get you meditating immediately. From there it adds concepts, ideas, and different approaches; gradually helping you to establish an ongoing mindfulness practice. Each session of this course takes you deeper into the world of mindfulness meditation, coving topics including: troubleshooting, routine building, when to meditate, posture, finding a group or 'guru', myths and misconceptions, habit building and adding mindfulness to your day. Note: this course is a guidebook/instructional, not a guided meditation. Thus you will be prompted to pause the audio to complete the meditations given, or to comeback to them at a later time!

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Meet your Teacher

Zachary Phillips

Melbourne, Australia

Zachary Phillips is a poet, author, meditation instructor, and mindset coach. He is also a qualified teacher, Reiki master, and is currently studying a Master of Counselling. In these roles he helps people identify and release the limiting beliefs that no longer serve them, guiding them from surviving to passionately thriving using tips, tools, and techniques that enable them to process the past, accept the present, and embrace the future with positivity and purpose.

12 Days

814 students

4.6 stars

9 min / day

Anger

English

Lesson 1

Getting Started

Mindfulness is the awareness that arises from purposefully paying non-judgmental attention to the present moment. This brief definition hides a significant amount of wisdom, so it is worth unpacking.

Lesson 2

The Real Practice

We can say we are meditating correctly when we notice that our attention has wandered. It is the act of noticing distraction and returning our attention back to the meditation object (in this case the breath) that will be the core focus of a lot of our initial mindful work.

Lesson 3

Have Some Faith & When To Meditate

There is a lag between starting and seeing the results of our practice. It may take months before we start to notice any positive impact, thus we need to have faith in the method, the instructor, and ourselves. We need to turn up and practice each day knowing that in time the benefits of our efforts will eventually compound.

Lesson 4

It Is A Marathon Not A Sprint

It is important to highlight something here about habit acquisition. Go slowly and make sure all changes are life appropriate. If we go too hard too soon, we risk dropping the practice entirely.

Lesson 5

Choosing A Meditation Object

The traditional object of mindfulness is the breath. It is used because it is always available and is constantly changing. The breath provides an anchor on which we can focus our minds; when we notice our attention shifting, we simply and gently return it back to the sensations of the breath at the nose.

Lesson 6

Broad Awareness

‘Broad Awareness’ operates in tandem with your attention. It picks up on any potential distractions, whether they be thoughts, feelings, emotions, moods, memories, physical pain, sounds or any other worldly interferences, before they totally shift your attention.

Lesson 7

Posture, Pain, Sleepiness and Boredom

Some of the most common questions about meditation relate to posture. ‘How should I sit? Should I open or close my eyes? What do I do with my hands? Can I use a chair and a cushion? What if I don’t have the flexibility?’ Depending on the tradition of your instructor, you will receive different answers to these questions, some of which will be contradictory, all of which will seem very convincing.

Lesson 8

Meditation Preparation

When we are first learning to meditate, it is beneficial to have a dedicated space in which to practice. The specifics will be unique to you, but in general you will want to find a place that is free of distractions, comfortable, and available.

Lesson 9

Finding a Guru or Group

For some people, their meditation practice is greatly enhanced in the presence of others. Getting together with a group of like-minded people to practice can be quite rewarding. A good meditation group will be motivating and help keep you accountable. It is one thing to skip a session when you are alone, but quite another when you have agreed to meet up with a group. This is a form of positive social pressure and is a great tool to harness the positive effects of peer pressure. What is more, when you are meditating with others, you will have a wealth of experiences and resources to draw upon should any questions or concerns arise.

Lesson 10

Turn and Face

Some days, meditation can seem like a chore. It can feel like you are totally out of focus for the entire session. That your mind is wandering out of control, and it is all you can do to stop yourself from getting off the mat and ending the session early. Perhaps you are plagued by embarrassing memories, find yourself bombarded by strong emotions, or are simply falling asleep. Whatever the reason, that meditation session just sucked. Please do not stress, this happens to everyone. It is not a sign of regression, or that you are meditating incorrectly. The truth is that you can only have the meditation you are having. Whatever happens, happens and that is okay.

Lesson 11

Am I Doing It 'Right' & Taking Meditation Into Your Day

Knowing if you are meditating correctly is uniquely challenging. Unlike most other pursuits, it is completely internal, and the results are entirely subjective. You could watch two people sitting, one in deep meditation and the other lost in a daydream, and not be able to tell who was doing what. In fact, the day dreamer may emerge from their sit appearing more refreshed and relaxed than when they began, whereas the meditator may appear exhausted.

Lesson 12

Myths and Misconceptions

In this session you will find some of the questions, beliefs and concerns people have prior to starting a mindfulness practice, as well as some of the things they wished they knew earlier on.

4.6 (14)

Recent Reviews

Jan

June 8, 2025

Interesting, informative and reassuring. Thank you, Zachary

Robin

February 1, 2024

Even though I practiced mindfulness often, I took this course just for the reminders and to see if I could pick up any new helpful hints which I did, of course. So thank you for the course. I enjoyed it and I liked picking something so simple as to touching a light switch to take a breath mindfully. Definitely stealing something to that effect where I pick something that I do often and take a mindful breath. Great idea God and goddess bless and happy Imbolc!!

Fátima

November 4, 2023

Very interesting and clarifying. Learnt alot and had me looking at mindfulness in a totally different way. Thank you.

Cindy

July 28, 2023

🌱🍃⭐️💕

Chris

June 23, 2023

Fantastic! Thank you!

Claire

June 19, 2023

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