Course description

If you already know the basics of mindfulness but your practice has settled into a quick daily routine that never goes much deeper, this course gives you the structure to take the next step. Over eight weeks you build up to longer practices, learn to work with whatever comes up, and take steadier attention into your working day.

It's a full course of 10 sections and 50 written lessons. Section 1 gets you ready, Sections 2 to 9 are Weeks 1 to 8, and Section 10 is a final project: your own practice plan. You follow a school business manager in West Lothian through her eight weeks, including the mornings she nodded off, the day a budget meeting went badly, and her first half-day of practice at home. Every practice is written out as a full script you can read, print or record in your own voice.

What you'll learn

• Steadier attention: 20-minute breath practice, counting and noting, posture for longer sits, and working with sleepiness and restlessness.
• The body in depth: a 30-minute body scan, noticing pleasant, unpleasant and neutral, mindful movement, and working with discomfort.
• Open awareness: sounds, thoughts as events in the mind, and moving between focused and open attention.
• Turning towards difficulty: allowing difficult feelings safely, the breathing space as a doorway, and riding urges.
• Kindness and steadiness: a deeper kindness practice, self-compassion in hard moments, and meeting what you can't change.
• Focus in daily life: single-tasking, mindful transitions, deeper listening and a half-day home practice.
• Making it last: looking after your energy, practising when life gets hard, finding a good teacher, and a plan you'll keep.

Who it's for

Adults who have done a beginners course, used a mindfulness app or practised on their own, and want structure and depth. You'll need about 20 to 30 minutes a day for practice. The course is for learning and practice, not treatment, and it explains clearly when to talk to a health professional and where to get help. Every section has a practice pack with scripts, a worksheet, example answers and a one-page cheat sheet.

What will I learn?

• Build up from short practices to steady 20- to 30-minute sits, with the right posture and support
• Work skilfully with sleepiness, restlessness, a wandering mind and physical discomfort
• Practise the long body scan, mindful movement, sounds and thoughts, and open awareness
• Turn towards difficult feelings and urges safely, and use the breathing space as a doorway to a wise next step
• Deepen kindness and self-compassion, including towards difficult people, and find steadiness with what you can't change
• Bring focus into your day with single-tasking, mindful transitions and deeper listening
• Plan and complete a half-day home practice
• Design a personal practice plan you can keep after the eight weeks

Frequently asked questions