I am Robert Mitchell. I teach meditation in Bromley, London, Kent and online. I have taught thousands of students since 2013, in person and online, in about 5,000 classes.
I want to introduce you to one of my key training resources, The Meditation Course recorded training courses.
The Meditation Course website isn't just the home of my four live weekly guided meditation classes. It is also home to my twelve recorded meditation courses, consisting of a hundred and forty lessons.
The Meditation Course recorded training courses are on this website on the top navigation menu
In the top navigation menu, there is also an easily browsable map of the courses that allows you to view them to find the ones that might interest you, and you can also discover the free ones more easily.
The Meditation Course site has more than 140 lessons organised into 12 courses, which form a complete meditation training. You can start today, and 37 of them are free to the public.
This article explains what the Courses are. What you will get from taking them, how you can find them and how you can get the most from them.
What the Courses are
The Courses are a library of written and recorded lessons. Each lesson has a specific focus. And although you can work through the courses in a structured way (which I suggest if you're new to meditation), you can also dig into the training to find what works for you.
The lessons are grouped into courses. Each course covers one area of the training. Each course has a course page, and the course page lists the lessons in the most useful order.
You can skip any part of the training at any point, and you can return to something as many times as you wish.
About the lessons
There are three types of lessons. Most are recordings of my live training. Some are free podcast sessions. Others are written explanations of a practice, concept, or the background you need to understand it.
What you can get from the courses
The Meditation Course recorded lessons are part of my complete meditation training program. They work together with my regular online group meditation classes, in-person classes, mindfulness-based resilience courses, and retreats to create a unique way to learn and build your meditation practice.
The courses are a structured training resource you can return to at your convenience.
What changes
Students come to meditation for different reasons. These are the four that come up most.
· Stress. You learn to intervene in your own stress response, in seconds, using the breath.
· Sleep. Learn the practices that, over time, will replace the activity of your busy mind.
· Calmness & Focus. You learn to notice when attention has wandered, and to bring it back to Now.
· Resilience. Learn to cope with adversity in a way that helps you handle future adversity.
The Course Structure
Different people have different learning styles and different learning habits.
The Meditation Course recorded training courses allow both structured learning, where we begin with a foundation of understanding and then build on it, and student-led, learner-driven learning—learning where the student chooses what they learn, what they return to and how many times they wish to return to it. And the order in which they take the training.
The Courses are in order. The Foundations come before Core Practices. Core Practices come before Meditation in Depth; each course assumes what came before it.
Diving in
One of the most common learning Styles is what I call diving in; it's what I do.
When I'm presented with a learning opportunity, I like to map it out before I get started, and as part of that process, I like to identify the most useful starting point.
· Free Meditation Course for Beginners. Three lessons. What meditation is, how to start, and how to sit for your first practice. No account needed.
· Breathwork for Stress. Four breathing practices that move the body out of stress. You can test the effect yourself with a heart rate reading before and after.
· 7 Steps to Mastering Meditation. Seven guided recordings, seven minutes each. Listen anywhere.
· The Meditation Course Handbook. The purpose of meditation, the four rules, and the supporting practices.
The main training
· Foundations. 44 lessons. How to sit, how to follow the breath, how to count, how to work with thoughts, and how to build a practice that holds up in a busy week. If you are new, start at Unit A1 and work through in order.
· Core Practices. 21 lessons. Compassion, the body scan, the candle and the breath, loving kindness, walking meditation, and the relaxation practices for stress, fear, and anxiety. Each unit stands on its own.
· Resilience and Stress. 26 lessons. Mindfulness-based resilience, the four-week pranayama course, noting, sleep, and the intervention techniques for high stress. This is the material I deliver to NHS trusts and to mental health charities.
· Connection. Four lessons. Breaking the cycle of stress, and meditation as a connection to other people and to the natural world.
· Perspective. Four lessons. The ideas underneath the practice. The Two Wolves, and impermanence.
· Meditation in Depth. Seven lessons. Meditation as mental training, informal practice through the day, and where mindfulness meets technology. Read these once Foundations is familiar.
The Live Classes
· The Meditation Course Live Classes. Four guided classes every week on Zoom.
· The Deepening Course. A year-round course for experienced meditators. Fortnightly Group training on Zoom, plus one-to-one coaching with me and a range of other benefits.
The course map shows every course and every lesson on one page, in order here: https://www.meditationcourse.live/course-map/
How you get to them
Everybody
Every course page is public. Every course map is public. You can read the whole structure of the training before you decide anything.
Thirty-seven lessons are free to read, including all four of the starter courses above. That is enough material to build a real practice.
Free subscribers
Sign up with your email address, and you get the Weekly Insights newsletter. It arrives once a week. It is one article on one idea, and it is free.
You also get access to the free lessons in one place, and you get told when new material is published.
Paid members
A paid membership opens the rest of the library. That includes Foundations, Core Practices, Resilience and Stress, Connection, and Perspective.
It also opens the live classes. There are four every week, all at London times.
· Tuesdays, 1 pm. 45 minutes.
· Thursdays, 7 pm. 45 minutes.
· Saturdays, 10 am. One hour, and in person in Bromley.
· Sundays, 7 pm. 45 minutes.
The classes run on Zoom but are audio-only. Your camera stays off. We never insist you speak or join in. You can sit at home in comfort with your favourite warm beverage and relax, and join in.
Each class opens with a short update, then a ten-minute talk on the day's topic, then a guided meditation of 25 to 30 minutes, or 40 minutes on Saturday.
Membership options and prices are on the subscription page. There is a free trial month.
Where to start
Pick the line that sounds like you.
I just want quick, easy meditations. Start with the 7 Steps to Mastering Meditation. This is a set of seven simple meditations, each under seven minutes, with a full supporting class.
I have never meditated. Read the Free Meditation Course for Beginners. Three lessons. Then sit for five minutes. That is the whole task.
I have an app, but nothing has stuck. Read Breathwork for Stress first, because you can measure the result on the same day. Then start Foundations at Unit A1.
I already meditate, and I want to go deeper. Skim Foundations for the units you have not met, then go to Meditation in Depth. If you want live training in depth, take a look at the Deepening Course.
I want to stop being so stressed. Go to Resilience and Stress. Start with the intervention techniques. They work in the moment, and you can use them today.
How the live and recorded training fits together
· The Courses are the structure. They teach the practice, in order, in writing.
· The Live Classes help you build a meditation practice. My students tell me that making a personal commitment to tune in to one or more guided classes is one of the best ways to build a regular practice.
Ready to Take the Next Step to Building Your Meditation Practice?
You have just learned what is on offer. Membership opens it all up to you: over 140 lessons across 12 courses, in the order they are meant to be learned, plus four live guided classes every week on Zoom.
You can start with a free trial month, and you can leave (and return) whenever you like.
