Be Here Now is my online course where you learn to live more mindfully. But what does that really mean and what does the course cover? Let's take a closer look…

What is mindfulness and why live mindfully?

Mindfulness is paying attention to the here and now, not thinking about the past or the future, but focusing on the present, without judgement. It’s not a state to remain in all the time, thinking about the past and future has its benefits too. But, spending time going over and over what happened in the past or wondering what might happen in the future means we’re missing what’s taking place right now, in our lives, at this present moment.

Rumination – going over and over something that happened in the past or has yet to happen in the future – has been shown to increase feelings of anxiety, raise stress levels and create a negative mind-set. If you’re living mindfully – focusing on the present – you can’t be worrying about the past or future, it simply isn’t possible to think about both things at once.

I know that when I’m in overthinking mode, going over a past conversation or thinking about all the things I need to do, switching my focus to what’s real right now in the present moment, calms me down. I can feel my breathing slow, my shoulders drop and the fog in my mind begins to clear. It’s not like my life instantly becomes a breeze and my problems or responsibilities disappear. It’s just that my attitude towards them has changed because I’m able to calm my mind by paying attention to the here and now.

How often have you travelled to a destination but not been able to recall the journey? Or replayed a conversation with a friend or colleague over and over? Or realised half way through a movie you’ve lost track of the plot? Or imagined ten different scenarios for a meeting or appointment the next day? Or climbed into bed and wondered where your day went?

Remembering and savouring moments and events in the past, and looking forward to and planning the future, can be healthy, productive and necessary. But when it interferes with your participation in the present it becomes unhelpful.

The more you practise living mindfully the more you’re able to be aware of when you're getting stuck in overthinking or bogged down with worry, and bring your attention to the present. And in doing so you soothe your overthinking mind, reduce the worry or negativity you feel and increase your enjoyment of your life as it is right now.

What does Be Here Now cover?

Mindful living means applying mindfulness to all areas of our lives so that we can be more aware of how we feel, what we do, how we react to the world and relate to the people around us.

Be Here Now is hosted in the private classroom and you have access for the lifetime of the course. You can read and listen to the lessons as many times as you like.

In Week 1 we look at mindfulness, meditation and why we want to live more mindfully. We also think about how we talk to ourselves and our relationship with our inner critic.

Week 2 sees us continuing with considering how we care for our mind, body and soul, challenging common misconceptions about self-care. We look at what mindful eating and drinking is and how we can benefit from practising it.

The sticky subject of our relationship with our digital devices – how we use and relate to social media, what and how we share ourselves online – is the focus for week 3.

In week 4 we turn our attention to how living mindfully can build and strengthen our relationships with family, friends, work colleagues and the wider community, and we look at dealing with difficult people. We also consider our environment and how being mindful of where we live and work enhances our wellbeing.

In the final week of Be Here Now we build on the previous weeks and focus on how mindfulness can help us deal with and reduce how stressed we feel and what it means to live with intention.

Because Be Here Now is a practical guide to living mindfully the focus is on how mindfulness can be applied to and blended with our everyday lives, rather than something extra to add to our to do lists.

There are 20 worksheets to support the lessons and give you insight into applying your learnings to your own life.

The six recorded guided meditations (2-5 mins long each) allow you to try different forms of meditation, for a variety of needs, in a way that fits into the busiest of days.

Everyone who registers for Be Here Now is welcome to join the private Facebook group, just for the participants of this course. Here we will go through the course together and there will be the opportunity to discuss the lessons in live sessions.