Resources for Learning Mindfulness and Meditation
I thought it would be very helpful to have a page on this site that you can always come to for help with mindfulness. It’s a constant work-in-progress as mindfulness and meditation are never-ending methods of self-discovery. Therefore, I recommend bookmarking this page in your browser and checking back every now and then. Thanks!
Disclosure: Please notice that some of the links below are “affiliate links”, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you decide to buy through one of these links. I don’t recommend things that I don’t personally have at least some experience with, and that I find to be helpful and useful. I don’t simply recommend these because of the small commissions I make. Please do not spend any money on these products or services unless you feel you need them or that they will help you become more mindful, less stressed, or otherwise achieve your goals.
My Most Recommended Courses
I’m a HUGE fan of lifelong learning. I have a Master’s Degree in Education, as well as certifications. It’s probably because of this that I still read books, take free and paid courses, and take the advice of experienced people the world over if I find that it will help me understand something better, or gain experience with something that I might not understand yet.
Mindfulness and meditation are very personal and intrinsic things. What works for one person might not work for another. However, there are certain base skills that do help most people, and I’ve found some courses to be very good at teaching these things, and helping to make them accessible to the broadest group of people.
You’ll also notice that most come from Udemy. I recommend Udemy because I buy courses from them frequently. They have a wonderful money-back guarantee.
They also let you have access to the instructors. This is probably the best feature in that it allows you to ask questions and get answers. Also, and equally important, is that many instructors will constantly add new lectures to their courses. This extends the life of the courses and costs you NOTHING once you’re enrolled, for life (well, the life of Udemy.com.) That makes buying courses there a wonderful experience.
Here’s the list as of today. I’ll be adding to this list as I go through more courses:
Mindfulness Practitioner Levels 1, 2, 3, and Master
This course is 25 hours long. It’s awesome, comprehensive, practical, and one you will probably benefit from immensely. I can’t say for certain because everyone is different, but aside from practice, this is huge.
Retrain Your Brain
This is a very popular course on Udemy with over 1200 students and solid reviews. It’s taught by a Doctor of Psychology and is excellent. I got a great deal out of taking this course, and she keeps updating it every so often, which is a plus.
A Mindfulness Course for Everyone: Learn The Power of NOW.
This is the “bread and butter” mindfulness course. It’s a great introduction as well as a practical guide for both new and experienced alike. The course is structured well and the instructor is very responsive and accessible. I get solid value out of this one, especially lectures 4, 7, and 20.
Mindfulness Meditation – Create a Happier You!
This one looks great. It’s taught by a psychotherapist. I have yet to go through it but from what I can tell, it’s very promising. I’ll update this section once I go through it.
Mindfulness Meditation : Enjoy All Day Active Mindfulness
Mindfulness Meditation Feels Great, then BOOM! It’s gone! Enroll to conquer mind-dulness & enjoy mindfulness on the go!
This might be the closest course to what I’ve written about for years. It’s very practical and accessible, and makes practicing mindfulness easy to grasp. It has almost 2000 students and gets five star ratings.
Reduce Your Stress & Anxiety Practicing a Simple Meditation
This is a nice quick, well structured, and inexpensive course that delves deep into the “why” of meditation and mindfulness, and gives practical advice as well. I really like this one.
Mini-Habit Mastery
This is pretty much the go-to course on Udemy for mastering habits. In all seriousness, if you want to have success with mindfulness or meditation, you should make it a habit. If you have trouble sticking to it, this course will really help you.
Interactive Technology
We live in the digital age. It’s inevitable that this would extend to meditation and mindfulness. While you don’t need anything but yourself and some guidance, I find that these things help in ways that go beyond that.
The Journey to Wild Divine
MUSE Headband
Books
Ah, where would we be as a civilization without books. These have helped people learn on their own for hundreds of years. Here’s a short list of my favorites in regard to meditation and mindfulness.
The Dharma of Star Wars
This book is awesome for fans of Star Wars and sci-fi. It explains Buddhism in a way that anyone who likes the Star Wars films will really enjoy. It was one of the first books I’d read on the subject, and it’s still on my shelf.
Mindfulness In Plain English
This is a solid book that explains mindfulness in a very practical and down-to-earth manner.
The Power of Myth
This is an epic work by Joseph Campbell. It’s pretty much required reading if you’re on any spiritual path. I get so much from this every time I read it.
The Relaxation Response
This is a short book by Dr. Herbert Benson. It describes the “relaxation response”, what it is, and how to activate it. If you want to understand how to chill yourself out, read this.
The End of Stress
The title says it all. I’m almost through the book and wow, it’s very practical and the exercises work for me.
The Tools
This is becoming a cornerstone book for me. I need to stick to the exercises more, especially as I get busier. The exercises inside this gem work when you work them. It’s pretty amazing.
Journey of Souls
This series is just profound. It posits and afterlife more amazing that most religions give an abstract description of. Whether you believe it or not, it’s a good and interesting read.
Quiet The Mind
This is a shameless plug for my own book. It’s a quick read and a practical guide for learning to quiet your mind and be able to focus. I’ve packed quite a bit of useful knowledge in here based on my own personal experience using mindfulness. This links to a page with more detail about it. I’ve kept this very affordable, and it’s available on Amazon.
Physical Products
Oh Amazon, you make things too easy. Here are some physical products that I use and “enjoy”. The spoonk is less of “enjoy”, but useful haha. You’ll see what I mean.
Body Back Buddy
This goes along with Trigger Point Therapy. It’s super useful and helps me tremendously. If mine broke, I’d buy another one right away, without thinking about it.
The Spoonk
Ah the Spoonk! It’s painful, I’ll say that flat out. BUT, it’s also helpful. I don’t know why, but I do feel pretty good after lying down on it.
Ingestibles
I don’t often eat things to relax, but when I do, I use these.
Melatonin
This will help you fall asleep, and may help reset your internal clock. Don’t drive after taking this, you’ve been warned.
Neuro Sleep
This is awesome, but really, only drink this when you have nothing else to do, and Don’t drive after taking this, you’ve been warned.
Matcha
If you like green tea, this is the best stuff imaginable. It has caffeine, but it’s “timed-release”, meaning that you feel energetic the whole day and usually don’t have the crash that coffee and chocolate give you.
Other Sites Worth Checking Out
There are some really cool people and organizations in this space. Here are a few of my favorites.
Self-Realization Fellowship
This is the original group formed by Paramahansa Yogananda. I’ve had personal experience with this group and find them to be very caring and knowledgeable. They are keepers of a deep spiritual knowledge and practice. Their site is very informative.
Ananda
This group is a splinter organization formed when Swami Kriyananda left Self-Realization Fellowship. They follow the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda and are similar in nature to SRF. Both groups are very helpful and welcoming.
Swami J
This is such an awesome site I can’t even put words to it. I’ve learned so much about Yoga here. I’m not talking about the physical, “on the mat” yoga, but the deeper practices. You’d do yourself a world of good by checking this out.
Philosophical Research Society
When I first moved to Los Angeles, this place was very close by. I used to attend lectures there on various subjects ranging from Hermetic Law to Shamanism. This is the group originally formed by Manly P. Hall, and has one of the oldest esoteric libraries in the northern hemisphere. It also has a cool bookstore and university to boot.
mindfulness.com
Ozzie’s site. This is a long-standing mindfulness site. This guy was talking about mindfulness long before it became popular.