Get Started with Mindfulness

Calm your mind, deepen your focus, and find more joy in life.

Try a Free Meditation

Try out this three-minute breathing space meditation with Elaine Smookler.

Are You Ready to Get Started with Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where you are and what you’re doing, and not overly reactive to or overwhelmed by what’s going on around you. And while mindfulness is a skill that every human being naturally possesses (yes, you too!), it’s strengthened through meditation, and with short pauses inserted into your day.

This course offers practices and exercises to help you tap into your own natural state of mindfulness. You can build up a toolbox of mindful skills and use them wherever you are, anytime you feel stressed, anxious, or in need of greater clarity and focus.

This course can help you:

Drop into a state of calm, expansive perspective whenever you need it
Defuse a stress spiral in minutes
Interact with the world with less angst and more kindness
Experience greater spaciousness and freedom in any situation
Improve your relationships, including the one with yourself
Transform your experience of pain, even with chronic conditions
Create awareness of how your default thoughts and reactions control your mind and behaviours, and choose how you want to be

Course Curriculum

Start Here

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Common Questions

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How Mindfulness Helps

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How to Sit

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Guided Meditation Practices

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Next Steps

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Meet Your Teacher

Elaine Smookler is a registered psychotherapist, teacher, writer, and performer, known for her innovative methods in developing mindfulness and resilience. She's part of the faculty at the Centre for Mindfulness Studies in Toronto, offering both introductory and clinical programs, including Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Elaine has also taught at the University of Toronto's medical school and facilitated The Mindfulness Project at SickKids hospital. Her engaging, non-judgmental, and cheerful approach makes her a beloved instructor among her students.

Kind words from thankful students

"Elaine is a wonderful teacher, she is non-judgemental and cheerful - which in my mind is hard to find! I like her calm but energetic demeanour, because I find that some therapists and mindfulness teachers can have a "sedated" way of speaking, which I personally don't click with. Elaine skillfully shows an incremental yet deep pathway to becoming better at practicing mindfulness. I highly recommend this course!"

-Lyubov L.

"I have been practicing Mindfulness on my own for about a year now, and this really puts it all in perspective for me. I am beginning to understand what it is, and what it is not, which I am sure will give me a much richer and more effective practice in my life."

-Connie S.

"Elaine is great - so funny, so down to earth, so realistic about what to expect. She explains things well, and says things that really resonate."

-Susan R.

"I am new to mindfulness and am learning so much since taking this course."

-Kathryn W.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the course start and finish?

The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.

How long do I have access to the course?

How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.

What if I am unhappy with the course?

We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.

Having technical issues?

Visit our Help Page here.