“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” W.B. Yeats
When was the last time you experienced a sense of wonder, of true awe? That feeling you get when you stop to admire a magnificent sunset, the blossoming of a tree in Spring?
Wonder is a state of deep attention that creates a sense of calm. It can lower stress levels and have a positive impact on our health and wellbeing. It helps us feel alive, feel pleasure, and become more connected to others.
“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.”
E.B. White
But how do we access this sense of wonder more frequently?
Firstly, we need to learn to slow down, to listen, to notice and open our hearts to the possibility of change. This takes practice and is something we can learn to cultivate daily. In modern society, it’s easy to become lost in busyness, work, constant connectivity, the noise of the news and social media and we find ourselves ‘sleepwalking’ through life.
For children awe and wonder are all around, everything is fascinating and new. But as we grow older and the responsibilities of life take hold, we can find ourselves becoming disconnected, disillusioned, and burned out. Wonder and the time to experience it can feel elusive and a luxury only reserved for holidays and great adventures. But, when we are able to slow down, quieten the chaos in our head and notice, there is beauty to be found in the small and simple things all around us.
Wonder can be fleeting, but it is possible to practice noticing if we learn to put down our phone, close our laptop and begin to see things with new eyes. So, how do you learn to slow down and start noticing?
Learn how with my Little Piece of Wonder Everyday e-course which was born out of a desire to share what I’ve learned from years of experience attending mindfulness and meditation retreats and courses and seeing the positive effects of slowing down to notice and be present on my own health and wellbeing.
Not only that but having lived with anxiety for many years and having been through some challenging times in my life, I’ve witnessed first-hand how taking the time to be more mindful and experience wonder, no matter how fleeting, can bring immense change.
This course is designed to be gentle and nurturing, without the need to learn complex tools and techniques. It’s an invitation to open up to change, to learn how to listen, to see life anew, to feel. It’s about opening up to your own personal sense of wonder, one day at a time.
It’s an invitation to switch off your devices, connect with yourself and tune in to the world around you, to explore, look up, listen and daydream.
How it works
Each day, for 28 days, you will receive an e-mail into your inbox, with daily prompts that will help you to firstly quieten your mind and reconnect with yourself, then help you begin to notice wonder and see new things.
The course is structured into 14 x short lessons plus 14 x practice days to accompany each lesson. The focus is on stillness, our senses, nature, and the beauty that is boundless in the outdoor world.
For the first 2 weeks of the course I will share with you ways to help you learn to slow down, re-connect with your body, breath, senses and silence. This will lay the foundation and help you get ready for the second 2 weeks when we’ll be focusing on noticing wonder in nature.
I’d love you to join me on this life-long journey into wonder. Get curious and never stop wondering. Be alive, right here, right now.
The lessons will include links to additional resources, providing the opportunity to go a little deeper, but are not compulsory.
You can go at your own pace and once the course is finished you can refer back to the emails and material included whenever feels right.
It’s an invitation to switch off your devices, connect with yourself and tune in to the world around you, to explore, look up, listen and daydream.
For £75 you’ll receive 28 x lessons and practices via email plus a beautiful PDF containing all the content from the course for you to keep forever.
Questions and Answers
HOW MUCH DOES THE COURSE COST?
The course is £75 and includes 28 x emails plus a beautiful PDF containing all the content from the course, which you’ll receive to keep forever once the course is completed.
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO THE COURSE?
You’ll need an email address and a computer, tablet or phone. A journal, pen and sketchbook would also be useful to record your thoughts and little pieces of wonder along the way.
DO I NEED TO JOIN ANY CLASSES AT CERTAIN TIMES?
This is a self-paced course, so there are no set times to be anywhere or classes to attend. All the course content will be sent to you at the email address you register with. I would recommend reading the content daily and giving yourself around 20 minutes per day to complete each exercise (some days will be less). It’s about learning to carve out 10-20 minutes for yourself a day to slow down and reconnect with yourself and the wonder around you. If that’s not possible for you, there’s no pressure, you can save the emails to look at over at the weekend if you’d prefer. Whatever works for you.
DO YOU TAKE PAYMENT IN DOLLARS AND EUROS?
Yes indeed! Your currency will automatically convert when you check out using either Paypal or a credit card.
HOW DOES THE COURSE WORK?
You will receive an email from me every day for 28 consecutive days. The course is split into 14 lessons and 14 practice days. For the first 2 weeks, the lessons will focus on YOU. We’ll look at ways to reconnect with our body, our breath, our senses and silence. Each lesson will introduce a new topic and the following practice day will add to this, allowing you to go a little deeper, and practice the lesson from the day previous. After taking the time to slow down, the second 2 weeks will focus on getting you outside to start to notice little pieces of wonder in your everyday life. Don’t worry if you’re not able to get outside at the moment, you can still do the course and use what you’ve learned for when you can next go outside.
WHAT WILL I LEARN FROM THIS COURSE?
This is a course about experience and my hope is that if you take some time to practise some or all of the exercises you’ll start to feel a little less stressed and more able to stop when you need to and reconnect with yourself and the world around you. You will learn to recognise and seek out the little pieces of wonder that are on your doorstep and hopefully start to feel a little calmer. The aim is to bring wonder back into your life. I’ll be introducing lots of different things to try so that you get to experience a variety of ways to be mindful over the 28 days. At the end of the course, you’ll hopefully have a ‘toolbox’ of practices to call upon when you need to. This is your journey and some of the exercises will resonate more than others, focus on what feels right for you.