LEARN TO MEDITATE
You’re six weeks away from a more focussed, intentional, and self-aware mind.
✰ INTRODUCING: WRITE ABOUT NOW ✰
AN ONLINE JOURNEY OF SELF-INQUIRY VIA MINDFUL JOURNALLING AND BEGINNER’S MEDITATION—DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR NEWBS.
IS 2023 THE YEAR YOU BEGIN MEDITATING REGULARLY?
Forget what you’ve heard about the “correct” way to meditate and the perfect linen-clad people who do it. Write About Now is a course for the rest of us.
This on-demand program blends meditation with automatic writing, guiding you to begin a regular mindful journalling practice as well as learning to meditate your way.
Designed to take six weeks——yet done in your own time, when it works for YOU——this course introduces you to mindfulness and writing as support tools in developing and deepening your awareness of yourself and the present moment.
A journey of self-inquiry, Write About Now is jam-packed with learning modules related to topics like limiting beliefs, self-worth, gratitude and awe, love, and much more.
Over the course of each module, you’ll have the chance to learn different meditation and journalling styles and practices, building confidence through a consistent meditation practice that’s precisely your own.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN WRITE ABOUT NOW *:･ﾟ✧
Over six weeks* you’ll dig into…
For every module of the Write About Now course, you’ll be guided through a new style of meditation. Plus, you’ll use beginner-friendly lessons to start practicing automatic writing. And tying each module together, you’ll engage in a consistent meditation practice that deepens, as your confidence does.
*The suggested minimum timeframe for completing the course is six weeks, however it’s on-demand, so you set the pace!
THE MODULES:
~ INTRODUCTORY MODULE
~ MODULE 1: EMOTIONAL AWARENESS
~ MODULE 2: UNPACKING LIMITING BELIEFS
~ MODULE 3: WORTH AND VALUES
~ MODULE 4: GRATITUDE AND AWE
~ MODULE 5: LOVE AND CONNECTION
~ MODULE 6: COMMITMENT AND ACTION
WHAT’S INCLUDED?
AS A STUDENT OF WRITE ABOUT NOW, YOU’LL RECEIVE:
✓ 4x hours of video lessons demonstrating various techniques + ideas.
✓ Over 6x hours of on-demand meditation + journalling audio lessons.
✓ Downloadable transcriptions of all classes + practices.
✓ Lifetime access to the online learning portal.
✓ A comment thread for every lesson, where Jerico will answer your Qs.
✓ Have Jerico directly answer your questions in the portal.
✓ Suggested adjustments to honour neurodiversity + lived experience.
✓ All available to students from anywhere in the world.
WHAT KIND OF MEDITATION & JOURNALLING?
Meditation practices you’ll learn include: metta meditation (loving kindess), mindfulness of emotions, body scanning, earth-based grounding, somatic centering, and guided visualisation——as well as our central Ananpanasati (breath awareness) meditation, which is built up across all six modules.
In each module you’ll ALSO be given unique and potent writing prompts, specific to the themes explored and the meditation practice that’s introduced. Don’t worry; Jerico will guide you through the journalling moment by moment (via calming recorded audio experiences) just as they do in the meditations.
Never meditated? Nervous about journalling? You’re welcome here.
Write About Now was created with total newbs in mind. That means the instructions are clear and the methods supportive. In each and every meditation or mindful writing exercise, you’ll be gently guided by Jerico’s voice. At first, you’ll meditate for 5—10 mins at a time. But as the week’s go by, you’ll find you’re able to do more with less. Because the course is structured in a way that helps you lower your expectations and build your confidence.
There is NO one correct way to meditate. You don’t have to have your eyes closed. You don’t have to be seated. You don’t even have to be still. You just need to show up. And breathe.
SOME MYTHS ABOUT MEDITATION & MINDFULNESS
✧ “Some people can’t meditate.” ✧ This is a lie. Everyone can meditate. It’s just that some people expect themselves (or their students) to meditate in a certain way. When the expectation is rigid, the barrier to entry gets higher. You may have had a negative experience with a particular type of meditation, or a particular approach to it——and for that I’m so sorry——but you can meditate.
✧ “You have to sit still and be silent to meditate.” ✧ Says who? There are as many different ways to meditate as there are people on this planet. There’s walking meditation, movement meditation, meditating with your eyes open, meditating while washing the dishes, and of course, meditative journalling. The best way to meditate is the way that works for you. That’s why Write About Now will let you try a variety of styles and adjust the practice to respond to your needs in real time.
✧ “Meditation means clearing your mind of all thoughts.” ✧ Good luck with that! Thinking is what the brain does and there’s nothing wrong with it. Meditation doesn’t aim to get rid of thoughts. It aims to observe them without reacting, thus we can learn to avoid getting wrapped up in them and instead cultivate the skill of presence, aka bringing awareness to the reality of the current moment.
✧ “Meditation will help me get rid of my stress.” ✧ While it’s true that meditation can engage our relaxation response and allow our brain to rest in the now, meditation and mindfulness is not a self-optimisation or productivity tool, like corporate interests might make it out to be. It’s a non-sectarian (yet distinctly Hindu and Buddhist in lineage) path of deep acceptance and radical liberation. It can certainly help MANAGE stress, but better yet, in will allow you to disengage with its sources—internal and external.
✧ “Meditation should be calm and blissful.” ✧ The American Tibetan nun Pema Chodron once describes meditating like being a warrior going into battle. Why? Because meditation isn’t easy. Like any method of habit-forming or tolerance-building, it will be uncomfortable and edgy at times, especially when you’re not used to observing your own inner dialogue. The good news is, that the more you lower your expectations, let go of perfectionism, and keep your sense of humour, the easier it becomes :)
✧ “Meditation is for escapists.” ✧ Not here, it isn’t. Write About Now proudly offers beginner meditators and mindful journallers a solid grounding in meditative practices without any of the bells and whistles. That means no mystical soundtrack, no glossy visuals, and no “out of body” experiences in the astral realm. There is nothing wrong those things, however this program’s aim is to teach you a skill that can’t be bypassed: the ability to connect with your own mind, body, and simply be with what is.
THE BENEFITS OF MEDITATION & JOURNALLING
You’ve probably already heard about the celebrated evidence-based benefits of meditative practices——like helping with stress, greater memory, improved sleep, and pain management. That’s all great, but the less-celebrated benefits? They’re even better. Think:
♡ Emotional insight ♡
♡ Quality of attention ♡
♡ Real presence ♡
♡ Self-awareness ♡
♡ Profound compassion ♡
♡ Engaged equilibrium ♡
♡ Deep acceptance ♡
As for journalling, some people assume it will be monotonous, or conversely, too confronting. And while the practice can and does help people to express a range and depth of emotional states——sometimes including activated or trauma-related ones——many consider the practice an invaluable tool in developing their equanimity. Research suggests journalling can greatly help us to accept (rather than judge) our mental experience, leading to fewer negative emotions in response to stressors. And studies have showed a wide range of cognitive, emotional, and even physical benefits from expressive writing. Practiced in the spirit of awareness, these benefits mirror those of meditation. In fact, mindful journalling is wonderful access point, or doorway, into the practice of meditation for beginners.
MEET YOUR TEACHER…
Jerico Mandybur (she/they) is a 4x author, award-winning creative facilitator/coach, tarot reader, and arts therapist in training dedicated to perfectionists heal shame and express their full selves. As a qualified meditation instructor, Jerico has Diploma of Meditation Teaching and is registered with the national peak body, the Meditation Association of Australia.
As a multiply neurodivergent person with chronic illness, Jerico is especially passionate about making meditation and mindfulness accessible to the people who assume they can’t do it.
Jerico has been practicing meditation on and off for most of her life. First, with self-taught naivety, then via their experiences with internal martial arts, then through Eastern and Western spiritual study——then by assembling it all into a unique and fluid mediation practice of their own. Jerico’s life has taught them that meditation, even when challenging, can be flexible and fun.
Jerico’s books have been translated into 7x languages and they’re also the former creator/host of the podcast Beyond Belief, and the chart-topping self-care podcast, Self Service with Jerico Mandybur.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT JERICO ~⭒
WRITE ABOUT NOW IS PERFECT FOR YOU IF…..
You’ve never meditated before but you have a sincere interest in learning and developing a regular practice.
You’re keen to explore the practice of automatic writing aka mindful journalling——and incorporate it into your self-care routine.
You feel resourced and ready to go on a journey of self-inquiry! Knowing you have tools and supports to lean on, as you explore meditation and mindful journalling for the first time.
You’re looking for a beginner’s course that you can do from your own home, in your own time. And replay again and again.
You less interested in the “shoulds” of meditation and more interested in finding a way to do it that actually works for you.
You’re committed to gently developing a regular——ideally daily——meditation practice and are equally committed to doing it slowly, imperfectly, and via baby steps.
✰ THE INVESTMENT ✰
When your purchase Write About Now, you’ll get the introductory offer which includes:
Lifetime access to all 10+ hours of training materials. Re-do the course as often as you want.
A online learning portal, where you can choose your own pace.
2x weekly recorded lessons to guide your mediation practice.
1x weekly recorded lesson to guide your mindful journalling practice.
Expert guidance and video examples of adjustments you can try at home.
A per-class comment thread to make connects and form community.
Ask questions directly to Jerico via the portal comment threads.
All for: $187 USD
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
☆ Is this program live? ~ Write About Now is self-paced, which means you can participate at your own pace and in your own time via the Teachable platform, from anywhere on the planet :) The program highly encourages students to use the comment thread/forum to ask questions and receive accountability from Jerico.
☆ Why a minimum of six weeks? ~ This course is designed to be completed in a minimum of six weeks (1x module per week) because research says that’s a good barometer for how long it takes the brain to create new neural pathways and for a new habit to form. Students who’d like to go through the course at a slower pace, over a longer period, are most welcome to.
☆ How is this different to my guided meditation app? ~ Most apps are marketed as tools for calming stress, falling asleep, and guiding listeners to a state of relaxation, which is great. However many users don’t actually learn to be self-sufficient meditators this way, which means they don’t receive long-term benefits of the practice. This course is created to teach you to meditate all by yourself and experience all the personal metamorphosis that path has to offer.
☆ I’ve never meditated or journalled! Can I do this? What is expected of me? ~ This course is for you! It’s made especially for beginners. In an ideal world, Write About Now students will practice their meditation and journalling once per day. But this doesn’t need to be hard! Meditations are 5—10 mins each to start. By the end of the program, you’ll be able to practice for 20—30 mins. And you don’t have to do it alone! The guided audio recordings are there to hold your hand, moment by moment, for as long as you need them.
☆ Is this safe for me? What if hurts my mental health? ~ Meditation helps many people, but in the wrong conditions, it can hurt some as well. If you have recently dealt with trauma or mental illness (or are harbouring untreated trauma from a previous time in your life), you’d be best served by either circling back later, working through this program under the guidance of your licensed mental health professional, or being supervised in developing a meditation practice IRL. Otherwise, the risks of being profoundly negatively impacted by meditation are low. Will it be challenging sometimes? Absolutely, it will be uncomfortable in moments and you’ll need to be brave and committed. Be sure to get clear on your individual needs, goals, support people, and self-care plan before starting.
☆ Are transcripts available? ~ For sure. Every video and audio meditation within the course comes with a corresponding transcript, which you can read straight from the Teachable lesson page, as well as download a copy to keep. Please bear in mind that videos do not include closed captions, however care has been take to ensure transcripts are largely word-for-word.
☆ What equipment do I need? ~ None! Just your breath, a pen, and a fresh journal. Using headphones to listen to the meditations is also encouraged, to limit distractions. If you don’t have a meditation cushion, not to worry! Just use a pillow, folded blanket, or sit in a chair.
☆ When does the course begin and end? ~ It begins as soon as you sign up! You’ll receive an email with your platform login and be ready to go. As it’s self-paced, you’ll be able to decide when it’s finished. And being that it’s yours to keep, you can retake it as many times as you like.
☆ What if self-paced isn’t right for me? ~ Some people may want additional attention or community in learning to meditate or journal. If that’s you, you can always work with Jerico in a bespoke 1:1 coaching capacity to explore these practices. Or, look up a local class directory for a style of meditation or therapeutic writing you’re curious about.
☆ Do you offer scholarships? ~ Yes! If you are experiencing ongoing financial hardship and social marginalisation, please get in touch via email to enquire about receiving 60% off spot in the program.
☆ Do you accept NDIS funding? ~ Absolutely. Australians NDIS participants who are self-managed or plan-managed are very welcome to use their Core funding to enrol in this program. To enrol, simply get in touch and I will arrange to send you an invoice. As an NDIS participant myself, I value your presence here.
☆ What’s your refund policy? ~ We have a 14 day money-back-guarantee :) If you’re not satisfied with Write About Now after completing the first two modules in the minimum alotted time——aka 14 days——contact us with proof of active participation (comments/questions per module and your daily practice tracker) for a full refund.
༺ BE HERE NOW ༻
YOU ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS. YOU ARE NOT YOUR BODY. YOU ARE THE WITNESS.
At this moment in history, your attention is the most valuable resource on earth. Where you put it determines your identity and your life. And where we, as communities and as a species choose to put it, determines our future on this planet. Meditation is the tool for taking back your mind. Meditation offers to liberate us from social conditioning and fear. It always us to uncover our true nature.
Ready to go on a journey of self-inquiry? Mindful journalling too, will help you reclaim your power and your time, while purging your unhelpful beliefs and get a new perspective on them. With these two sacred and creative tools, we learn radical acceptance. We get right with the now. We become ourselves.
See you in the course!
