Life Sorted by Robinanne Lavelle. Cover shows two head silhouettes, a tangled red one labelled "before" and an organised blue one labelled "after".

The book

Life Sorted.

Eight gentle sessions. One a week. The book that put a kettle next to a meditation cushion.

What it is

Life Sorted is an eight-session course in book and audio form, written for anyone whose life feels a touch too busy, too noisy or too far from the person they meant to be.

It is the kind of book a kindly aunt might press into your hands across a kitchen table.


What’s inside

The course is designed to be completed over eight weeks - one session a week, the audio practice every day, the small daily exercises woven into your normal routine.

You will end up with a quieter, clearer mind, a calmer body, a tidier life and a way of meeting whatever the world throws at you next.

I know this because I have watched it happen, in classroom after classroom, for decades. I have watched it happen in students with phobias, in students with ADHD, in students recovering from grief, in upper school kids drowning in their lockers and in a travelling salesman with a back seat that he described as a tip!

It also happened to me.


What you’ll find inside each session

Every session is built the same way, so you always know where you are.

At the top of every session:

In the body of the session:

At the end of every session:


Who Life Sorted is for

It can help anyone who wants to learn how to become mindful, organised and focused.

Over the years my students have come to this work for a hundred different reasons. Some come for relaxation. Others for relief from stressful lives or stressful relationships. Some have phobias, disorders or are on the ADHD spectrum. Many are drawn to the peacefulness, or are seeking a higher level of being and spirituality.

The benefits my students most commonly report are:

If you would like to address any or all of these aspects of your life, this course is for you. The eight sessions aim to improve four broad areas of your life:


The eight sessions at a glance

SessionThemeAudio practice
1Stillness in the BodyProne position, focus on breath
2Making SpaceSitting position, Zen counting
3Meditation in MotionWalking with focus
4The Mindful DayGarden messages
5Believing Before You SeeSleep readiness
6Wellbeing in Body, Heart and MindHealing focus
7The Inner LifeSpiritual connection
8Bringing It HomeFour practices revisited

See each session in detail →


A note on commitment

Three weeks is the magic number.

If you can practise daily for twenty-one consecutive days, the routine will start to cement itself. If you skip a few days, the cement is still wet - you may need to start the count over.

So warn yourself in advance: when the alien on your face wakes you in the morning and tells you that you don’t have time, you don’t feel like it, you’ll start tomorrow - push through. Get out of bed before discussing the time with yourself.


A note on going at your own pace

Where you start is unimportant; progress is at your own rate.

Some readers will sail through. Some will find their mind so busy that two seconds of focus feels like a marathon. Both are fine. The only way to fail this course is to stop opening the book.

It is through dedication, determination and a willingness to be happy with incremental achievement that the mind can be tamed, whatever its initial state.

Be kind to yourself. Be patient. Be resolute.

Where to buy

Prefer to support a local independent bookshop? Ask your favourite. They can almost always order it in.


Also by Robinanne

Life Sorted is the book I most want to put in your hands today, but it is not the only one I have written. There is also The Road Awaits, a quieter collection of poems, photographs and stories from a family on the road across Australia, along with a back catalogue of textbooks and theses from earlier teaching years.

See all of Robinanne’s books →


Read the opening of the book →