EU mindfulness teacher training

EU Certified Mindfulness Teacher Training 2023-2024
with Mark Coleman and Martin Aylward

This training will be offered in French and English at Moulin de Chaves, Cubjac, France

EU Mindfulness Teacher Training Applications Open Fall 2022

Introduction

This unique yearlong professional teacher training combines transformational cultivation of your own mindfulness practice and systematic development of mindfulness teaching skills, enabling you to teach a variety of mindfulness programs with confidence and clarity. You will be part of a committed, focused group of like-minded individuals with whom you will receive skilled, guided direction and personalized instruction that will allow you to flourish as a mindfulness facilitator. Our yearlong teacher trainings utilize in-person teaching intensives, online learning, individualized guidance from the teachers and learning mentors and peer group support.

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The Mindfulness Teacher Training Program

The course runs from September 2023 to June 2024 and delivered via a combination of four, four-day-long in-person residential modules at the beautiful Moulin de Chaves, along with online group tutorials. The Moulin is set in beautiful grounds with shady riverbanks and bamboo groves. Participants will be expected to deliver written assignments and two video recordings of their mindfulness teaching.

After each retreat there will be mindfulness practices to follow and written assignments to complete and return to the teachers. There will also be group meetings online every month between the two retreats with the two teachers. These meetings will follow your progress and contribute further elements of mindfulness teachings and practices. In addition, you will have one individual online meeting with one of the course teachers between retreats.

Training Outcomes

  • Develop and refine your own practice of embodied mindfulness.
  • Enhance your capacity for applying mindfulness in your personal and professional life.
  • Understand the historical context of contemporary mindfulness approaches.
  • Utilize latest neuro-science research on the effects of mindfulness.
  • Contribute to bringing powerful mindfulness-based interventions into emerging 21st century culture.
  • Study with renowned mindfulness teachers Mark Coleman and Martin Aylward with over 30 years of combined mindfulness teaching experience.

Key Practices

  • Mindfulness of breath and body: cultivate awareness of sensations, posture, walking, standing and other activities and learn how to work with physical pain.
  • Mindfulness of emotions: develop Emotional Intelligence through learning how to work skillfully with emotional states like fear, anxiety, and shame. Cultivate ‘response flexibility’.
  • Mindfulness of the mind and mental processes: working with negative thoughts, beliefs and the Inner Critic to see how they interfere with focus and well-being.
  • Mindful communication: developing mindful speaking and listening skills that support effective communication.
  • Mindful inquiry: a practice for sustained investigation of one’s personal experience.

Key Teaching Elements

  • Explore the Science of Mindfulness: study contemporary neuroscience research on the practice and applications of mindfulness. Understand how mindfulness affects the brain and cognitive processes.
  • Understanding the historical (Buddhist) and contemporary context of mindfulness.
  • The 4 Pillars of Training: Practice, Presence, Pedagogy and Protocols for teaching mindfulness.

The Art and Skill of Teaching

  • Learning how to teach in the following formats:
    • 6 week SIT (introductory) mindfulness course.
    • Daylong courses.
  • Mindfulness teaching components:
    • Class and course design.
    • Creating an ideal learning environment.
      • Setting up the container.
      • Trust issues.
      • Understanding confidentiality and group safety.
    • Using group process as a vehicle for teaching mindfulness.
    • Understanding diversity issues and multi-cultural sensitivity.
    • Practicing teaching key elements in pairs and small groups and practicing giving and receiving feedback about teaching.
  • Teaching issues: learning to work with:
    • Money issues.
    • Power issues.
    • Transference and projection.
    • Difficult class and student scenarios.
  • Understanding how to teach different populations.
  • Diversity: developing awareness and sensitivity about race, gender, class, sexual orientation and physical ability issues and dynamics.
  • Working with people individually.
    • How to integrate mindfulness into one-on-one sessions in therapy, coaching and bodywork.
  • Working with trauma: how to use mindfulness as a skillful resource.
  • Utilizing contemporary mindfulness research and neuroscience findings on mindfulness.
  • Marketing mindfulness courses.

Teaching Practicum

Before the last module of the training, you will be required to complete a practicum, involving the design and delivery of our SIT Mindfulness course (Six-week Introductory Training in Mindfulness).

Online Tutorials Between Modules

Monthly online group tutorials are held between in-person modules, led by the course trainers, Mark and Martin.

Assignments Between Modules

Participants will be expected to complete papers that explore both your own understanding of mindfulness practices and the practice of teaching mindfulness in your chosen field. Participants will also submit two video recordings of their mindfulness teaching.

Readings

Participants will be given a reading list to support your understanding of the course material and the theoretical background of mindfulness practice.

Personal Practice

Trainees’ personal mindfulness meditation practice is the cornerstone of being able to teach well. All participants will be expected to maintain and deepen their practice throughout the course and beyond as well as continue attending mindfulness classes, courses and retreats during the year.

Entry Requirements

  • A minimum of three years of regular mindfulness meditation practice.
  • Attended at least two silent mindfulness retreats of a minimum of five days each.
  • Attended a mindfulness course like MBSR or similar.

Exceptions concerning these guidelines are at the discretion of the faculty.

Accreditation is dependent on successful completion of the course and coursework, subject to Martin and Mark’s approval.

Training Dates

Module 1: 7-10 September, 2023
Module 2: 7-10 December, 2023
Module 3: 4-7 April, 2024
Module 4: 27-30 June, 2024

Graduates will be equipped to:

  • Teach mindfulness classes, courses and one-day mindfulness events. This training does not qualify participants to teach multi-day or residential retreats, which requires further training.
  • Deliver the SIT Mindfulness Course created by MTI.
  • Teach mindfulness to groups in a variety of settings including in health care, business, non-profits, education and a host of other settings.
  • Bring mindfulness techniques into individual work including psychotherapy, coaching, chaplaincy and social work.
  • Give mindfulness lectures.

Graduation and Qualifications

Graduation from the course will give you certification from Mindfulness Training Institute, endorsed by your teachers, Mark Coleman and Martin Aylward, to lead classes and courses in Mindfulness, and integrate mindfulness in your professional work with clients, groups and organizations.

Will this qualification enable me to teach Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)?
MBSR is a particularly defined Mindfulness modality having its own separate training programs.

Moulin de Chaves

Our yearlong mindfulness teacher trainings make use of online learning, teacher meetings and peer group support, with 16 days of in-person teaching modules held at Moulin de Chaves, Cubjac, France.

Cost

Early Bird Rate (before the 30th of November): €4550
Standard Price: €4850
3 Instalments: €4950 (3 x €1650)
10 Instalments: €5100 (10 x €510)

The first €500 of your payment will be considered a non-refundable commitment to secure your place on the course.

This cost includes all administration fees, tuition fees and participation in the online meetings. It does not include books, travel costs, food, accommodations or board for the in-person training sessions.

Scholarships
A limited number of scholarships are available upon request, depending on your circumstances. Those working with disadvantaged populations are especially encouraged to contact us for details.

Accommodation

The residential retreat will be held at the Moulin de Chaves. Bookings will open at the end of January and you will be able to book your room then. By the end of November you will be able to check out the accommodation prices for 2023 on their website (moulindechaves.org) and view the different room options.

Cancellation Policy

The initial deposit is nonrefundable.

75% of paid balance is refundable until March 1, 2023. 50% of paid balance is refundable until May 1, 2023. 25% of paid balance is refundable until July 1, 2023.

There will be no refunds after September 1, 2023.

The curriculum is subject to continuing evolution and modification.
Information on the US 2022 mindfulness teacher training can be found here.
Accredited by the International Mindfulness Teachers Association (IMTA)