Course Information

Essentials Training: Cultivating and Conveying Mindfulness

When: 31 Oct 2024 - 10 Nov 2024
Where: Online Event
Tutors: Alison Evans, Jem Shackleford

This course will run in 2 modules: 1st - 3rd November and 8th - 10th November 2024, with an orientation meeting on the evening of the 31st October 2024.

About the training:

Mindfulness is ‘caught’ as well as ‘taught’ and so cultivating our mindful practice and our practice of mindful living is an essential first step in integrating mindfulness in both personal and professional settings. Developing and broadening this practice enables you to bring mindfulness more fully into your own life and forms the foundation for conveying mindfulness to others.
 
This practice-based immersive training, delivered online, seeds the essence of every day mindful living and mindfulness-based teaching: how to become more embodied, how to relate more skilfully to the world and other people, and how to guide yourself and others in mindfulness practice. With guidance from highly experienced trainers, you will explore mindfulness of body, mind, feeling tone and experience, while wider issues such as trauma sensitivity, unconscious bias, societal and environmental issues will be woven through the two modules. This is an essential first step in an extended comprehensive modular training programme, currently under development in collaboration with Bangor University, to have wider applicability and greater accessibility.

Who is it for?

- Those interested in deepening and broadening their relationship with, and understanding of, mindfulness practice and wanting to develop a more grounded approach to self-guided practice

- Those planning to convey mindfulness to others and guide mindfulness-based practice in a wide range of settings and contexts 

- Those beginning their journey in teaching mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) and / or wanting to integrate mindfulness in existing professional contexts

- Existing mindfulness teachers or trainees wanting to re-establish a connection with the essentials of teaching MBPs


Learning Aims:

- Deepen and broaden your personal mindfulness practice

- Develop the capacity for embodied, mindful living

- Cultivate a wise and skilful relationship with other people and the world around you

- Begin to guide the basic elements of the 3 formal mindfulness practices with supervision (body scan, mindful movements and sitting) 

- Gain an understanding of the appropriate parameters for conveying mindfulness

- Increase competency in the Domains of the MBI-TAC (more information on the MBI-TAC can be found here)

- An understanding of the ever-changing wider issues that impact the way we meet the world


Pre-requisites for attending:

Participants need to have been meditating regularly for at least six months using practices that are compatible with mindfulness-based approaches.Participation in an eight-week mindfulness-based program would be of benefit and is a requirement for anyone teaching a mindfulness-based program curriculum.

Participants must commit to the entire online training. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, we are unable to negotiate late arrivals or early leaving. If this is not possible, please contact us to discuss before submitting an application.


About the trainers:

Our trainers are all members of the Bangor University Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice training team. All have been extensively trained in this approach and engage in a rigorous ongoing process of training and supervision. We use strict criteria when selecting teachers/trainers to work with us. The name of the specific trainer(s) for this event is at the top of this page. Just click on the trainer name to find out more.


Online information:

We will be using a Zoom platform for our classrooms, which offers facilities for online meetings and also online ‘break-out‘ rooms for smaller group work. We also will be able to offer our Community area, a place for online learning and shared resources, which makes it easy to access all the documents and links you will need for the whole course as well as virtual ‘chat rooms‘ for community discussions.

A Zoom link will be sent to you for the whole event prior to the start date, along with joining instructions. 


Timings:

The training retreat has been structured to enable a ‘deep dive’ into an experiential knowing of the mindfulness approach. Scheduled as two blocks of two and a half days over consecutive weekends, the training retreat provides a rich and safe environment for collaborative and participatory learning. Sustained ‘inner work’ is continued on interim days through daily morning practice, peer connection and reflective writing.

This course will run in 2 modules: 1st - 3rd November and 8th - 10th November 2024, with an orientation meeting on the evening of the 31st October 2024.

Block 1 - Thursday evening: 1 hour orientation, Friday-Sunday Lunch

Block 2 – Friday-Sunday Lunch

Block 1

                          Teaching                           Practice sessions             

Day 1                  6.00pm-7.00pm                 

Day 2                  9.30am-5.30pm                 7.15-8.00am & 5.45-6.15pm

Day 3                  9.30am-5.30pm                 7.15-8.00am & 5.45-6.15pm

Day 4                  9.30am-1.00pm                 

 

We encourage participants to meet together in small groups for practice sessions between the training blocks.                                                                         

Block 2                                                            

Day 5                  9.30pm-5.30pm                 5.45-6.15pm

Day 6                  9.30am-5.30pm                 7.15-8.00 am & 5.45-6.15pm

Day 7                  9.30am-1.00pm                 

 

Please note All times are UK (GMT). If you are attending from a different time zone, please check equivalent timings in your time zone.   


Preparation for the event and what you will need:

In order to participate in the training, you will need:

-A room where you can close the door and engage in the training away from family distraction. It is particularly important that confidentiality is maintained by ensuring that those who are not on the training cannot see your screen or hear the audio. It may be helpful to use headphones.

-Log in via a computer which is resting on a hard surface and which has audio and webcam. Please don’t use handheld devices. 

-A space for practice, a mat, cushion and blanket may be helpful for your comfort. 

The Zoom meeting link for the whole training will be sent prior to the start date. 

Participants are required to purchase a copy of the book 'Essential Resources for Mindfulness Teachers' edited by Rebecca S. Crane, Karunavira and Gemma M. Griffith from the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University, Wales, UK. This text will be utilised throughout the training programme.


Our rates:

Our rates have no hidden extras and include the £100 non-refundable deposit.

Standard rate – £777

Bursary-assisted places are available on this event until three months before the event starts. If it is less than three months before the start date of the event, please get in touch to discuss if an application is possible.  When applying for a bursary-assisted place, please first register on the event and select the fee ‘I’m applying for a bursary-assisted place’. Once you have registered for the event you will also need to complete and return a bursary application form.  

To find out more about our bursary schemes, criteria for bursary applications and to complete the bursary application form please visit: https://home.mindfulness-network.org/bursaries/  

Employer’s rate: Recognising the administrative overhead of dealing with employers, there is a £50 surcharge if the employer is paying directly; where possible we would advise applicants to pay themselves and reclaim on expenses to avoid the charge. 

If you would like to pay a £100 deposit in the first instance please choose the applicable rate in the drop-down list in the application form.


Application and payment process:

Our application and payment process involve the following steps:

-We receive your application form and assess it to ensure that this event is suitable for you. We endeavour to make assessments within a week.

-Upon offering you a place, we will then invoice you either a £100.00 deposit or for the full amount, depending which option you choose when you complete your application.

-Your place is confirmed once we receive your deposit or full payment.

-If you selected to pay the deposit only, we will invoice you for the balance four months before the event starts.

-Your place is fully confirmed once we receive your full payment.

-We will email you the joining instructions in advance of the course.


Payment and cancellation policy:

Please read our Terms and Conditions for information regarding payments and cancellations.


Other information:

Please see the British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches (BAMBA) for good practice guidelines and other information for mindfulness-based teachers.


Contact us:

Please feel free to email us at training@mindfulness-network.org to discuss any questions you may have about the course or whether it is appropriate for you at this time. We will ensure that your query reaches the correct person.


Click here to sign up to this event.