The art of teaching mindfulness meditation is not an easy discipline; however, it can be an extremely rewarding one. Playing a role in others’ well-being is perhaps the sweetest experience available to us humans.

If one should choose to go down the mindfulness teacher’s path, we have access to thousands of years of roadmaps left by people who have been on the same journey. It is a well-documented path. But even though Everest is mapped out well, it doesn’t make it an easy mountain to climb.

In this series of three training modules, a budding teacher can expect to learn the nuts and bolts of mindfulness as taught by the Buddha and a basic understanding of Western Psychology’s similarities with the mindfulness tradition, and will walk away prepared to conduct one’s own groups.

The first and second modules are open to the public and aspiring teachers alike and involve in-depth study and practice of the art and science that is mindfulness meditation.The third module is a unique course designed for aspiring teachers only; each trainee will design the curriculum for their own four-week meditation course and practice teaching within the group. Finally, after completing the third module, an aspiring teacher can moderate any module and complete consultation/mentorship hours to be qualified to teach mindfulness.

Module 1 – Mindfulness Foundations (6-week course with day-long retreat)
✓ Four foundations of mindfulness: Body, Feeling Tone, Mind, and Dhammas (nature)
✓ Basic principles of meditation practice
✓ Teachings from neuroscience and psychology to supplement Buddhist mindfulness teachings.
✓ How to discern a mind-state, evoke a mind-state, shift a mind-state, and stabilize a mind-state.
✓ Professional quality guided meditations, workbook, and supplemental video.

Module 2 – Intermediate Mindfulness (6-week course with day-long retreat)
✓ Commonalities between modern research in neuroscience, evolution, and psychology and the 2500-year-old wisdom tradition of mindfulness.
✓ Polyvagal Theory, the study of the stress response (Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Social Engagement).
✓ Ancient as well as modern techniques to shift the physiological state from stress to ease and engagement, using the tool of Metta meditation (the cultivation of states of kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity)
✓ Exploration of various intermediate level Buddhist maps, including the law of impermanence, the seven factors of awakening, and the four noble truths

For those with experience in Mindfulness and meditation, Modules 1 and 2 may be taken in any order and/or at the same time.

Module 3: Mindfulness Teaching Methodology(6-week course with day-long retreat)
✓ How to design a four-week intro to meditation class to teach locally or online
✓ How to teach from the depth of your own practice
✓ Story-telling as a means to evoke states
✓ Developmental arch of students of mindfulness
✓ Regulating your own system while teaching
✓ Learning to track the mind-states of the group at large as well as individuals
✓ The art of conversation and free association
✓ Asking for help (consultation)
✓ How to work with your own inner critic when teaching (a mini-exploration of internal family systems)
✓ Book Recommendations
✓ Two hour-long teaching consultation with Brent, one at the beginning of the course and one at the end

Teacher Qualification: Mentorship and Consultation
After completing any module, an aspiring teacher can audit the course or retake the course in a Mentor role at no charge. Mentors get to marinate more in the teachings and provide support to first-time students through an email “buddy” system. Also included will be Zoom mentor meetings where Brent will give a “peek behind the curtain” to discuss the more subtle intentions behind teaching methodology. Time will be allotted in meetings for teaching consultation as well.

After completing the first three modules, plus one mentorship (in Mindfulness Foundations or Intermediate Mindfulness) and four hours of consultation, students will be qualified to teach their own foundational mindfulness courses in-person or online. There is no addition charge for this portion of the training.

Tentative Schedule*

✓ Module 1 – Mindfulness Foundations
Option 1: Mondays 6:30-8:30pm: February 22-March 29 with day-long retreat April 3
Option 2: Saturdays 10am-12pm: April 3-May 8 with day-long retreat May 22

✓ Module 2 – Intermediate Mindfulness
Option 1: Saturdays 10am-12pm: January 30-March 6 with day-long retreat March 13
Option 2: Mondays, 6:30-8:30pm, April 5-May 10 with day-long retreat May 15

✓ Module 3 – Teaching Methodology
Mondays, 6:30-8:30pm, May 17—June 28 (no class May 31) with day-long retreat: June 23

*will be confirmed by December 20, 2020

Cost: $400 each for Modules 1-3 up to two weeks prior to start date, $420 after. No additional charge for Mentorship and Consultation.

Registration will open by January 1, 2021.

300/500-hour Teacher Training
Any of the Mindfulness Training Modules may be taken for credit towards the 8 Limbs 300/500-hour Teacher Training Program, where you can start when you’re ready, and end at your own pace.

About the instructor: Brent Morton

Brent Morton has been meditating in the mindfulness tradition starting in 2007. He has trained extensively in the Theravada Buddhist (mindfulness) tradition, spending over a year in silent retreat and practicing in Burma, Thailand, and India. He completed a four-year mindfulness teacher training with Jack Kornfield through Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin, California, in 2016. He has taught meditation trainings, retreats, and teacher training since 2014. Brent moved to Kauai last year after living and teaching in the Seattle area for most of his life.