Becoming a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher
Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield
Students often share how profoundly mindfulness and self-compassion is transforming their lives and then they ask: What is the pathway to becoming a teacher myself? I love this path I want to share it.
Becoming a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher is a guide for those who might feel drawn to bringing the power of mindfulness and compassion practices to others. In this course, Tara is joined by Jack Kornfield to discuss the major considerations when approaching the role of teaching.
Through these 10 sessions, you will learn about:
- different motivations that draw people to teaching,
- personal qualities that contribute to being a good teacher,
- ways to prepare for being a teacher,
- challenges of teaching,
- what mindfulness and compassion teachers actually teach,
- ways to address the deep sufferings our students bring to us,
- elements that make up a good teacher training,
- how to evaluate training programs and determine the right match for you.
- ever-increasing opportunities for teaching in a world that so needs mindfulness and compassion everywhere.
In this program, Tara and Jack draw from decades of experience in teaching and training others to teach. You’ll hear inspiring stories, examples and reflections that allow you to use this program as a dynamic warm-up, as a first step on the path to becoming a teacher.
Course Outline
Session 1: Welcome & Introduction
In this session, you are welcomed to explore the path of becoming a mindfulness teacher. As leading teachers in the international mindfulness movement, Tara and Jack see the growing need for teachings worldwide and appreciate in you a spark of interest in what it means to be a teacher. Over the next 10 days, they will share a wealth of insights and wisdom.
Session 2: Exploring The Heart of What We Teach
In this session, you will learn the basic elements of teacher training, focusing on two key elements: cultivating mindfulness and open-heartedness. This session includes core Buddhist philosophy and a profound poem used to remind us that we all have the potential to truly wake up to life.
Session 3: What are the Qualities of a Good Mindfulness Teacher
In this session, we will look at the qualities that are important to being a good mindfulness teacher and some basic skills that you will develop over the course of the next 10 days. We will also touch on the importance of encouraging students to trust themselves as their practice deepens.
Session 4: What Background do I Need for Teaching
Like any other discipline, in order to teach mindfulness, we have to first learn it ourselves. In this lesion, we will look at the importance of developing your own practice and explore the aspects of your own background that can be useful in your role as a teacher.
Session 5: What Challenges Might I Encounter as a Mindfulness Teacher
As a mindfulness meditation teacher, you will be offering tools and practices connected with the deepest aspiration of human life. In this session, we will look at the inevitable challenges and issues that arise in the student-teacher relationship and touch on questions around the monetary compensation of a teacher.
Session 6: How do I Respond to Students Facing Intense Difficulties
Students bring their whole life into their meditation practice. In this session, we will learn how to wisely and lovingly respond to students facing intense difficulties—including trauma—in their own life or their meditation practice.
Session 7: The Transformational Potential of Mindfulness
In this session, we will explore the potential of mindfulness to transform the way we relate to our inner lie, to others and to our world. This is the essence of what we can offer as teachers of mindfulness. This session entails both theoretical discussion and a reflective meditation.
Session 8: Where and Who Will I Teach
In this session, we will learn where and who you might teach. There are a growing number of areas where mindfulness practice is deemed highly valuable and necessary. There is a huge variety of ways these teachings can be taken into the world. Your opportunities are endless.
Session 9: What is the Best Teacher Training for Me
In this session, we will look at the requirements and qualities that make up a good teacher training program and what support you might seek throughout the learning process. With the help of a good teacher, you can develop and strengthen your own practice, a necessary component for becoming a teacher yourself.
Session 10: Healing Our World
In this final session, we arrive at what might be your deepest motivation for teaching: helping to heal our world. One of the benefits of mindfulness and compassion training is bringing what you have learned to the lives of others. We hope you are inspired to grow in compassion, expression and connection as you dive into your journey of learning and teaching.