Mindfulness Teacher Training

Mindfulness Teacher Training

A year-long professional development program for youth-serving professionals & other adults looking to become certified to teach mindfulness to teens & young adults.

Opening retreat: July 17 – 22, 2023 in CT
Closing retreat: August 6-10, 2024 in CA

The 2023-2024 cohort is now closed. Please opt into our mailing list to receive announcements for future programs.

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Program Overview

Course Structure:

  • Three teaching intensive retreats
    • 2 in-person retreats (room + board incl. in tuition)
    • 1 virtual retreat
  • Small group meetings, monthly
  • Cohort-wide facilitated sessions, monthly
  • One-on-one coaching with core faculty, monthly
  • Practice groups, weekly
  • Structured meditation practice, daily
  • Independent study between retreats
  • Practicum

Upon completion of the program, you will receive:

  • Certification from Inward Bound Mindfulness Education
  • Graduate-level credits (available for Educators)
  • Opportunity to receive certification from International Mindfulness Teacher’s Association (IMTA). We are the only youth-focused IMTA accredited program, which allows you to become an internationally certified and recognized mindfulness teacher.

Read detailed program here →

Teens and mindfulness teacher on an Inward Bound retreat

Curriculum

Origin and Definitions of Mindfulness

  • Unit 1: Mindfulness, Awareness, and Attention

Mindfulness of Self

  • Unit 2: Stress, Relaxation, and the Body
  • Unit 3: Emotions and Thoughts
  • Unit 4: Forming the Adolescent Identity
  • Unit 5: Trauma, Addiction, and the Descent

Mindfulness in Relationship

  • Unit 6: Teaching as Mentorship
  • Unit 7: Mindful Communication
  • Unit 8: Social Justice, Intersectionality, and Power

Mindfulness in the World

  • Unit 9: Play, Culture, and Creative Expression
  • Unit 10: Nature Awareness
  • Unit 11: Building Mindful Communities
  • Unit 12: Livelihood

Who’s teaching?

Click on each photo to read their bio.

Core Faculty
Khalila Gillett profile photo

Khalila Gillett

Zac Ispa-Landa profile photo

Zac Ispa-Landa

Sara Shapouri profile photo

Sara Shapouri

Enrique Collazo profile photo

Enrique Collazo

Anthony Maes profile photo

Anthony Maes

B. Anderson profile photo

B. Anderson

Cara Lai profile photo

Cara Lai

Mark Wax profile photo

Mark Wax

Program Support
Makeda Gershenson profile photo

Makeda Gershenson

Goofy photo of program participants in Inward Bound's Teacher Training

What makes our teacher training program unique?

With monthly mentorship calls, you get more support & deeper engagement.

Go deep, unpack course material, and talk about things you’re grappling with during monthly one-on-one meetings with your mentor. We’re there to support you in all areas of life, not just your teaching and meditation practice.

A smaller group size means greater community.

We aim to assemble a 64-person cohort with 8 core faculty. That is a 8:1 teacher-student ratio! The monthly small group meetings, peer feedback, and conversations also create a real sense of supportive community – personal, professional, and spiritual – that extends far beyond the training.

Relational mindfulness guides us.

We honor and practice relational mindfulness. Everyone in the room molds our training sessions, small group meetings, and mentorship – ultimately strengthening the community and trust we build.

We are dedicated to teaching mindfulness to youth.

Our core faculty have decades of experience teaching mindfulness to youth. Taking part in this training prepares you to apply and teach mindfulness within your work with young people.

Diversity within faculty, leadership, and curriculum is integral.

Across our faculty and guest speakers, diverse identities and experiences contribute to a rich and relevant teaching curriculum and elevate a myriad of mindfulness practices and wisdom.

Interested?

Enter your name and email to get more details & reminders for the next course.

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Please complete the fields above to subscribe to our emails and receive more details on upcoming programs. Providing your state of residence will help us share regional-specific programs with you. We respect your privacy - your info will not be shared with anyone else.

What will you learn?

Show up in an authentic way.

Learn how to bring a fun, lively approach to teaching mindfulness, meet the unique needs of a diverse audience, and develop sensitivity and responsiveness to whoever is in the room.

Help students integrate mindfulness.

Support students in how they navigate social situations, make meaningful connections, and step into the challenges of their lives.

Communicate on many levels.

Learn how to communicate on an intuitive, relational, and cognitive level. Practice facilitating conversations that dive deep into important issues happening in our world.

Meet the moment.

Gain tools to include social justice – inside and outside the classroom – and bring the lens of social justice into mindfulness education.

A Lively, Fun Approach to Teaching

Mindfulness as Play

Benefits from Our Training

Socially-Engaged Mindfulness

Personal Growth

Teen expressing during group

Interested?

Enter your name and email to get more details & reminders for this course.

Stay in the know →

Stay Connected

Please complete the fields above to subscribe to our emails and receive more details on upcoming programs. Providing your state of residence will help us share regional-specific programs with you. We respect your privacy - your info will not be shared with anyone else.

Program FAQs

Why are we offering a Mindfulness Teacher Training program?

How many people will the program be open to?

Where does this training take place?

What does the mentoring consist of?

What does the curriculum consist of between retreats, and what kind of learning activities does it include?

Is there a set curriculum to implement in schools and youth settings?

Is this training appropriate for people who are working in non-educational contexts, such as hospitals or youth detention facilities?

Is the training based on a specific meditation lineage?

Will this training prepare me to become an Inward Bound teacher on a teen & young adult retreat?

Are there recommended retreat centers to meet the prerequisites?

What if I don’t teach youth? Is this Teacher Training still for me?

Will this program be offered again?

Application FAQs

If you have any additional questions, please contact us at teachertraining@ibme.com.

Prerequisites

Is there an application fee?

What are the application steps?

How do I submit letters of recommendation, and is there a specific format it should be in?

When will I know if I’m accepted?

The application requires that I list my meditation teacher. What if I don’t have a meditation teacher?

What if I have been practicing on my own and don’t have a meditation teacher who knows my practice well enough to write a letter of recommendation?

What if I don’t have a minimum of 10 days total of teacher-led silent mindfulness meditation retreat practice, including at least one retreat of 5 days or more?

Tuition + Scholarship FAQs

Do you offer tuition assistance?

Do I have to commit to the program before I know how much scholarship I’ll be awarded?

Do I have to pay more for Graduate School credits?

How does payment for the program work? Can I pay on a payment plan?

Interested?

Registration for the July 2023 through July 2024 cohort is now closed. Please opt into the mailing list for info on future courses.

Stay in the know →

Stay Connected

Please complete the fields above to subscribe to our emails and receive more details on upcoming programs. Providing your state of residence will help us share regional-specific programs with you. We respect your privacy - your info will not be shared with anyone else.