Mindfulness Teacher Training

The Inward Bound Mindfulness Teacher Training was created to offer a comprehensive teacher training program that supports a high standard for teaching mindfulness in communities. We believe that personal practice and retreat time is essential to being able to show up as an engaged and authentic mindfulness teacher. With this in mind, we developed a model consisting of residential learning-retreats that combines intensive silent meditation with didactic teaching and relational mindfulness. Our program is supported by expert faculty and includes an online curriculum, daily meditation practice, a practicum, and personal mentoring.

We anticipate 64 participants in our 2023-2024 cohort.

The program is year-long and much of the training happens via Zoom. There are 2 in-person intensives which bookend the course in July 2023 and July 2024. We have specifically chosen one location on the east coast and one on the west coast to equitably spread travel costs.

• Program Start: July 17-22, 2023 – 5 night in-person intensive at Wisdom House in Litchfield, CT
• Mid-Program: February 16-19, 2024 virtual intensive on Zoom
• Program Culmination and Graduation: August 6-10, 2024 – 5 night in-person intensive at Big Bear Retreat Center in Big Bear, CA

Each participant will have a personal mentor, who will meet with them once a month to support on-going learning and meditation practice. Additionally, each student will be part of a small cohort that meets as a group once a month. All sessions will be held virtually through Zoom.

Between retreats, participants will complete assigned readings, listen to recordings, and commit to a daily meditation practice. Engagement with the material for each unit will include participating in an online forum and completion of a short reflection paper. The program will also include a practicum, in which you will develop and teach an introductory mindfulness class or program in a setting of your choosing.

Our Teacher Training program will provide content and support for teachers to develop mindfulness skills specific for adolescents and adaptable for different settings. We will not provide a standardized curriculum to implement. However, as part of the training, you will be introduced to several different school-based models and have access to faculty who teach in public and private schools, colleges, wilderness programs, and through workshops, trainings, and retreats.

Yes, we will support professionals in various fields to be able to effectively offer mindfulness teachings to their particular community.

Our Teacher Training does not identify with one meditation lineage, but draws from various traditions that have a foundation in mindfulness meditation and heart practices such as kindness and compassion.

Some participants may be part of an ongoing training path towards becoming an Inward Bound teen & young adult retreat teacher. However, completion of this training is not a guarantee of teaching on retreats. Teaching at Inward Bound will be by invitation and may include ongoing personal mentoring by Inward Bound senior faculty along with criteria for further training and personal development.

The following centers offer several retreats per year that would fulfill the retreat requirement for the Inward Bound: Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, Natural Dharma Fellowship, Zen Mountain Monastery, Upaya Zen Center, Dharma Drum Retreat Center, Karme Choling, Shambhala Mountain Center, Vipassana Retreats (Goenka), Shinzen Young and Caverly Morgan.

While our teaching is geared towards teaching youth, we believe that the way we teach youth should be how we teach adults! We were all youth once, and what happened in our youth has a great impact on how we’re showing up as adults right now. Use these tools and adapt them.

Yes, but it’s a bi-yearly program (every other year), meaning our next cohort will start in 2025.

To be part of this Teacher Training, you’ll need a strong background in the study and practice of mindfulness, including:

• A consistent mindfulness meditation practice for at least three years
• A minimum of 10 days total of teacher-led silent mindfulness meditation retreat practice, including at least one retreat of 5 days or more (e.g., two 5-day retreats, or one 7-day retreat and a 3-day retreat)
• At least three years of experience working with adolescents
• Experience teaching classes or facilitating groups is suggested.

There is an application fee of $50.

• Decide you are ready to apply!
• Submit your application.
• Registration deadline is May 1st.
• Submit 2 letters of recommendation.

Once you submit your application, you will receive an email with a link to upload 2 letters of recommendation. We require two letters of recommendation to complete your application: one from a meditation teacher who knows your practice and one from a colleague who is familiar with your professional work. Letters should be submitted in .pdf format.

If your application is submitted prior to January 31, 2023, you will receive an admissions decision in early March. Applications received after January 31 will be reviewed on a rolling admissions basis with admission decisions made on a monthly basis. Space is limited so we recommend submitting your application as soon as possible.

You can list the person who knows your meditation practice the best, or the name of the person you have taken a retreat or training with.

You can list the person who knows your meditation practice the best, or the name of the person with whom you have taken a retreat or training. You may also have your recommendation written by another person who can speak to your contemplative practice or meditation journey.

Does it count if I’ve done my own self-directed retreat during the pandemic?

At this time we still require retreat practice, but we’re happy to be flexible with when it’s completed (i.e. we may offer provisional acceptance based on a commitment to complete the requirement by the end of the program). We do not count self-directed retreats. We know that teacher-led silent retreats aren’t always accessible/affordable, and we are happy to offer resources to find scholarships and free retreats.

Yes, a scholarship application is included in the admissions application, if needed. We will be as generous as we are able, however scholarship funds are limited and we will not be able to offer any full tuition scholarships. We ask that you consider paying as much as you can while also exploring other funding options in your local community to supplement any scholarship that we may be able to provide. Scholarship awards will take into consideration our intention to make mindfulness more accessible to underserved, disenfranchised populations.

You are able to learn your scholarship amount before you commit to the program.

We are pleased to offer Graduate Level Credits (GLCs) for teachers through University of the Pacific, Courses 4 Teachers. Credits are $99/each with up to 5 3-credit courses offered. We’ll share materials for registering for credits during our first retreat.

Payment for this year-long training is accepted in:

• One payment: made at the time of acceptance into the program
• Two payments: one made at the time of acceptance and another made 6 months into the program, or
• 12-month payment plan: with automatic payments made every month on the same day