About The Course
The Mindfulness Now Programme
Well done! you have just taken your first step towards achieving your career ambition; to become a mindfulness mediation teacher. The current demand for teachers is outstripping supply and opportunities for qualified teachers continues to grow.
After completing this course graduates will be qualified to teach mindfulness either one-to-one, in groups and within organisations
The Mindfulness Now programme offers an integrated/eclectic approach to mindfulness teaching and aims to equip teachers to work with individuals and groups with many requirements including helping with physical and emotional pain, stress and anxiety, as well as building emotional resilience. After completion of the course, successful graduates are offered the opportunity to join the network of Mindfulness Now licensed and accredited teachers.
Nick Cooke developed the Mindfulness Now programme after his own experience of using mindfulness to help him with his recovery and rehabilitation, including management of pain, following two serious illnesses. He already had considerable experience of learning and practicing mindfulness and, as a therapist, it’s something which for many years he has taught clients to practice.
Mindfulness Now offers a psycho-educational fusion of mindfulness-based approaches, including the evidence-based Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). The latter, developed by Professor Mark Williams and colleagues at the University of Oxford, offers a breakthrough in the treatment of depression, anxiety and emotional trauma, and is recommended by NICE as a treatment of choice for depression.
In 1979 Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre – Stress Reduction Clinic developed a psycho-educational programme called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) which provides an integration of mindfulness meditation with proven psychotherapeutic approaches into an accessible and evidence-based approach which has been taught worldwide.
Mindfulness Now accredited teachers offer individual 1-to-1, as well as group sessions in mindfulness-based practices.
As well as teaching mindfulness meditation, programmes are offered for stress reduction, anxiety, panic attacks, emotional trauma and pain control, including the 8 weeks Mindfulness Now programme.
Course Structure
The UK College of Mindfulness Meditation teacher training course is structured through a specific, day-by-day programme, designed to guide students, over 5 consecutive days, through a combination of practical ‘hands on’ learning along with the teaching of underpinning theoretical knowledge. As well as being provided with a comprehensive printed training manual, students also receive the contents of this electronically to enable them to tailor teaching to specific needs. Additional handouts are provided as needed. Similarly, PowerPoint slides used within some parts of the training are also supplied to students for them to use / modify for use, where appropriate in their teaching.
Teacher training includes the unique Mindfulness Now programme, which offers an integrated / eclectic approach to mindfulness teaching and aims to equip teachers to work with individuals and groups with many requirements including helping with physical and emotional pain, stress and anxiety, as well as building emotional resilience. This programme is designed to incorporate one-to-one work with participants, along with group work, and is fully adaptable to meet the needs of individual participants. Mindfulness Now has also been designed in such a way as to make it possible for practitioners to integrate it with other therapeutic modalities.
Formal meditation practice is an important part of the training, with students being led through regular practice meditations, each followed by a particular form of discussion / feedback (enquiry). Students also work, both one-to-one and in triads, with their fellow students to practice the range of techniques covered. Students learn assessment techniques and methods of preparing clients / learners, including identification of contraindications and other potential problem areas.
Once the course is finished – (it’s only a lifetime journey!)
At least part of the real learning begins following the practical teacher training, when all students undertake an assignment based upon a brief question paper and a practical case study which is written up for assessment. Students have up to six months from attending the course to complete and submit their assignment. Examples are given of assignment structure and guidance over the required content.
After completion of the course and assignments, successful graduates are offered the opportunity to join the network of Mindfulness Now licensed and accredited teachers. The learning / support is ongoing and open-ended. The college maintains an open-door policy of welcoming students and graduates in person or via skype / phone.
Each Monday evening the college has a meditation ‘sitting’ open to all students and graduates. This is online so it is an ideal opportunity to maintain a supportive, formal practice. All are welcome.
In many ways learning mindfulness is a lifetime journey and one where do our best to ‘embody’ the practice in order to be authentic. We can’t really be an effective teacher without this. Graduates who wish to be part of our ‘programme’ are required to sign up to our code of ethical practice, maintain supervision, and undertake a certain amount of ongoing developmental study (CPD).
Training Syllabus
The Mindfulness Now teacher training programme is contained in an intensive 5-day course which is experiential in nature. We believe that for a vocational qualification it is vital that teachers learn through a ‘hands on’ practical approach with plenty of discussion and the learning dynamic which can only come out of working in a mutually supportive group.
At present mindfulness teachers are not regulated, and there are no governing or regulatory bodies, as such. Teachers should however be able to demonstrate acceptable standards of competence and ethics. Mindfulness Now teachers, as well as receiving practical training, also demonstrate through case study assessment that they are able to work with their learners / clients to achieve therapeutic goals. They commit to engaging in clinical supervision and Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
Teacher training includes the unique Mindfulness Now programme which offers an integrated approach to using mindfulness techniques to help clients deal with: pain, rheumatic conditions, stress, anxiety and serious physical and emotional trauma, as well as building emotional resilience. Meditation sessions are conducted daily as part of the teacher training and all participants engage in some facilitated teaching practice.
The training syllabus includes:
- Client / learner assessment protocols
- Cautions, safeguards and contra-indications
- Session recording and evaluation
- History of mindfulness and mindfulness meditation
- How to conduct mindfulness meditation sessions – seated, lying and movement
- Attitudinal Basis (7 Attitudes – Kabat-Zinn)
- 3 stage breathing space (hourglass)
- Body Scan
- Breath and body awareness
- Mindfulness in wellbeing
- Mindfulness teaching techniques and methodologies
- Therapeutic interventions with mindfulness
- Developing the teacher’s own mindfulness practice
- Conducting individual / group sessions
- The Mindfulness Now 8 weeks wellbeing programme
- Stress Reduction – the MBSR approaches
- Cognitive behavioural approaches – the MBCT approaches
- Integration of mindfulness with other therapeutic modalities
- Corporate applications of mindfulness / working with children
Assessment And Qualification
Mindfulness teacher students are assessed on the basis of the following criteria:
- Rapport skills
- Assessment and preparation of clients / learners
- Client / learner safety
- Teaching / facilitation ability
- Outcome monitoring
- Client / learner evaluation
The following assessment methods are applied:
- Observational assessment during the course of the training
- Assignment based, post-course assessment involving practical case study work and written case study report
Please note that the inclusive training fees cover assessment and certification, along with all teaching materials including a printed and electronic training manual, PowerPoint slides and other support materials.
The UK College mindfulness teacher training course provides a fully assessed and certificated teaching qualification, graduates of which are offered the opportunity to become part of the Mindfulness Now network of accredited teachers of mindfulness meditation. This is not a business franchise and there is nothing to purchase. Annually renewable licences are granted on an on-going basis for accredited teachers.
Post-Qualification Support
After completion of training and when working professionally as a mindfulness teacher, it can at times be a lonely life out there. The UK College of Mindfulness Meditation helps to prevent this from happening by making sure that its graduates are supported, professionally, on an on-going basis by the College’s continuing professional development (CPD) and supervision programmes.
In fact, before graduates are granted an accredited teacher status and membership of The UK College they are required to make a declaration of compliance with our ethical code, including that they agree to a programme of regular supervision and on-going CPD. This is monitored on an annual basis.
Beyond this, the learning / support is ongoing and open-ended. The college maintains an open-door policy of welcoming students and graduates in person or via skype / phone. Each Monday the college has a supportive meditation ‘sitting’ online 7pm – 8pm open to all students and graduates. This is an ideal opportunity to maintain supportive, formal practice. All are welcome.
Continuing Professional Development
The UK College of Mindfulness Meditation is committed to providing a programme of CPD training opportunities which are open to all teachers of mindfulness.
Mindfulness teachers are required to maintain their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to uphold professional learning standards and to meet the requirements of the Mindfulness Teachers Register. Normally this is a minimum of 12 hours/two days of CPD during each twelve month period or your attendance on one of our residential mindfulness Retreats once a year.
The link below shows our CPD dates currently scheduled for 2021. New events are being added all the time, so please check the website regularly. Please contact us directly for group supervision dates.
Please CLICK HERE to view details of our latest CPD training days.
(Please book early to avoid disappointment.):
How Do I Book?
It is easy to book your place on any of our courses.
You can:
If you want more information please email
Or call 07720 426073
Price
£800
Payment Information
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Meet The Teachers
Sharon Conway is the lead trainer for Edinburgh, and is part of the official UK College of Mindfulness Meditation training team offering the Mindfulness Now Teacher Training Programme. Sharon is an experienced mindfulness teacher, leadership coach and mental health instructor working in corporate settings as well as leading individual and group courses. In 2018, she was invited to 10 Downing Street to consult with the government on mental wellbeing.
Sharon is supported on this course by Hannah, they are both experienced and qualified wellbeing professionals who have specialist training in mindfulness meditation including the mindfulness now programme which integrates key elements of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). They bring the art and science of mindfulness meditation together with evidence-based healing and wellbeing programmes
