Come and meet the training team at one of Bangor University’s Open Day sessions. This is an opportunity to learn more about your training options and have mindfulness practice together. You are welcome to ask questions about the BU Masters in Mindfulness and our Training Pathway.
If you are considering training to lead mindfulness practices, we recommend that you start with an 8-week mindfulness course in MBSR/MBCT and (once you have been meditating regularly for at least six months or longer) our Essentials Training, which is the essential first step in integrating mindfulness into both personal and professional settings. These can be done in any order but are both required if you plan to train to teach Mindfulness-based Programs (MBPs) as part of our Training Pathway in collaboration with Bangor University. Many organisations and teachers offer 8-week mindfulness courses as an entry level to practicing mindfulness. To find an MBSR/MBCT group you can search through a directory of teachers on the BAMBA website. The Mindfulness Network offers an 8-week Distance Learning Course for individuals, whether as a first experience of mindfulness, as a refresher, or as an opportunity to deepen your practice. All of our mindfulness training, including the Essentials and other Training Pathway events, can be booked via our CALENDAR, where full details can be found. For more details about our Training Pathway, see below.
No. All of our training events can be taken individually. You do not have to be on the Training Pathway. If you do decide to register for the Training Pathway at a later date (or are waiting to join), then any courses you take with us will be applied retrospectively to your training portfolio. Registration on the Pathway offers the opportunity to join an online training community to support you in navigating the different aspects of training and experience that are necessary to complete the Pathway.
Full details of each training event can be found in the event description when booking via our CALENDAR and, unless otherwise stated, the training will be delivered in English. We always recommend that you read the event description thoroughly before submitting an application and familiarise yourself with our Payment Terms and Conditions. When you fill in an application form you will be asked to provide information about yourself, your mindfulness experience and practice, plus some questions about your physical and mental health and a chance to provide any other information that you feel is relevant. This helps us assess your application for each individual event and allows us to best support you during the time you are with us. We do ask that you provide details for an emergency contact in case we are required to contact your next of kin. More details can be found in our Safeguarding and Data Protection policies. The Mindfulness Network offers training online via our e-learning platform called the Mindfulness Network Community – a safe space for participants to access course materials and connect with the training team. We will enrol you onto each training event once payment has been received and we strongly encourage you to log into your account and familiarise yourself with the environment well in advance of the starting date so that you can begin the training feeling prepared. Sessions will be hosted via Zoom. You can read more about the experience of taking part in online training in this blog post written by a recent trainee. Even if the training is due to take place in-person, important information will be communicated to you via the Community site. All of our events take place in UK Time unless otherwise stated on the course description. We welcome participants from all over the world and appreciate this means you may be joining us from a different Time Zone. While additional practice opportunities may be available in the morning or evenings, the core content will usually take place between the hours of 9am and 5.30pm UK Time – please check the course schedule for specific timings of each event. Participants must commit to the entire core content of the training. If this is not possible, please contact us to discuss before submitting an application.
The Essentials is a 5 day training course open to anyone with at least 6 months regular mindfulness practice who wants to learn more about mindfulness, either to enrich your existing personal practice or as a first step towards leading mindfulness practices. After this course you should have more insight into your own mindfulness practice, be able to lead others in short mindfulness practices, and consider going on to develop skills to teach mindfulness. From 2023 onwards, the Essentials will be the starting point of our Training Pathway. However, existing mindfulness teachers or trainees wanting to re-establish a connection with the essentials of teaching MBPs are very welcome to join the Essentials training. PLEASE NOTE: If you have previously completed a Level 1 training (TTR1, TTO1, TTC1 or Teaching 1 on the Bangor University Master’s) before 2023, then it is not a requirement to complete the Essentials as part of your Training Pathway. Read more about why we developed The Essentials Training as part of our expanded Training Pathway: Putting Out the Welcome Mat for Mindfulness After completing the Essentials, you can continue to build on this learning with Specialist Trainings that are meant for those who already have some training in leading mindfulness practices (e.g. our Essentials training).
Specialist Training is for those who want to teach mindfulness programs, or who want to offer mindfulness in a particular context such as their workplace, coaching, counselling, yoga or psychotherapy. Curriculum Specialists: It is currently possible to specialise in delivery of a mindfulness-based program such as Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for anyone wanting to teach one or more mindfulness-based program curricula. We are exploring the possibility of broadening our specialisms to include Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention and Mindfulness-based Childbirth and Parenting among others, so please email us at training@mindfulness-network.org if you would like more information. Context Specialists: It is also possible to specialise in integrating a mindfulness approach within a one to one or other professional context and with specific populations or communities. As part of our expanded Training Pathway from 2023 onwards, there are options to specialise in Workplace Mindfulness and soon One-to-One and Youth Mindfulness. Domain Specialists: Mindfulness teachers can cultivate skills in Group or Inquiry which are central to the domains of competence within the Mindfulness-based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria tool (MBI:TAC) which was developed by Bangor University in collaboration with colleagues at the mindfulness centres at Exeter and Oxford Universities.
Joining the Training Pathway in association with Bangor University:
We highly recommend that you read the following FAQs and the Trainee Handbook 2023-24 when considering joining our training programme. The Handbook provides greater detail about the Training, Retreat and Delivery Requirements of the Pathway, as well as guidance for Trainees around Supervision, Mentoring and our online Community. If there are any questions that are not answered here then you are welcome to email us at training@mindfulness-network.org.
Once you have read the FAQs and the Handbook you can APPLY HERE. Registration on the Training Pathway is £150.
By registering for the Training Pathway you become a part of a community of trainees supporting one another by connecting online and at various training events and retreats. Connection with other teachers and practitioners is so useful as you train. Peer support can be just as valuable as supervision in helping you to develop insight and to reflect on your experiences together. The support and mutual understanding peers can provide can help to remind you that you are not on this journey alone and can motivate you to turn towards the challenges. Our community of trainees come together to share in the joys and challenges of the Pathway via:
The Pathway is flexible and is designed to fit around your pre-existing circumstances and training history. Each individual event is listed on our CALENDAR and has full details of the length of training. We run a regular programme of training events at different times throughout the year. The overall length of your Pathway will depend on your experience so far as some previous training may count retrospectively towards your portfolio.
The Training Pathway can be adapted to suit individual needs, giving you full flexibility in the total cost and ultimately, the certificate of competency you wish to receive. To complete our full programme of training and retreats, including registration and assessment, the estimated costs are: The overall cost of your Training Pathway will vary depending on the number of Specialist Training modules take and whether any previous training counts retrospectively towards your portfolio. A breakdown of costs is listed below as a guide: Mindfulness-based Supervision and/or Mentoring is a requirement to support you through the Training Pathway. Most supervisors and mentors offer 1-hour individual sessions between £50-£60. Some supervisors are also happy to offer shorter sessions and reduced rates. Please see our Supervision FAQs and Mentoring FAQs for more details. Payment terms and fees for mindfulness-based Supervision sessions will be agreed and arranged directly with your supervisor and are not included in this estimate. Bursary-assisted places are available across all Mindfulness Network training, retreats and supervision for those in need of financial support and who work in a way that is aligned to our vision and mission. Find out more about our available bursaries. After completing the Pathway, those following Route One have the option to apply for Competency Assessment on the Mindfulness Teachers Professional Pathway (MTPP) module with Bangor University – from approx. £1000.
Part of our vision involves removing financial barriers, as much as we can, by offering bursaries so that people from all backgrounds can afford to train to be mindfulness-based teachers, receive supervision and attend mindfulness retreats. Find out more about our available bursaries. We remain committed to ensuring that our services are as accessible and inclusive as possible. Bursary-assisted places are available across all Mindfulness Network training, retreats and supervision for those in need of financial support and who work in a way that is aligned to our vision and mission. PLEASE NOTE: In light of opening up our bursary schemes for training, the previous 10% discount for Masters or TTP students is no longer available after 1st April 2023. The Pathway can be customised to suit your professional and personal circumstances so the certification that you receive will depend on your route through the Pathway and the training specialisms you have chosen. There are two routes to certification through the Training Pathway: It is possible to specialise in multiple curricula and contexts, for example, Trained to Teach Mindfulness-based programs with specialisms in MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) and MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy) in the workplace, one-to-one and in the general population. Your Training Pathway portfolio tells us about your training, retreat, delivery, and supervision. Once you have completed all parts of the Training Pathway you can submit your portfolio for certification from the Mindfulness Network and Bangor University. Once successfully submitted you will receive certification of completion of the Training Pathway. PLEASE NOTE: If you registered on the Training Pathway before 1st April 2023 you can still choose to be certified as a Practising Teacher (as outlined in the Trainee Handbook 2022/23 or earlier), providing those training, retreats, supervision and reflective writing requirements have been met. This is only for previously registered trainees who are on the the Teacher Training Pathway (Route 1) and should include an MBSR and/or MBCT Curriculum Specialist Training. Certification as Competency-assessed Teacher When you have successfully submitted your portfolio and completed the Training Pathway as ‘Trained to teach Mindfulness-based Programs’ (Route One) you can enrol on the final Mindfulness Teacher Professional Pathway (MTPP) module with Bangor University. Registration takes place at two time points each year – September or January. Those registered in September must submit by January, those registered in January must submit by May. It is wise to either have a course already recorded prior to registration, or certainty that it is achievable within this time span. Module registration fees cannot be refunded if you are unable to submit on time. The module will involve: If successful, you will receive certification in competency assessment – the highest standard of a certification available for mindfulness teachers. Engagement in the Training Pathway enables you to begin delivering mindfulness in line with Good Practice Guidelines and to register with the British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches (BAMBA). You don’t have to wait until you are certified to apply for the BAMBA Register. From the BAMBA website: “There is currently no competency assessment or accreditation process involved in joining the Register. However, applicants are required to provide evidence of training completion and of compliance with the Good Practice Guidelines along with a supporting statement from their supervisor and relevant insurance.” The retreat requirement for the Training Pathway is to engage in annual mindfulness meditation retreats of a minimum of five days. This is in line with Good Practice Guidelines for Mindfulness Teachers. While on the Training Pathway, we recommend you sit the Foundations of Mindfulness Retreat and the Deepening and Extending the Foundations of Mindfulness at some point as these have been specifically designed for mindfulness trainees. These would count towards your annual retreat requirement. Visit our CALENDAR to browse retreats. Our Supervision website has more information and a list of recommended supervisors and their availability. The supervisors within this group are senior teachers, have taken mindfulness supervision training and have been carefully selected to join this team. There is a particular section that lists supervisors specialising in supervising those on training programs.. Once you have registered and chosen your supervisor, you will follow up discussions with that supervisor and agree a contract together. Supervision is typically arranged on Zoom or telephone. Your supervisor will support you through all stages of the Training Pathway and at some point watch videos of your teaching. Read more in our Supervision FAQs. Email us at training@mindfulness-network.org.
