𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀

The residential “Teaching Presence in Relationship” teacher training retreat, is designed to prepare teachers of mindfulness-based programmes to teach the Interpersonal Mindfulness Programme. This residential training course will take place at the Ammerdown Retreat Centre in Somerset, near Bath, from 22 to 30 October 2027.

𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄
The Interpersonal Mindfulness Programme offers participants a systematic method for cultivating mindfulness within the context of their relational lives. Extending practice beyond the personal to the interpersonal and social domains of life allows for healing and growth for everyone.

The philosophical and scientific roots of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and other mindfulness based-interventions help reduce suffering and and increase wellbeing. They are a force for good in public health, offering accessible and empowering ways for people to actively participate in their own health and wellness.

The Interpersonal Mindfulness Programme goes a step further, offering a relational mindfulness practice drawn from the foundations of Insight Dialogue (Interpersonal Meditation). Designed specifically to be practiced within live interaction, this approach cultivates awareness in the midst of relationship, fostering insight into the stress, reactivity, and habitual patterns that arise in connection with others.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁?
The residential training is offered over nine days in person at the Ammerdown Retreat Centre.

The first two and a half days of this training are presented primarily in retreat form. During this period, participants will be immersed, experientially, in the nine-session course curriculum. Silence is practiced throughout this part of the retreat except when meditators are guided in dialogue together. This immersive, experiential approach to learning allows participants to internalise the relational meditation guidelines before going on to teach them.

During the subsequent six-day training period, participants engage in relational practice as well as guiding and being guided in teach-backs and in small and large groups. These interactive exercises deepen participants’ experiential understanding of the meditation guidelines, contemplative themes, and cultivate their teaching presence and skill. A comprehensive handbook containing the full curriculum will be supplied to participants to support learning and teaching.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀
The training objectives include:

Cultivating the skills required to guide Insight Dialogue–based practices, including guidelines, themes, and choreographed relational practice sequences;
Developing a theoretical understanding of relational mindfulness methods, skills and practices;
Exploring and experiencing the six guidelines of Insight Dialogue within the Interpersonal Mindfulness Programme;
Expanding and enriching teachers’ embodied capacity as a vehicle to communicate and interact effectively with programme participants;

Who is the training for?
The programme is for mindfulness teachers who wish to teach the Interpersonal Mindfulness programme to graduates of an eight-week mindfulness course or to people who have prior meditation experience and the permission of the teacher. The training may also be of interest to health care professionals, who fulfil the prerequisites, who wish to deepen their presence in working relationships.

The teacher trainers are: Rosalie Dores, Phyllis Hicks, Kevin Fong.

More info and how to book here: https://sussexmindfulnesscentre.nhs.uk/event/teaching-presence-in-relationship-an-interpersonal-mindfulness-teacher-training/