Inquiry is often viewed as the most challenging aspect of a mindfulness teacher’s practice. Many of us come with transferable skills that help us bring warm relational qualities to inquiry – however these only take us so far.

Inquiry practice asks us to inhabit a space of open curiosity and ‘not knowing’, which can feel unsettling to hold. Alongside this, we’re encouraged to lean into session themes, artfully drawing them out as we lead inquiries. How to manage both?

Many of us fall back on tried and tested techniques, such as ‘reflecting back’, which are often helpful, but can become repetitive and predictable – and can reduce the engagement of the group.

This two-day workshop is for you if you’re a trained mindfulness teacher who’d like to deepen your inquiry practice whilst involving the group as an inclusive and diverse resource that enriches participants’ engagement, learning and sense of community.

The training will offer you an opportunity to immerse yourself in the subtle craft of inquiry and learn out of your direct experience as teacher and as participant. We’ll explore ways of leading inquiries that involve the group in normalising and validating experience, and in building safe, diverse and inclusive communities of practice and learning.

We’ll look at ways of keeping the group involved during the inquiry. Most of us tend to focus on how individual participants are doing. This training will help us facilitate inquiries that relate to the group as a whole – each one with its own character, needs and challenges. This enables our groups to be the context where rich learning can take place which not only deepens individual benefit but also supports future connections that move out beyond the mindfulness group sessions.