Is there any financial support available for teacher training? Expand Yes! Removing barriers to mindfulness training is something that we at Breathworks are very passionate about. For those who cannot afford the individual rate, you are welcome to pay the concessionary rate. We also have payment plans so you can spread the cost of training over a longer period of time, and if you are experiencing significant financial hardship, you may be eligible to apply for a bursary place. Our bursary places can fund up to 50% of the concessionary rate for the whole course. You can find details here.
How much does teacher training cost? Expand You can find the details of the teacher training fees here.
I’m already an MBSR/MBCT teacher - can I skip straight to the Advanced Training? Expand If you are already a qualified MBSR or MBCT teacher, you can do an ‘Applying Mindfulness to Long-Term Conditions - for MBSR/MBCT Teachers’ Event (look here), which will give you an introduction to the Breathworks approach. After this, you will be able to skip straight to the Advanced Teacher Training stage.
I completed a Breathworks course a long time ago - does that still count toward my prerequisites? Expand If you’ve completed a Breathworks course within 2 years of your introductory training event that’s fine, however any longer than 2 years and we ask that you take another course as a refresher.
How long does it take to complete the Teacher Training Programme? Expand The whole programme takes a minimum of 1 year to complete, and you must leave at least 6 months between the Introductory and Advanced Teacher Training Events.
Can I start teaching after the Introductory Teacher Training? Expand No. You must complete the whole teacher training programme before you are qualified to teach.
How do I stay in touch with other Breathworks Teachers? Expand There is a private group for Breathworks Teachers and Trainees within our online Community of Practice, where you can share ideas and questions about teaching Breathworks courses. You can ask to join the group once you have become a member of the Community of Practice – membership is free. You’ll find the Teachers & Trainees Group under 'Groups' in the Community of Practice main menu.
What do I need to do to maintain accreditation as a Breathworks teacher? Expand Once accredited, Breathworks Mindfulness Teachers pay an annual fee of £80 to maintain accreditation. In addition, they must do the following: Adhere to the BAMBA Good Practice Guidelines and a Breathworks Code of Conduct On-going mindfulness supervision is an important part of the good practice requirements for teachers of mindfulness-based courses. Complete an annual survey to provide information and feedback to Breathworks. Submit evaluation forms annually from courses they have run in the past year to [email protected]: at least one set of evaluation forms, or at least two sets of evaluation forms if you have run more than one course. Attend at least 6 hours of CPD events per year, of live or recorded teaching. These event/s can be run by Breathworks or any member of BAMBA. A total of 30 hours per year of CPD is also suggested, which can include reading, listening to podcasts, and other forms of learning. These CPD requirements are to extend and deepen your understanding of mindfulness and related fields. In order to continue to deepen your own mindfulness practice you are expected to attend a total of at least 5 days of teacher-led retreats each year. This can be a Breathworks event, although it doesn't need to be, and you also have the option of doing either one long retreat, or multiple shorter retreats to add up to at least 5 days. Retreats allow a deeper sense of stillness and silence, providing more space to be with the fullness of your experience as it's emerging. This kind of space is difficult to find in our day to day lives, which is why retreats are so critical for mindfulness teachers. If your life circumstances (for example, raising young children or caring for an elderly parent) make it difficult for you to meet this expectation, please contact the office so we can discuss your options.
Do I need supervision if I’m teaching a Breathworks course? Expand On-going mindfulness supervision is an important part of the good practice requirements for teachers of mindfulness-based courses. All of our supervisors meet the good practice guidelines for supervisors developed by BAMBA (British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches). We offer mindfulness-based supervision specifically for Breathworks accredited teachers and those who are in our training programme. Find out more and get in touch with a supervisor here.
What are the benefits of accreditation as a Breathworks Mindfulness teacher? Expand All accredited Breathworks Mindfulness Teachers enjoy the following benefits: Access to and use of curriculum and all related materials for the Mindfulness for Health and/or Mindfulness for Stress courses, with free curriculum updates when available. A free listing of contact information on the online Breathworks teachers directory Use of the Breathworks logo and Breathworks Accredited Teachers logo for your marketing purposes 10% discount on all Breathworks Continuing Professional Development events 25% discount on all Breathworks books and meditations from the shop Access to the Teachers Group on the Breathworks Online Community of Practice
What's the annual accreditation fee as a Breathworks teacher? Expand The accreditation fee is £80 per year, and is part of Breathworks teachers CPD (Continuing Professional Development). It allows us to maintain your accreditation, organise events for our teachers and provide teaching resources. It also allows access to a range of information and networking opportunities to assist you in your role. In order to ensure that your annual accreditation fee goes directly to supporting activities that benefit accredited teachers, all fees will go directly to Breathworks CIC, rather than the Breathworks Foundation. In order to maintain accreditation, all teachers are expected to pay this fee on an annual basis. You can pay your annual accreditation fee here Alternatively, set up a standing order by contacting the Breathworks office 0161 834 1110
What Continuing Professional Development (CPD) events are available for Breathworks teachers? Expand Lots! We’re continually running CPD workshops and courses for our teachers and teachers-in-training, featuring the latest developments in the mindfulness field, opportunities to develop your skills, and helpful tools. You can look at the previous workshops we’ve run here and see what’s coming up here.
I’ve already done an MBSR/MBCT/MSC 8-week course, do I still need to do a Breathworks course as a prerequisite for teacher training? Expand Yes. Although there is some overlap between the contents of Breathworks courses, and other 8-week mindfulness courses, there is enough that is distinct about the Breathworks approach that will make having participated on a course yourself indispensable to training as a teacher in the Breathworks approach to mindfulness and compassion. You can complete either a Mindfulness for Health or a Mindfulness for Stress course to fulfil this prerequisite.
I live in a different time zone and the schedule doesn't work for me Expand We try to schedule our online teacher training events such that they are accessible to as many time zones and schedules as possible.If there are currently no events that suit your time zone and schedule, keep an eye on the upcoming events, and when we arrange our next set of teacher training events there may be an option that will work for you. Another option is to do our Global Timezone option. This involves watching the recordings of the live sessions and having a one hour one-to-one personal session with a member of our training team to reflect on your learning during each week of the Teacher Training event. You and the trainer assigned to you will arrange five 1-hour one-to-one sessions to take place weekly at mutually convenient times via Zoom/Skype/phone. Please note that you will still need to watch all the recordings of the weekly Zoom sessions, as well as making posts in the course forums. So your overall personal learning time each week on this option will be: 5-6 hours personal study 3.5 hours watching recordings of live sessions 1 hour one-to-one with trainer The Global Timezone online fee is an additional £250 on top of the usual online fee, taking the overall online fee for people following this pathway up to the same price as a standard residential event.
Am I entitled to apply for the Concessionary Rate? Expand We offer a concessionary rate of training (see pricing table above for details), which we recommend to those earning less than £18,500 a year (or less than £24,000 if you live in London). If this applies to you, just select 'concessionary rate' on your application form. If you are experiencing significant financial hardship, you may be eligible to apply for a bursary place. Our bursary places can fund up to 50% of the concessionary rate for the whole course, but if you can afford to pay more than 50% please state that on your application. Equally, if you cannot afford to pay 50% of the fees, please do still apply for a bursary and tell us how much you can afford. We aim to make our training as inclusive as possible. To apply for a bursary, please click here. Please note, we also need you to fill in the teacher training application, so that we can review both forms together. Please feel free to contact us for further details of the above.
Can I book onto an online Teacher Training Event if I can't make all the sessions? Expand Our online Teacher Training sessions are recorded, so participants are able to catch up on missed sessions, however we require students to attend at least 80% of the live events of an online training event.
Can I cancel a teacher training event after I've booked it? Expand You can find our terms and conditions with regards to cancelling or changing your teacher training booking on our Teacher Training Terms and Conditions.
Do I still need supervision after I've been teaching for a long time? Expand Yes. We'd suggest that you have at least 3 hours of supervision per course for the first 6 to 8 courses you teach, and even after this, regular supervision is a necessity. Supervision is intended to help you to become confident and secure in your delivery of Breathworks material, and in your ability to respond to participants with varied needs. Even the best mindfulness teachers have blind spots, and in order to best serve participants on their courses, we need to reflect on our experience teaching with an experienced supervisor.