Mindfulness Teacher Training
Observed teaching of an eight-week form, with a practice and retreat-planning log, without printing BAMBA-registered teacher status we do not award.
Taught and assessed by
Nina OkadaProfile pending contract
- Live teaching
- 24h
- Self-study
- 80h
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Weekly load
- ~9h
What you will be able to do
- Teach sessions of an eight-week mindfulness form under observation
- Hold inquiry without turning it into advice or therapy
- Keep a personal-practice and retreat-planning log that can fail
- State that the Guild is not a BAMBA quality-assessed training organisation
- Refer when mindfulness is the wrong intervention
- Distinguish this product from short facilitation of a workplace practice
Who this is for
- People who have already completed an eight-week MBSR or MBCT as a participant
- Facilitation graduates who wanted the longer teaching product
- Teachers willing to be observed across a course form, not a single script
- Anyone who will still pursue BAMBA separately if a commissioner requires it
Who this is not for
- Anyone who needed BAMBA-registered teacher status from a quality-assessed affiliate
- Anyone without an established personal practice they will log
- Anyone treating this as a clinical MBCT qualification for depression
What you need before you start
- Completion of a teacher-led eight-week MBSR or MBCT as a participant
- Willingness to be observed teaching, and to plan a residential or equivalent retreat
What you will actually learn
12 modules · 12 weeks · 24h live
Practice before pedagogy, againTeacher training that skips the participant eight-week is selling a title.
Covered in this module
- The prerequisite we will check
- What this pass is not
- BAMBA's published standards
- Who should leave now
The eight-week formCoverage, pacing and organisation — teaching a course, not a one-off.
Covered in this module
- Curriculum
- Home practice
- What you will not invent
- Observed session one
Guiding practicesEmbodiment versus performance, marked in the room.
Covered in this module
- Language
- Silence
- Adaptations that stay honest
- Recorded teaching
InquiryThe skill that weekend diplomas skip because it cannot be scripted.
Covered in this module
- Not therapy
- Not coaching advice
- When to stop
- Practice
Holding the groupSafety, difference, and the person for whom sitting still is not possible.
Covered in this module
- Trauma-informed limits
- Psychosis and dissociation
- Referral
- Safety note
Supervision and the two courses BAMBA describesWhat the body asks. What we can mark. What we will not fake.
Covered in this module
- Supervised teaching
- Hours we will not invent
- Your own supervisor
- The register we do not confer
Retreat literacyPlanning extended practice without claiming you already sat a retreat we did not run.
Covered in this module
- Why retreats appear in the guidelines
- What we can assess
- What we cannot host
- Log
Workplace and clinical forksA workplace group is not MBCT for depression. Know which one you are selling.
Covered in this module
- Commissioners who will check BAMBA
- The facilitation sister programme
- Clinical pathways we do not award
- Language
Ethics and advertisingTeacher, facilitator, registered — three words that are not synonyms.
Covered in this module
- Bios that fail
- NHS imagery
- What the certificate will say
- Marked copy
MBI:TAC as a map, not a stolen badgeUsing published teaching domains to mark, without claiming Bangor's endorsement.
Covered in this module
- Domains
- Formative feedback
- What we are not
- Practice
Running your first group after the cohortInsurance, consent and the months the live block cannot compress.
Covered in this module
- Finding participants
- When you are not ready
- Supervision you still need
- BAMBA, not us
Assessment clinicLive review of teaching, logs and safety notes against the rubric.
Covered in this module
- Common fails
- Missing prerequisite
- Resubmission
- The limit on the paper
Dates and timetable
Mindfulness Teacher Training runs as a live cohort over 12 weeks. Pick the start date that fits — every cohort gets the same tutor, curriculum and assessment.
| Starts | Live sessions | Cap | Status and action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ends | Mondays 18:00–20:00 UK, 12 weeks | 16 | Choose this date → |
| Ends | Mondays 18:00–20:00 UK, 12 weeks | 16 | Choose this date → |
How you are assessed
Observed teaching of eight-week-form sessions, a personal-practice log covering the twelve weeks, and a written safety and inquiry note, marked by Nina Okada. Written feedback with one free resubmission. All elements must pass. A pass is not BAMBA registration. Watching the sessions does not.
Our accreditation applications are in progress. We do not display an accreditation mark before it is granted — see the current status.
After you pass
- Session structures for eight-week groups you run under your own name
- Certificate wording that names BAMBA as a separate pathway
What is this mindfulness teacher training?
Live, assessed teaching of an eight-week mindfulness form, with a personal-practice and retreat-planning log that can fail. It is longer than our facilitation programme. It is not BAMBA-registered teacher status. The Guild is not a BAMBA quality-assessed training organisation, and the certificate will not print that we are.
Does this programme put you on the BAMBA register?
No. BAMBA registration requires training with a quality-assessed affiliate organisation and evidence against that body's professional standards, including supervised teaching of courses and personal practice. Completing our cohort does not confer membership. If a commissioner will check BAMBA, start from BAMBA's own lists.
Sources
- BAMBA — About the register — BAMBA
- BAMBA — Good Practice Guidelines — BAMBA
How is this different from Mindfulness Facilitation?
Facilitation assesses a short practice and a log for coaches and workplace leads. Teacher training assesses an eight-week form, inquiry, and retreat planning, and it requires a prior eight-week as a participant. Both refuse BAMBA status. Choose facilitation if you needed a safe short session. Choose this if you intended to teach a course.
Is completing an eight-week course enough to teach?
No. Completing MBSR or MBCT as a participant is the usual prerequisite for teacher training, not the teaching qualification. BAMBA's public materials describe a year-scale pathway with supervised teaching. A weekend certificate that skips that pathway is selling a title. Our twelve weeks are still not that year.
Common questions
Why not wait until you are BAMBA quality-assessed?
Because specialists can review an observed eight-week teaching product now, and we would rather print the limit than borrow the register.
Do I need the facilitation programme first?
No, if you already have an eight-week as a participant and want to teach a course. Yes, if you only needed short workplace practices.
Is this MBCT for depression?
No. Clinical MBCT sits in accredited clinical pathways. We do not award them.
Can I pay in instalments?
Yes. Interest-free plans total exactly £499.
Related reading
Mindfulness teacher training in the UK
How UK mindfulness teacher training actually works, what BAMBA registration requires, and why an eight-week personal course is not a teaching qualification.
SubjectMindfulness teacher training pathways
How UK mindfulness teacher training differs from short facilitation, what BAMBA registration actually requires, and why a Guild cohort is not that register.
ProgrammeMindfulness Facilitation
An 8-week live mindfulness facilitation programme with observed teaching, taught by an MBSR-trained tutor who still runs workplace groups.
CareerMindfulness teacher career in the UK
What a UK mindfulness-teaching career involves, why BAMBA registration is the practical check for commissioners, and how that differs from short facilitation.
AnswerIs mindfulness teaching regulated?
Mindfulness teaching is unregulated in the UK. BAMBA is a voluntary professional body. A weekend diploma is not BAMBA-registered teacher training.
SubjectWorkplace wellbeing training in the UK
What workplace wellbeing training should cover in the UK, how it differs from therapy, and why a happiness diploma is usually the wrong buy for an HR role.