We hope that you have enjoyed the eight-week course, and have also experienced some of the potential positive changes that mindfulness practice can support, especially in terms of mental and physical health. Where such changes have been noticed, there is a natural tendency to want to share this learning with students, colleagues or even family members.

One of Mindfulness in Schools Project’s (MiSP’s) main aims is to bring mindfulness to young people and those who work with/ care for them. However, at the heart of this is a fundamental need for this to be done with integrity and safely. We are therefore very clear in our Terms and Conditions for taking part in a .begin and .b Foundations course that these do not in any way train participants to teach mindfulness to young people or adults.

Just as you wouldn’t ask someone to teach a child to swim if that person couldn’t swim strongly themselves, you wouldn’t expect someone without a long-established practice, and extensive training, to teach young people or adults mindfulness. Training to teach mindfulness to adults takes a minimum of a year’s training through approved routes, and involves a great deal of time learning how to lead both practices and enquiry (the discussions that take place following the practices) with skill and safely. Individuals have different responses to mindfulness practices and children, in particular, need to be guided skilfully and competently so that they can access the benefits of mindfulness and not be put off by poor teaching.

MiSP’s own training pathways to teaching dots (ages 3-6), Paws b (ages 7-11) or .b (ages 11-18) curricula require completion of an approved eight-week mindfulness course, two or three months to embed individual practice, followed by a further four or three days’ training (respectively). Again, a great deal of time on these courses is spent exploring how to lead a practice and enquiry, as well as gaining extended understanding about the theory behind these practices.

Having said all that, if you have managed to maintain your personal practice (during sessions and in your own time) during and beyond your eight-week course, and therefore have an experiential understanding of its intentions and possible outcomes, you may choose to explore how it is to lead an adult friend, colleague or family member in one of the simpler practices from earlier on in the course. These practices could include the ‘.b’ practice – ‘Stop, Feel Your Feet on the Floor, Notice the Breath, and Be’, or maybe some gentle mindful movement such as stretching, and observing the breath in the body. If you are comfortable with this, you may invite a group of children or young people that you know well to join in a very short practice too.

You might also like to know that there are two freely accessible videos on Youtube. These talk you through the theory behind, and then lead you through the practice of, two simple key practices:

Playing Attention 

Beditation (which you will know as the ‘Body Scan’)

These are intended for use as part of the .b curriculum, but can also be used as an opportunity to ‘dip your toes in the shallows’ of mindfulness practice. Indeed, you can play these to children and young people in your class if you think they will enjoy it. However, we would recommend that you keep any discussion of the experience afterwards minimal and as light as possible until you have been trained in how to guide enquiry with children.

Certainly, there should be no attempt to lead longer practices or any that involve working with difficulty in terms of thoughts, emotions or body sensations. These are more advanced practices and need to be guided skilfully by an experienced and well-trained mindfulness teacher.

If you have any further questions about this, please don’t hesitate to get in touch support@mindfulnessinschools.org

As a UK charity, we try to support schools who wish to have members of their staff trained in MiSP’s classroom-based curricula, but who need financial assistance to do so. If you’d like to know more, please check the criteria for a Supported Place on training. We are also able to offer awards from our Early Career Teachers’ Support Fund.

To ensure there is time to continue to explore and deepen the practices you have learned on your eight week mindfulness course, we require at least two – three months’ embedding period (depending on previous mindfulness experience) between the completion of your eight-week course and starting a Train to Teach .b, The Present, Paws b or dots course.

However, you can apply to attend the Teach .b, The Present, Paws b or dots course once you reach the end of your eight-week course, provided you commit to ongoing regular practice – both formal and informal. For more information on what this involves, please see the prerequisites for Teach dots, Teach Paws b, Teach The Present, or Teach .b

MiSP delivers Information Events across the UK, please click here to find one near you.

We certainly hope so. .begin is taught online, but face-to-face in real-time by highly experienced mindfulness practitioners who are skilled in delivering group sessions. Hugely experienced in mindfulness and its many benefits through their own practice and training, they also understand the demands of working in education.

While .begin is intended as a general introduction to mindfulness for personal well-being, mindfulness is not for everyone. In particular, people who have recently experienced trauma or bereavement, or severe physical or mental illness, should consult with their GP or other medical advisers before undertaking any form of mindfulness training or practice.

For more information, please read the following article by Ruth Baer and Willem Kuyken.

If you wish to discuss any concerns you might have about the .begin course in this respect, please contact enquiries@mindfulnessinschools.org

To be eligible for .begin, you have to either work or volunteer in a school, work/volunteer within an educational setting on a regular basis OR be the parent or carer of a child still in education . Please note School governors and those who volunteer regularly in a school (including parent volunteers) are also eligible to apply.

You need a reasonable broadband internet connection and a computer or laptop with a webcam and microphone. The platform we use is Zoom, so for precise technical requirements, click here. As general guidance, if Skype or Facetime work on your computer or laptop then you should be fine.

If you have any concerns, we offer a free one-to one technical check once you have booked a course.

After a 30-45 minute orientation, .begin takes the form of eight weekly sessions of approximately 90 minutes. There will also be home practice of around 20 minutes per day.

Having completed the course, you will receive a certificate. This could form part of your professional development records.

MiSP is accredited as a CPD provider by the CPD Standards Office, and our  .begin course has been rigorously assessed as providing 13 hours of CPD.

Please read the terms and conditions for booking and attending a .begin course and if you have any questions feel free to contact us at enquiries@mindfulnessinschools.org