Experienced Teachers Reflect on the Opportunities and Challenges of Teaching Mindfulness

Education
Mindfulness
Char Wilkins
EarthRise
Retreats
MBCT
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
MBSR
meditation
Mindfulness-Based Interventions
Stress Reduction
Professional Training
Susan Woods
UCSD

Image removed.With the proliferation of mindfulness and Mindfulness-Based Interventions, there is increasing demand for foundational and advanced training for teachers of these so-called "MBIs". The UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness has partnered with Susan Woods and Char Wilkins to partially meet this demand through a 5-day program entitled: Advanced Training for MBCT and MBSR Teachers: Embodying Mindful Presence and Investigating Mindful Inquiry, June 9-14, 2013 at the EarthRise Retreat Center in Petaluma, CA. The following is the first in a series of periodic posts by Susan and Char, sharing their vision and wisdom in formulating and offering this training, and exploring the territory of teaching mindfulness in general. We invite you to get to know Susan and Char through this series and perhaps to reflect on your own relationship to mindfulness teaching.

By Susan Woods
What a true joy it is for me to anticipate this possibility of bringing MBCT and MBSR teachers together for this training. As the community of MBCT and MBSR teachers has grown in breadth and depth I believe it has become increasingly important to hold in awareness certain questions. What is it that helps sustain our teaching? What are our aspirations? How do we find ways to articulate and live inside the teaching process? How do we come to see the challenges of teaching as the wealth of continually opening landscapes of compassion, generosity and kindness?

At its core the Advanced training for MBCT and MBSR teachers is about supporting and strengthening the skills that characterize teaching mindfulness in the MBCT and MBSR programs.  At its deepest depth, it is about our relationship to the practice of mindfulness and to the articulation of that process. Collectively, it is my hope and belief we will weave a process of contemplative awareness that not only supports and strengthens our teaching, but that emphasizes embodying mindful presence as the heart of teaching with mindful reflective inquiry as the journey.  I look forward to joining you there.
--Susan Woods

 

By Char Wilkins

As a teacher, the moments that inspire me to keep teaching are never the moments when I’ve cleared up a participant’s confusion for them or said something that a group member thought profound.  Rather, they are the times when coming from a genuinely curious and patient place within myself, I have mindfully attended as the participant found her own truth and understanding.  This relational field that is created between teacher and participant holds the potential of accessibility and possibility.

Is it possible for a teacher to cultivate patience, focus, curiosity and compassion to such an extent that it becomes an articulated and felt sense through his or her teaching?  This is the exploratory path of the Advanced Training for MBCT & MBSR Teachers that invites investigation of two important aspects of teaching MBCT and MBSR, that of embodied mindful presence and the facilitation of mindful inquiry.  I am delighted to be teaching alongside my colleague, Susan Woods, as we offer this program which is both deeply personal and universal in its intentional and heartfelt focus.

--Char Wilkins, LCSW

About the Authors

Susan Woods, MSW

Susan L. Woods, MSW, LICSW, is a senior Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction/Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBSR/MBCT) advisor, trainer, and supervisor.  She has been training health professionals in mindfulness-based interventions since 2005.  Susan designed the MBSR and MBCT professional certification programs for the Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute (MBPTI) at UC San Diego  where she was the Principal Curriculum Consultant and Senior Guiding Teacher. Susan has a Master’s degree in clinical social work from Columbia University and holds an advanced level post-graduate certificate in clinical social work from New York University.

Char Wilkins

Char Wilkins, MSW, LCSW, is a mindfulness-based psychotherapist who works with individuals, couples and groups incorporating the intention and skills of mindfulness as a foundation from which to explore one’s life. She specializes in working with stress-related physical and emotional issues, with women who have experienced childhood abuse and trauma, and those who suffer with depression, anxiety and disordered eating.

Char is certified as a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher by the Center for Mindfulness, UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA. She teaches MBSR, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and Mindful Eating/Conscious Living (MECL) for the general public.

She leads professional trainings in MECL, MBSR, an Adv. training for MBCT and MBSR teachers. Char maintains a longstanding personal meditation practice and is currently studying Qigong and Taijiquan. She provides one-on-one consultation for professionals who wish to incorporate mindfulness into their work. She is a member of the Advisory Board of The Center for Mindful Eating and is the owner/director of the Center for Mindful Living, LLC and A Mindful Path, LLC in Connecticut.