Amanda
GBA superb course with humble and experienced facilitators. I attended the Birmingham Teacher Training course with Nick, Rachel and a guest teacher from Oxford. They all brought something different and held the space beautifully. I've attended and taught many courses in related field, so I am pretty fussy! I was not disappointed. And the experience for myself was elevating and revitalising. I plan on returning for a refresher or more courses.
DataPixie
GBMindfulness teacher training I have studied Mindfulness as part of a diploma/Masters Degree and I thought it would be nice to get some formal training. Avoid this these trainers if you are looking for trainers with experiential knowledge of mindfulness that will have a deep understanding of the process and be able to guide you on your journey to becoming more mindful and integrated into the present. Its more akin to the blind leading the blind. you would have at least hope that they would be somewhat practiced in leading the way in what they teach. These trainers had poor language skills in the training sessions using negative and sarcastic language models to try to teach what mindfulness was about. The whole course was mainly reading scripts, stories and poems a few discussions and no actual training on how to teach. There was no higher level learning and development, the course was basic. There was 1 exercise on discussing mindfulness with a potential group and the trainer I was with failed to give feedback in a constructive way, this was really quite unpleasant, luckily one of the other students gave some constructive feedback that enabled a more compassionate experience in this learning environment. During the readings of mindfulness scripts and mechanically going through the mindfulness movement techniques at quite a rate the trainer asked for feedback on our experiences stating it was a safe place to even say if your experience wasn't good. So I honestly thought it would be ok so I stated that I had found myself to be frustrated in the practices as it felt like there was too much going and too fast going from one exercise to the next there was little time to experience any mindfulness, it just seemed like too much doing and little being. this was not received well which was demonstrated by a lack of mindfulness in attitude and behaviour following this feedback for the rest of the course, and sometimes in rather petty ways. What else was shocking was their reaction to feedback on some of their content being inappropriate due to cultural appropriation, there response to this was dismissive and that it didn't really matter and it wouldn't make sense to change it! Which came a cross as lacking awareness and empathy. There was a complete rejection that mindfulness could be taught to people with serious mental illness and it should not be attempted. This was weird as there is plenty of studies and research to say this is exactly the kind of people that would benefit from it most. There was obviously some serious lack of knowledge around mental illness and a fear driven lack of empathy and understanding. I decided to not hand in the final work for this course, as I didn't feel that an accreditation or any further training/group meetings from these trainers would really add any positive value. I would say that it was a complete waste of money, I did end up with a manual of scripts, which actually can mostly be found online anyway but it’s not £800 worth of scripts though... hmm maybe £800 worth of good books or a nice Holliday would have been better ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I
PLAbsolutley outstanding Well, what can I say. What an absolute pleasure it was to take part in the MBSR mindfulness now teacher training programme. I have completed a few courses in the past with CBT,MBCT and Advanced MBCT and I have enjoyed them all, but this course stands out, the team were excellent,very understanding, patient, knowledgeable and professional. I coudnt have wished for more. I highly recommend this course for anyone who wants to integrate mindfulness into their daily lives. 11 out of 10 from me. Thank you ,Adrian
D. J.
GBA great school of Mindfulness A great school of Mindfulness, gentle, and realistic training to meet today’s challenges. Great support by tutors and the supervision is also very up to date. Latest research and links to Neuroscience is also very helpful for teachers. The friendly environment created is an added bonus.
Kat
GBMost useful week Ive had for a while I recently attended the 5 day mindfulness teacher training course and I have to say the course has dramatically changed my lifestyle. The trainers were well informed and educated in this field as well as having vast expertise. I learnt a lot about mindfulness, the techniques and various forms during my weeks training. I really liked the practice sessions and despite my nerves, I was surprised at how much I had learnt already. I will be taking up the offer to join the Facebook support groups and will continue to read the manual to increase my knowledge before practising with colleagues however, I'm now keen to start to deliver some mindfulness sessions to my colleagues.