I spent the last week on the Isle of Wight to complete the final part of my teacher training. As a result, I am proud to say that I am now a qualified teacher of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction.

Spending 7 days away from home was hard, but I am ever so grateful to my family for the opportunity to follow this through and their support for me to take the path I believe in.

The MBSR Teacher Practicum is very intensive - 61 hours of training and, of course, all the mental work that happens between the formal sessions. The week is all about practice. You get very up close and personal with your style of teaching and the way of interacting with others when you guide meditations, facilitate group talks and receive feedback.

It was hugely valuable to listen to the experiences of the other trainees and the guidance offered by our experienced practicum facilitator. It was not always fun to be so incredibly close to one’s own pain points. At times you go quite deep into self-searching and there was lot of questioning, confusion and frustration present. I spent a lot of time reflecting on themes as who I am as a teacher and what my intentions to teach are. A demanding journey to take, but a huge opportunity to grow both on personal and professional level. (And actually, not very different from what each person who decides to sign up to a MBSR course will go through).

I feel I have gained a lot of clarity and confidence in what is in the core of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction programme; in its original form, like it was developed 30 years ago and what is still true and equally relevant today. I feel that I am able to demonstrate the MBSR curriculum now even better in my own courses. I have had a lot of thought last week also on what I want South Coast Mindfulness to be. What I want to offer. There are some new courses to come in 2019…

Even if the formal teacher training has come to an end (at least for now), the journey very much continues. And in many ways this is only the beginning. As mindfulness facilitators we are practitioners ourselves, and never finished with learning. This I want to carry with me going forward.