Meditation Instructor Training

This program is restricted to those who have been invited, submitted an application, and completed an intake interview with one of the instructors.

Participants in this training will learn to provide both individual and group instruction.

Shambhala teachings tell us that bravery and warriorship are needed more than ever to meet, with compassion, the challenges of our time. Therefore, more than ever we need people who can teach meditation in a respectful and simple way.

To meet these various needs, two teachers from Philadelphia, Elaine Yuen and Marilia Marien, developed a comprehensive course that includes readings, personal reflection, and partner work in eight online classes and three cohort-led group practice sessions, ending with an in-person weekend intensive at the Boston Shambhala Center.

The content integrates practices and perspectives from Shambhala and Buddhism, drawing also from mindfulness, neuroscience, and social justice literature. It will also cover basic elements of trauma-informed practices in the context of giving meditation instruction. 

Participants will be expected to take the commitment seriously, and can anticipate spending 4-5 hours per week.

Schedule

Online classes will be Thursday evenings, starting weekly for the first 3:

Class 1 - February 6
Class 2 - February 13
Class 3 - February 20

Then we start meeting bi-weekly and subgroups of students meet with each other on alternating weeks.

Class 4 - March 6
Class 5 - March 20
Class 6 - April 3
Class 7 - April 17
Class 8 - May 1

The in-person weekend intensive will be: April 26 & 27th

When the course is completed, you will:

• Be able to guide meditation instruction with individuals and groups with cultural humility.
• Learn the core Buddhist and Shambhala principles underlying meditation practice and instruction.
• Learn the neurobiology and recent research related to meditation and mindfulness.
• Learn the general ethics and specific Care and Conduct policy for Shambhala related to giving meditation instruction.
• Learn the cultural and social considerations and context of offering meditation instruction as they relate to social identities.

Class topics include:

• How to guide individual and group meditation instruction.
• Shambhala Buddhist core concepts including bravery, warriorship, and basic goodness in contemporary times.
• Overview of the history and modern contexts of meditation.
• Connecting with and deepening your reason for wanting to offer meditation instruction.
• The Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
• Ethics of meditation instruction.
• Cultural humility and meditation instruction.
• Neurobiology of meditation and mindfulness.

Prerequisites:

• Must have at least two years of regular (at least once a week) meditation practice.
• Ongoing membership/participation in a practice community.
• An intention to use this training to deepen one’s own practice, as well as find ways to offer it to others
• Willing to put in the time and effort needed to get the most out of this course. This includes:
• 90 minutes of meeting time per week
• 2-3 hours of assignments & reflection per week
• Attending the full weekend intensive in April 2025
• Consistent meditation practice of at least four times a week for at least 20 minutes throughout the duration of the course.
• Openness to self-reflection and learning new or different skills.

Teacher Bios

Elaine Yuen is an educator, chaplain and researcher. She has been a student and teacher in the Shambhala community since the early 1970’s, and has been a Philadelphian since 1980. Between 2012 and 2020 she was a professor at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado where she taught courses on pastoral caregiving (chaplaincy), contemplative education and Buddhist studies. Elaine is deeply interested in how we shape our social interactions with caring and authentic presence. She continues to explore the interfaces between Buddhism, meditation, creativity, and contemplative caregiving. Her website on Contemplative Chaplaincy can be found at elaineyuen.com.

Marilia Marien has been practicing meditation for over 20 years. She has been studying and practicing within the Shambhala community since 2008 where she is a teacher and meditation instructor.  Marilia’s passion for helping others learn and apply meditation and mindfulness to their everyday lives developed out of her personal interest and experiences with meditation and other contemplative practices.  Marilia is a certified teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).  She specializes in training and coaching mental health and allied healthcare professionals who want to learn mindfulness to enhance their well-being and/or integrate it into their professional work.

Registration Please register with an email you check regularly. If our registrations system does not have a current email for you, you will miss important information about the program.

You should receive the first confirmation email within within 24 hours of registration. You should receive a second confirmation email with more program details approximately 1 week before the program begins. Sometimes emails may end up in your promotions, spam or junk folder. It’s also possible that you’ve unsubscribed from emails from Shambhala, which prevents you from receiving the necessary emails. If you don't receive the first email, please contact [email protected].

Price:  $350 is the sustaining price for this program. A scholarship price of $280 is available for those who need, and payment plans can also be arranged.

Those who are repeating the program should contact [email protected] about a special rate.

Please see our pricing policy page for information about tiered pricing, MyPrice, cancellations and more. 

Payment: We use Paypal to process payments. You can choose to pay through a paypal account (if you have one) or with a credit or debit card. Unfortunately Paypal sometimes disables guest checkout "based on several risk factors" and will prompt you to create an account. If you run into this issue, please email [email protected] to let us know. We hope to find a better solution soon.

Zoom participation As with any contemplative practice, your environment impacts your experience. For those wishing to join virtually, we strongly suggest you find a space to join the program that is relatively quiet and free of distractions. Zoom meeting info will be provided to registrants approximately 1 week before the program starts.

FAQ Common questions might be answered on our FAQ page.

This program is restricted to those who have been invited, submitted an application, and completed an intake interview with one of the instructors.