How to Teach Mindfulness and Meditation | Part 4 - Safety, Inclusivity, & Community
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Galaxy S25 Ultra, the AI companion that does the heavy lifting so you can do you. Get yours at Samsung.com. Compatible with select after-pards. Google Gemini account results may vary based on input check responses for accuracy. Hi, everyone. My name is Sean Fargo, founder of Mindfulness Exercises, former Buddhist monk, and lead teacher for our Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification. Today is a special day because we're going to be wrapping up our four-part series on

the essential keys to teaching mindfulness and leading meditations. In the first three episodes of this series, we talked about the essential qualities of a mindfulness teacher, the foundational layer of all good mindfulness teachings, how to overcome imposter syndrome, and

feeling of unworthiness to teach mindfulness or to lead meditations. We talked about how to introduce mindfulness to people for the first time. We also talked about how to make mindfulness relevant to different kinds of people. And so all of these are, you know, foundational layers and keys to teaching mindfulness with integrity and confidence and credibility. Today's episode, the fourth of

the four-part series, we're going to be talking about how to make sure that your mindfulness teachings are trauma sensitive so that we help keep people safe, so that we're not re-triggering people by leading them into, you know, dark, scary places. This is not about being focused on trauma, but rather it's about being sensitive to the possibility of trauma, just to help make sure that

people feel safe during the practice. We're also going to be talking about key insights from successful mindfulness teachers and what they say are the major keys to their long-term success. I've been around a lot of stellar mindfulness teachers as a Buddhist monk and at my time at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

with Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg and Tara Brock and a lot of the big names and there's a common thread that they all have. So we'll be talking about some key insights around long-term success and teaching mindfulness. But I do want to emphasize that teaching mindfulness is not about just sharing techniques. It's not this head-based, process-driven practice.

It's really about creating a safe, compassionate space for us to feel safe enough to be present for what's here without needing to judge it to be right or wrong, but rather just sensing into what's here, whether it's pleasant or not. So let's get started with this fourth installment.

on these key aspects to teaching mindfulness. Let's dive in. So let's talk about the seventh key aspect of teaching mindfulness, simple trauma-sensitive mindfulness methods to ensure safety. So learning about my mindfulness teachings in healthcare, a well-regarded nonprofit invited me to co-lead a mindfulness meditation retreat for urban teens in the rural mountains.

"taking kids from the city to the mountains "to meditate on retreat. "I thought it'd be a nice relaxing time "amidst the trees.

and the birds. But about 30 teens from nearby cities came, many of whom brought their unresolved trauma with them. Some teens suffered physical abuse, recent loss of parents, sexual abuse, severe depression, and our retreat staff had no therapists, no counselors, no doctors, no parents.

Just me and a few other meditation teachers tasked with helping these teens bring gentle awareness to their experience and to their bodies where trauma happens to live. Trauma lives in our bodies.

And we were basically alone with these teens for a few days. And I felt super inadequate to deal with anything too intense. I quickly felt overwhelmed by fear. I was the mindfulness expert for the healthcare startup, recording meditations alone from my safe office. But here I was the trauma novice.

at this mountain teen retreat, meditating with traumatized teens with nowhere to go if anyone needed serious help. So how do I teach mindfulness and meditation in a way that won't re-trigger or overwhelm these teens? Well, fortunately, my amazing meditation co-teachers gave me some invaluable tips. I had to find language that was gentle and encouraging. I didn't want to force these teens to do anything that they didn't want to do.

I gave them some options or practices that they could try. I offered extra time for them to ask questions or to share their concerns. And I emphasized self-compassion, tenderness, softening of the body,

inviting a sense of care and ease with whatever was coming up. Fortunately, no one ever felt too overwhelmed or got re-triggered, but I felt like I was walking on eggshells. Driving home from that experience, I found myself bawling, purging tears and the fear that I have accidentally harming any of those teens with overwhelming or re-triggering meditations.

I had to learn about trauma sensitivity to better prepare for the possibility of waking a tiger from someone's past. So that's how I learned the importance of trauma sensitivity. Here's how you can use it today. It's important to note that trauma-sensitive mindfulness is not the same thing as trauma-focused mindfulness. Most of us are not therapists and we focus on people's trauma,

But many of us are simply compassionate people who want to share mindfulness with others and be sensitive to the possibility of trauma in them. So we might give people a heads up that mindfulness is not a substitute for therapy, that we may be doing practices that bring gentle awareness to physical sensations

and that if it feels unsafe or overwhelming, they can back off and do something else. We can give people a few options for practicing mindfulness. We don't want to force anyone to do anything.

can invite people to sense into a safe part of their body or a safe part of their experience. I highly recommend reading Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness from David Treleaven, who is a friend of mine in mindfulness exercises, or reading Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine on healing trauma, or taking our own trauma-sensitive mindfulness trainings at mindfulnessexercises.com

It's also within our mindfulness teacher certification program. And so that we can help keep our students safe within their window of tolerance. So that's how you can use trauma-sensitive mindfulness tips today. Now let's talk about the eighth key aspect of teaching mindfulness. Insights from successful mindfulness teachers on their top ingredients for the success that they've had in their careers. Here's how I learned it.

So when I started forming my own business to teach mindfulness meditation, I relied on the certifications and teaching templates that I had picked up from my previous training to increase my confidence and credibility. I created a website, mindfulnessexercises.com, and showed that I was certified from accredited training programs.

And I used my new teaching templates as basic structures and outlines to create my new paid offerings. I experimented asking new students and clients to pay in different ways. I asked people to pay by donation. I tried asking people to pay within a very large pricing window. I offered premium prices for higher tier offerings. And I also offered scholarships to people in need.

And they would tell me, you know, what they can afford, why they want this training, how they would use it, what their experience level is, etc. And they all worked to different varying degrees and different people use those different pricing models. I also offer to teach mindfulness at large companies for free, which I recommend for people starting out.

in exchange for feedback and assessment data, statistics, survey results, testimonials, photos of me teaching that I could use for marketing, referrals, and consideration for paid contracts over long periods of time if they liked me and if I was helping them. So this got my foot in the door to working with several well-known clients

both individuals and groups, online and in person, and it added to the popularity of my website. But I was doing all of this alone, which really took a toll. I wasn't sure how much of the feedback I received was genuine. I didn't have a safe, vulnerable place where I could try new meditations or be creative with my own teachings. I wasn't maintaining a network with other mindfulness teachers or wellness professionals.

I wasn't keeping up on the latest trends, techniques, or teaching opportunities. I started practicing mindfulness from the lens of a strategic teacher, like how can I use this to teach, rather than as a sincere practitioner. And my mental health started declining, even though I was a mindfulness teacher. And then I remembered how my mindfulness teacher said that they became successful. They supported each other.

If you want to go fast, you can go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. Just like with mindfulness practice where community is everything, mindfulness teaching takes a village. The senior monks at my monasteries would often gather with each other, taking turns sharing how their practice and their teachings are going. The senior teachers at Spirit Recommendation Center would often gather with each other often,

taking turns sharing how their practice and teachings are going. Also, they all said that that's their number one ingredient to long-term growth and impact community and teaching practice opportunities. It's a beautiful way of developing their own mindfulness, enhancing their ability to help others,

inspiring each other with updates and wins, receiving new opportunities to teach with each other and co-teaching with each other in different settings. So with this in mind, I knew that community would need to be a big part of my own business at mindfulnessexercises.com. So I invited thousands of like-minded wellness professionals to form virtual community with me.

And so together we created Connect, an online social community where wellness professionals can connect with each other, find accountability buddies, and find mindfulness teaching support and opportunities. A community for supporting each other and being able to find new ways to teach and finding new opportunities to teach. So we created Teaching Practice Opportunities,

and created a formal recurring space on Zoom where people can practice teaching mindfulness or leading meditations and receive personalized feedback from a senior teacher and from each other, as well as learning about third-party teaching opportunities.

We also created Wednesday Q&A sessions with me and a senior teacher and other senior teachers. That includes live group coaching calls with me and our team to deepen your mindfulness, talk about your mindfulness teaching goals, and support your ability to teach mindfulness online.

and even help you with your business endeavors. We also created monthly calls with renowned mindfulness teachers, people like Gabor Mate, Byron Katie, Richie Davidson, Rick Hansen,

Judd Brewer, David Treleven, Susan Kaiser Greenland, the world's top teachers. And we meet with them live every month and talk about teaching mindfulness and we get to ask them questions. Inside our own community, my own mindfulness teaching opportunities increased as well, allowing me to teach more often to more kinds of people and allowed other people in our community to do that as well.

The quality of my teachings blossomed as a result. And I learned where the edges of my understanding were and where my blind spots were. And I would get a lot of great feedback. Feedback about my teachings from the community was always invaluable. There were always new things where we can learn from each other if we're open to it.

Our mindfulness teaching community have increased our teaching abilities, our professional networks, and most importantly, our positive impact that we have on others. Our community happens to include people from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, Dell Computers, Canadian Olympic teams, Kaiser Permanente Healthcare, Veterans Department, Duke University, Tesla, you name it.

which opened up a lot more mindfulness teaching opportunities than I could have ever expected. So that's how I learned this important aspect of community and teaching opportunities.

So for you, you can find an existing mindfulness teaching community or you can start your own. You can ask local mindfulness teachers in your area how they connect with other mindfulness teachers. Introduce yourself at meditation centers and wellness groups. Share your intentions. Search for mindfulness-based book clubs, sanghas, or coaching programs. You can ask your local university, college, or community center. You can start your own private Facebook group.

or build a website with the forum. Or you can join our established mindfulness teaching community in our mindfulness exercises teacher certification program.

where you can practice teaching, learn about new opportunities, and ask anything you want related to mindfulness, mindfulness teaching, or building your business. You can connect with renowned wellness professionals like Gabor Mate, Byron Katie, Rick Hansen, Meg James, Corey Mascara, like seriously, all the world's best teachers.

and learn from them and interact with them. You can connect with renowned wellness professionals like Susan Kaiser Greenland, Michael Taft, Sarah May, Conway, Mark Coleman,

and many, many other people and also get lifetime access to all of our workshop recordings as well. So that's how you can use these techniques and ingredients for long-term success today. Okay, so, so far we've covered simple steps for increasing your confidence and credibility, teaching mindfulness and meditation. We talked about the foundation of all good mindfulness teachings, how to overcome imposter syndrome, teaching mindfulness and meditation,

Fundamentals for Introducing Mindfulness to Anyone, Three Techniques to Make Mindfulness Practical and Relevant, the Top Templates and Credentials Used by Reputable Wellness Professionals, How to Lead Guided Meditations with Authenticity and Creativity, Simple Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness Methods for Keeping People Safe,

and what successful mindfulness teachers say is their number one ingredient for success. And I've shared all of these lessons from my own journey, teaching mindfulness to people in prisons, family programs, coaching programs, corporations, healthcare companies, retreat centers, and even had opportunities to support the US government, Olympic teams, and more. And that's how you know this process works, and it'll work for you.

After all, meeting myself with compassion helped me teach others with compassion. Shifting my mindset from fear to service enabled me to take the first step. Focusing on simple experiential exercises allowed me to reach anyone. Listening to what people wanted made my teachings more impactful. Using templates and credentials blossomed my career and my confidence.

When I found my voice, I impacted many more people with my meditations. Being sensitive to the possibility of trauma made my teachings more safe. And practicing teaching in a supportive community fueled my personal and professional growth. Can you see how knowing how to teach mindfulness can give you the freedom to pursue the business or the life you want?

Can you see how learning to use these eight key aspects can increase your influence, your impact, and even your income? In short, can you see why teaching mindfulness or knowing how to help people be present, caring, and resilient is a skill worth having? And this skill may just be the bridge between where you are and wherever you want to go. It has been for me always.

Great, so now here's what I know. Even if we had a full day together instead of just 90 minutes, it's going to be hard, almost impossible for me to give you all the things that I could give you. No matter how good anyone is, one short presentation isn't going to change your life.

You need more than that. And while everything I've given you today is valuable, it's just the tip of the iceberg. So that wraps up our four-part series on the key aspects of teaching mindfulness. We've covered so much in these four episodes.

I invite you to listen to them multiple times to help the teachings kind of deepen and sink into your system a little bit more. I hope that you feel a little bit more confident in teaching mindfulness, leading meditations, helping others.

ensure a safe space for the people who you want to help. I hope that these insights help you feel more prepared to integrate them into your professional role, whether you're a therapist or a coach, a counselor, an entrepreneur, an educator, or just a parent wanting to share these practices with your kids.

I hope that you understand that you don't need to be perfect to teach mindfulness. You just need a sense of care and compassion and sincerity and really just wanting to help others, not overstating things or claiming that you know something that you don't, but rather just inviting others to notice that

what they can notice and to bring a sense of gentleness to the process and to go on baby steps. So if you're ready to deepen your journey even more, I invite you to check out our mindfulness meditation teacher certification at mindfulnessexercises.com/certify in which you can certify to teach mindfulness in about 80 hours of self-paced personal meditation practice, self-paced study,

and teaching practice where we help guide you through all of these steps we've been covering in these episodes as well as a whole lot more to help you integrate mindfulness into your career and helping others.

So thanks again for tuning in. We need more mindfulness teachers in the world. People are looking for people like you who look the way you do, who sound the way you do with the background that you have. So I do encourage you to really strongly consider teaching mindfulness more and more in your life as you deepen your own practice.

So again, you can find us at MindfulnessExercises.com. Feel free to drop us a note, give us a call, and schedule a free call with me anytime to discuss whether the mindfulness teacher certification is right for you. And we'll talk about it. So thanks again for listening. Please let us know what you think of this series by writing a review.

leaving a comment or a question and also just let us know what you plan to use from these episodes in your own life. What are you going to try? So thanks again for listening and hope to see you soon. Thank you very much.