Meditation Teacher Training

200 hours of training at Hamsa Meditation Center or Online

Welcome!

I’m happy to offer the Hamsa Mediation Teacher Training Program for those of you interested in what I consider the best job on the planet—teaching meditation! Sixty years ago this wasn’t an option—who’d ever heard of a meditation teacher? But thanks to the adventurous seekers who journeyed to India, Burma and other foreign lands, and brought the gifts of meditation back to us, it is now an expanding part of our culture. To these wondrous men and women, my heart bows in gratitude. It is because of them that you and I have the option to walk this path. 

Registration for October 2020 through June 2021 course will open March of 2020. Contact us to be notified prior to opening.

I invite you to scroll through this page and our website to get a sense of Hamsa Meditation Center and if we’re the right fit for you. If you decide this is the program for you, then please apply! Your community is in need of knowledgeable and trained meditation teachers.

Not only will you be of benefit to your friends, family and community, you will be able to experience the same delight I feel when someone asks,

“What do you do?”

“I teach meditation.”

They usually do a double take and I get to add with a delighted laugh, “It’s the best job on the planet!”

It almost always makes them smile.

Who Is This Teacher Training For?

The Hamsa Meditation Teacher Training is for meditators who:

  • Have found value in their meditation practice and want to share that with others.
  • Want to deepen their own understanding and practice of meditation.

  • Are curious about how and why meditation works.

  • Want to know more about the different traditions, what they have in common and what is unique to each.

  • Feel a call to teach.

It is not for:

  • Beginning Meditators — if you are in this category, I suggest you find and join a group meditation and also begin meditating regularly on your own. Apply after you’ve been meditating for a couple of years. You can’t teach what you don’t know.

  • Anyone looking for a program that will train you in one main technique or school of meditation. This program is not that.

What Kinds of Meditation Does the Hamsa Meditation Center Teach?

Hamsa Meditation Center is about teaching people how to meditate, providing a supportive friendly environment in which to meditate, and teaching people how to use what is being learned in meditation to improve their life.

The Hamsa style of meditation is not based in any one tradition. I have found teachings and techniques from many traditions THAT WORK and I use them. I teach what I use.

We are not Buddhist or Hindu or Shaivite or Mindfulness or any other kind of label. We explore the teachings from different traditions and “use” what works. We keep our own religions and philosophies, or lack thereof, and just focus on using the tools and treasures meditation brings to help us become kinder, happier, less judgmental and of benefit to those around us.

Simple as that.

The key thing to note, is that we focus on the “doing”. You will learn how to “do” meditation on the cushion in formal practice, and how to apply it off the cushion—which is where it really counts—in what we call the “informal” practice of your life. After all, the whole point of meditation is to make your life more harmonious and happy. To help you break out of the mental and emotional habits that bring you “discontentment” and discover the true joy and bliss that is already within you.

This is known as enlightenment!

I know many meditators who are intellectually smart, steeped in years of study and practice—I mean, these people know stuff!—and yet they still snap when things don’t go their way, blame the world for their unhappiness, judge others and dislike themselves. Knowing the literature, being able to quote at will, is no guarantee of happiness.

Doing. Doing. Doing. Doing what the teachings tell us to do—that works. Whether you know the scriptures or not, it’s in the doing and using of the techniques and teachings in your daily life that transformation occurs.

It’s not that we don’t read and study the texts—we do. AND WE LOVE BEING INSPIRED AND GUIDED BY THEM! But we don’t stop at the reading,

We do.

And here’s the best news. Contrary to myths about meditation, here at Hamsa we know something to be true that no one talks about. You don’t have to meditate perfectly to benefit from meditation. And you will learn about that too.

What Will You Gain from this Program?

Program Details

In this Teacher Training you will learn meditation techniques, principles, and history and philosophy from all the great meditation traditions: Yoga, Buddhism and Mindfulness, along with what science has brought to the table.

My hope is that you will develop an intimate love affair with meditation and get to know the different techniques so intimately that they will become dear dear friends. And like friends, you don’t always hang out with all of them all the time. Some meditations you will only use one or two times in your life. Others you may use daily. Others you will use when stressed. Others when so angry you could bite someone’s head off. Just as different friends fill different needs and bring out different qualities in you, it’s the same with meditation.

In this teacher training you will learn techniques to help you navigate the different stages, phases and moments of your life. We will unpack the techniques by learning the background of the tradition from whence it came so you can understand the principles and patterns at work in the technique. As a result you will learn to recognize techniques not just by the tradition they come from but also how they are related to each other.

When I graduated from my meditation teacher training I knew one system really well but I was unaware that many other kinds of meditation were out there. It lessened my effectiveness as a teacher.

In this course, you will:

  • Be introduced to Meditation through the lenses of Yoga, Buddhism, Mindfulness, and Science.
  • Become aware of other styles, schools and teachers of meditation being practiced today.
  • Experience for yourself that there is more than one "right" way to meditate.
  • Learn how to replace the guilt that comes from not meditating perfectly with kindness and joy.

Here’s a sampling of the techniques we will cover:

  • Of course, meditations to reduce and eliminate stress.
  • Meditation to help you sleep.
  • Awareness of your true nature.
  • Presence.
  • Quiet thoughts and re-training your mind.
  • Pranayama, Correct posture.
  • Pregnancy and Birth.
  • Death and Dying and loss.
  • When you are consumed with hate and anger and jealousy.
  • When you are filled with self-doubt and feelings of unworthiness.
  • Forgiving and Healing.
  • Making friends with your Practice:
  • Transforming intense emotions into positive states of being.
  • Mindfulness: what it is and how it became a “thing”.
  • Balancing and staying centered.
  • To bring and cultivate Joy and Love and Bliss.

As a teacher:

  • How teaching affects your personal practice
  • Using your practice in your teaching
  • When and how you can adjust and modify techniques
  • How to analyze and understand the essence of a technique
  • Checking your students’ progress.
  • How to support and guide students through their practice.
  • Traditions around meditation.
  • The importance and relevance of hand mudras.
  • What kundalini is and how it affects meditation.
  • Myths about meditation
  • The dark side of meditation no one talks about.

You can only teach what you know.
The beautiful paradox is:

The more you teach, the more you know.

Online Option

At the moment the program is an in-house course of study.

If you are not in Oregon and would like to participate online, please let us know. If we have the technology to provide online participation in place by our October start date—we will let you know and you will have the option to apply.

Curriculum

9 month 200 hour intensive program. Divided into three terms.
Includes Daily Practice and Journaling

October 2019 through June 2020.

  • 100 Hours classroom
  • 40   Hours Retreat (15 mandatory — 25 optional)
  • 10    Hours Meditating with other teachers
  • 40    Hours Assignments and Reading

Course Schedule & Calendar

  • Wednesday Evenings 7:00 - 9:00
  • 7 Saturday Retreats 1:00 - 6:00 pm
  • In-house Retreat required — included in tuition
  • Residential Retreat optional — not included in tuition.

2019-20 Calendar

Special Opening Meditation Thursday October 10 10:00 am

Fall Term 8 weeks

October 16 - Dec 11, 2019

Wednesday Class
7:00 - 9:00 October 16, 23, 30, Nov 6, 13, 20, Dec 4, 11

Saturday Retreats
1:00 - 6:00 October 26, November 16

Winter Term 9 weeks

Jan 15 - March 14, 2020

Wednesday Class
7:00 - 9:00. January 15 - March 11

Saturday Retreats
1:00 - 6:00 January 11, February 8, March 14

Spring Term 8 weeks

April 1 - June 6, 2020

Wednesday Class
7:00 - 9:00 April 1 - May 20

Saturday Retreats
1:00 - 6:00 April 4, May 9, Graduation June 6

Residential Retreat Off-site at Alton Collins Retreat Center:
Feb 27 - March 1
Optional – Not included in tuition

In-House Retreat at Hamsa Meditation Center:
May 29 - 31
Required – Included in tuition

Certification

When you complete the program you will receive a 200 hour certification from Hamsa Meditation Center. You will be qualified and trained to lead group meditations, to teach beginning meditation classes, and create classes of you own.

Application Process

  1. First things first—you will need to apply.
  2. There is a $35 nonrefundable application fee. If you are accepted we will apply that towards your tuition. If you are not accepted to the program you can apply it to classes at Hamsa Meditation Center.
  3. Once your application has been accepted, we’ll let you know and send you a link to complete the registration process.

Tuition for the 2020/2021 session will be posted in March, 2020.

One Final Thought from my teacher...

My guru would say to me,

Caren, if you want to learn about meditation, teach!

I say to you, if you love meditation and want to learn more about it, then teach.
If what you've seen here resonates with you, I would be honored to be your teacher.

Feel Free to Contact Me

If you have any questions or need clarification, feel free to contact me.