Teaching mindfulness is more relevant and essential now, given the global, national, and individual challenges we face today. Discover what Tara and Jack have to say.
When you immerse yourself in this training, you give yourself the most nourishing and powerful gift you could give yourself. Watch Tara and Jack answer this question.
Learn what makes MMTCP unique from Tara and Jack, the teachers who developed MMTCP from over 30 years of experience.
In short, you’ll have the skills, experience, and understanding to help people transform in powerful ways. Learn more by watching these short video messages from Tara and Jack.
MMTCP is a two-year training that prepares you to teach in public and professional settings and requires extensive supervision, mentorship, training, and teaching hours on the part of our faculty and staff. Unlike universities that receive funding in advance, our program funding comes from student tuition. The number of students enrolled impacts the number of faculty and staff required to provide supervision, mentorship, training, and teaching. Therefore, we require payments to begin upon acceptance due to the host of upfront costs, including but not limited to: hiring qualified mentors, producing and organizing all of the online events, and managing the learning portal for the training modules. In addition, payment upon acceptance confirms your commitment and secures your placement in the program.
There will be one or two optional online orientation sessions and an online introductory session with guest faculty in January/February 2025 prior to the start of the program. The program opens in February 2025 with mentor group selection and access to the online learning portal. The program officially begins with an opening virtual weekend event, which will be held Saturday, February 22 – Sunday, February 23, 2025. The mentor group calls and weekly curriculum will begin in April 2025.
Each student will have their own working style, so the amount of time spent on the program will vary from person to person. Based on input from previous cohorts of students, we can estimate up to two hours per week plus your monthly mentor and peer group calls.
Each month there will be instructional lessons, a live session with opportunity for Q&A, and optional readings and journal prompts. You will also have a monthly mentorship session and a monthly meeting with your peer group that will be 90 minutes each. In Year 2 of the program, the instructional lessons are reduced to create more time for you to design two (2) introductory-level mindfulness offerings to fulfill the Practicum requirement.
The program is designed to give you the depth and experience needed to become a well-trained meditation teacher while also working within your busy schedule. As with any program of this nature, you will get out of it what you put into it.With that being said, the mentor groups will remain small and intimate. Each mentor group will be made up of six students and one highly qualified mentor, allowing for an individualized and in-depth experience within the program. You will have the benefit of being part of that small professional learning community over the course of the two years and also have access to the broader worldwide network of students and alumni. Truly, it is the best of both worlds.
The digital certificate will be awarded through the Awareness Training Institute, Sounds True, and the Greater Good Science Center.
The Greater Good Science Center is affiliated with and based at the University of California, Berkeley; however, The Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program does not award any University of California credits and does not count toward any degree programs offered by the University of California system.
MMTCP is certified by the International Mindfulness Teachers Association (IMTA) to meet most of their eligibility requirements. It does not meet all of the requirements, but it can be counted toward the requirements. Please reference imta.org to see the full requirements. Those who wish to be certified by IMTA after graduating from MMTCP will need to fulfill additional hours of teaching to receive the certification. The vast majority of requirements for IMTA are met by the MMTCP.
If your application is accepted, you will be automatically enrolled in the program and your credit card will be charged the amount of the first payment of the payment plan you selected minus the application fee. If you are accepted and enrolled in the program and you later wish to cancel for any reason, you must notify mmtcp@soundstrue.com in writing by October 31, 2024, for a full refund of tuition paid to date.
The tuition is $7,800 through October 31, 2024. Payment plans include a 12-month plan and a 24-month plan. Please see the Admissions page for more information.
Tuition plans include: program components; access to the online learning portal and communities; coursework; video, audio, and written lessons; admission to all program livestream/on-demand events; monthly group mentorship sessions; three private mentor sessions; and administrative support.
Books from optional reading list; additional private sessions with mentor (can be purchased separately).
If you have any trouble accessing your account, please let us know at mmtcp@soundstrue.com. We are happy to help.
Since your application is based on where you are as a meditation practitioner, you will need to submit a new application in 2026 when enrollment opens again, noting that you are applying after being previously accepted to the program. Tuition rates and policies are subject to change between cohorts, so we cannot guarantee that rates will be the same in 2026.
Teaching mindfulness requires self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills. This does not mean that struggles with difficult emotions, addictions, or relationships are considered a “problem.” Life challenges can actually serve our maturing, understanding, and compassion for others. Since people often come to meditation for help with their suffering and struggles, the questions are aimed at gaining a sense of how aware and equipped each candidate will be in responding to the difficulties that arise in their own lives and that they will encounter among their future students.
Yes. Tara and Jack would like all students, regardless of their background, to participate in The Power of Awareness as it is an excellent example of the type of teaching you will be doing and provides a solid review of essential fundamentals. It is important that we keep the prerequisites consistent for all of our applicants, and we encourage even our most experienced participants in this program to take a beginner’s mindset and look at the teachings through a new lens. If you’re very familiar with the teachings, you are encouraged to approach The Power of Awareness course from a pedagogical perspective and observe the way Jack and Tara are teaching the content. The prerequisites for MMTCP certification are intended to develop experience in the style of meditation that you will be teaching following the program.
Many retreats listed on applications do not meet the prerequisite criteria, including Goenka, MBSR, MBCT, MSC, Mindful Schools, corporate mindfulness seminars, or other training formats, including Tibetan Buddhism retreats, Thich Nhat Hanh retreats, Adyashanti retreats, Hatha Yoga retreats, Siddha Yoga retreats, Christian retreats, and Ridhwan School retreats, to name a few. While these retreats are undoubtedly valuable to your growth and practice, Tara and Jack want to be sure that everyone has also experienced a vipassana/Insight silent residential retreat in the style of meditation that you will be learning to teach. That said, please list these other types of retreats in the appropriate section of your application as they will be taken into account to evaluate your readiness for the program.
“Vipassana” means to see clearly. Also called Insight meditation, vipassana is a deep training in mindfulness that originates from the Buddhist teachings of Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka. “Zen” is the name for certain Mahayana Buddhist teachings of Japan, Korea, and China. It also teaches mindfulness and awakening through many methods including koans and dialogues with the Zen Master.
In our training, while we deal with pain and stress, we also bring a strong focus to working with emotions, trauma, and relationships. Our course explores a range of meditations that awaken the heart—lovingkindness, forgiveness, compassion. We pay much attention to ethical behavior and emphasize the direct relationship between inner awakening and social activism and transformation. Finally, while secular and nonreligious, this program explicitly explores the spiritual dimensions of our being and our full potential for spiritual realization.
“If every 8-year-old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.”