Mindful Movement Teacher Training (Live Online Program)

with Addie deHilster

Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, Yoga Therapist,
Mindful Movement Specialist and Teacher Trainer

Train to teach movement practices that unlock mindfulness – so your students can go deeper, meditate with ease, and discover embodied presence.

This training was created with your needs and goals in mind!

Conscious movement can be an effective way to learn mindfulness skills, like concentration, balanced effort, working with sensations, and observing thoughts and emotions.

For many people, it’s easier to build these “mindfulness muscles” first through movement, so that they can then be applied in the stillness of meditation (and in daily life, where the rubber meets the road!).

Movement can also be a deep meditation practice in its own right, and can also be done for the many physical benefits it offers. But, when we have access to the full range of mindfulness tools in both movement and in stillness, our capacity to be with life (in all of its twists, turns, highs, and lows) increases dramatically.

When taught with clear intention, mindful movement is a powerful way to prepare the practitioner – in body, mind, heart, and energy – for a more effective experience of traditional sitting meditation.

This unique online training is designed to develop your skills in leading movement practices that center mindfulness, so that your students can learn to be more present for what matters to them.

Mindful Movement Is a Different Approach:

If you’ve considered (or have taken) yoga teacher training, this program will be a little bit different. This training will give you a repertoire of accessible movements you can teach, but it’s not about learning the fine details of poses or advancing one’s physical abilities.

Instead, the focus will be on safely leading students into embodied connection in simple (but rich) movement practices, where the central goal is to support and develop mindful presence. You will learn to give skillful guidance as you offer gentle, accessible movements/shapes that are easily adapted based on what the student feels and chooses.

We will take an inter-disciplinary approach, studying mindfulness teachings from the Buddhist tradition, as well as movement practices from Yoga, Somatics, and Qigong. Each of these modalities offers something unique and valuable to the cultivation of embodied awareness.

What the Mindful Movement Training Covers:

This 60-hour online training will unfold over five months, so that you have time to really integrate the teachings and develop your skills. (About 40 hours will take place live on Zoom, and 20 hours will consist of self-study.)

You’ll be supported by a community of practitioners (and our expert faculty!), and you’ll learn from live lectures, interactive Q&A opportunities, recorded tutorials, live and recorded practice sessions, practical teaching exercises, and more.

And Special Alumni Guests:

It’s important to have models for how your mindful movement skills can be used in the world. So, we’ll be bringing in a panel of amazing teachers who offer these practices in a wide variety of settings – and they’re all alumni of previous yoga teacher trainings with Addie.

Elliott Law teaches Unwinding Anxiety and Mindful Eating Mindfulness-Based Habit Change courses, Essentials of Mindfulness courses, and co-facilitates the LGBTQ+ Practice Group at InsightLA. He also teaches mindfulness at the University of Southern California as a Mindful USC teacher and the Associate Director of Fundraising for the USC Center for Mindfulness Science. Elliott also regularly presents on mindfulness for Keck Medicine of USC medical students. He is also a U.S. Professional Tennis Association Elite Professional with over 20 years of teaching experience and integrates mindfulness concepts into his tennis instruction.

Dr. Rebeca Andrade is the Superintendent of the Salinas City Elementary School District in California. She has 25 years of public school experience, ranging from classroom teaching to school administration. Her experience also includes early education and expanded learning, two systems that provide a human developmental & social emotional focus. Her lifelong pursuits are participating in and co-creating inclusive spaces that foster a sense of belonging, and empowering the voices of educators and students, particularly those who are minoritized. She is a certified yoga teacher and mindfulness practitioner and regularly presents on the topics of mindfulness as social-emotional learning and mindfulness as self-care for leaders.

Robert Lurye is an artist, educator, and certified MBSR teacher through Brown University’s Mindfulness Center. He is also a CYT 200 yoga instructor, and a facilitator for Mindfulness-Based Habit Change programs that address unwanted habits from cigarettes to smart phones, emotional eating, and anxiety. Robert also teaches mindfulness programs at InsightLA, Long Beach Meditation, University of Southern California and facilitates sitting groups for the LGBTQ+ community. Robert has also trained as an Eco-Chaplain and is developing forms of contemplative care focusing on Eco-Anxiety.

How does Mindful Movement Training fit into your toolkit?

You will receive a certificate of completion documenting your study and skills in facilitating mindful movement practices. As of yet, there is no official certifying body for “mindful movement,” but this training is eligible for Yoga Alliance CEUs (60 hours).

To be clear, this training does not certify you as a Yoga teacher, Somatics or Qigong teacher, or Mindfulness Meditation instructor. (You can take in-depth trainings to become more expert in any of these fields, and some of you likely already have trained in one or more of these areas.) Think of this as a continuing education program, or a first dive into the world of teaching movement and mindfulness.

This IS a multi-disciplinary approach to mindful movement that draws upon the different modalities named above. The focus here is on how we can take any movement and explore it as a vehicle for embodied presence. The blend of modalities offered here creates a rich array of opportunities for mindfulness, and certain aspects of these movement traditions have been chosen to enhance the overall physical accessibility and effectiveness of our mindful movement practice.

You will graduate this training prepared to lead:

• Short mindful movement breaks for groups or individual students (depending on who you are, that could be at your office, in your school, in a therapy or coaching session, etc.)
• Movement meditations as part of a mindfulness course or class
• Contemplative movement sessions on a meditation retreat
• Full-length mindful movement classes that are gentle and accessible (as a form of embodied self-care, or as an introduction to meditation)

If you have questions or you’d like to chat about whether this training is a good fit for you, schedule a free 15-min Zoom call with Addie here.

Try these classes with Addie for examples of mindful movement and meditation practices.

Your Practice and Development:

This training could be a good fit if you have two or more years of regular yoga or movement practice (any style), some experience with meditation, and a desire to maintain a consistent practice of both movement and meditation.

It’s expected that some trainees will come from more of a meditation background, and some will have more movement/yoga experience. (We are de-compartmentalizing contemplative practices here, and your diverse experiences are part of what’s going to make it an interesting and dynamic learning community!)

During the training, you will be asked to spend time each week exploring movement practices, and to commit to 15-30 mins of meditation most days.

Before you get too worried about the homework activities…you will not be asked to do more physical practice than what’s friendly to your body. 

And, there will not be any tedious “meditation logs” or practice journals to turn in, because I trust your intention to show up and make the most of your training. Instead, we will check in about practice regularly and troubleshoot as a group.

Mindful Movement Teacher Training Dates and Schedule:

We will meet for 10 live training sessions, spaced out over five months (from October 2024 – March 2025). These sessions will take place on Zoom, and will run from 9:00am – 1:00pm Pacific Time on the following Saturdays:

We expect trainees to attend these meetings live, interact, ask questions, and be engaged! We will however record them, in case you need to miss a session (or portion of a session). The recordings will also allow you to go back and review discussions and revisit practices.

Note: If you live in a time zone where live attendance would be ridiculous, but you’re still really interested in the training, please email Addie about options for asynchronous participation.

In addition to the live sessions, you will learn from readings, pre-recorded materials, and at-home practices.

Tuition Rates and Important Dates:

Your tuition covers all teacher training sessions and ongoing access to the training videos. This suite of video materials includes the recordings of our sessions, plus dozens of movement tutorial videos detailing the ins and outs of teaching Yoga poses, Somatic movements, and Qigong forms. You will also have access to a playlist of 30+ classes to support your practice. And, of course, you’ll also receive printable slides and handouts from each training session and sample sequences you can teach.

Early Bird Tuition Rate – $980
Regular Tuition Rate – $1,200

Early Bird Deadline – September 27th
Final Registration Deadline – October 17th
First Training Session – October 19th

Payment Plans are available (Early Bird: $380 deposit and $200/month for three months; Regular: $400 deposit and $200/month for four months; or custom arrangements by request). To receive the Early Bird rate, the deposit must be made before the September 27th deadline.

Scholarships – A few need-based partial scholarships are available. In your application, please use the final question to request that we follow up with you about scholarship possibilities.

Cancellation Policy – We always hope that none of us will need to use this information, but please read the cancellation policy just in case.

How to Register:

We’re excited that you’re interested in joining us!

The first step is to fill out an application, which will help us learn more about you so that we can create the best learning environment for all of our trainees. The application process may also help you identify any questions that you’d like to discuss with us before jumping in, since a teacher training requires dedication and a substantial time commitment. 

Registration is now open for the 2024-25 training! Applications are reviewed as they are received – we will be in touch within a few days after you apply.

If you have questions you’d like to discuss, you can either email Addie or schedule a 15-minute call with her on Zoom.

You can also join the Trainings Interest List to make sure you’ll receive all announcements about the training, and to stay informed about future programs.