EcoAwareness Workshops

Am I ready to invite the Earth into my own practice and into my MBSR classroom?

What resources do I need in place to meet myself and my students at this time of global climate/inequity crisis?

Can the MBSR curriculum include awareness of the beauty and vulnerability of the Earth, our human family and all of our more-than-human kin?

As teachers, can we adapt our own lives and the life of our teaching, given the Earth’s need for our love, compassion and caring response?

Earth-based practices for your own use and to incorporate into your MBSR teaching

Creative methods for invoking Earth awareness into your MBSR class plans

Opportunities for practice guiding others in Earth-informed practices

Good colleagues to share with and support you during the workshop and beyond

Quarterly refresher gatherings and dedicated online sharing group for graduates of this workshop

Additional development resources to access beyond the workshop

1. Reflect on your relationship with the Earth’s poly-crisis

2. Share MBSR-specific and other practices to support each other in awareness, compassion and engagement for the Earth’s wellbeing

3. Review the MBSR curriculum to identify practices, activities and means for including the natural place of Earth in our lives and awareness

4. Prepare and guide brief Earth-informed mindfulness practices

5. Discuss the challenges and possibilities of teaching in a way that invites the Eco-Awareness in as a fully worthy recipient in the circle of MBSR care, compassion and embodied action in the world

Session One: Start Where You Are

• Gather: Meeting One Another, Making Community

• Explore: How am I with the Polycrisis/Climate Emergency?

• Review and Plan: Possibilities for Earth Awareness in Orientation & Class 1

Session Two: Resourcing for the Journey

• Explore: What helps me maintain wellbeing and openness?

• Consider: Connecting with nature

• Review and Plan: Possibilities for Earth Awareness in Classes 2 & 3

Session Three: Honoring Our Pain for the World

• Explore: Facing challenge, difficulty, anxiety, grief for our Earth

• Consider: Causes and conditions of climate emergency

• Consider: Mindfulness-Based Coping strategies

• Review and Plan: Possibilities for Earth Awareness in Classes 4 & 5

Session Four: Deepening into Practice

• Explore: Listening to the Earth

• Share: Earth-based Practices

• Review and Plan: Possibilities for Earth Awareness in the Retreat Class

Session Five: Sustainability in the Midst of it All

• Explore: Tuning in to the collective intelligence

• Consider: Building capacity and resilience for the long run

• Review and Plan: Possibilities for Earth Awareness in Classes 6 & 7

Session Six: Integration and Going Forth

• Reflect: in review and looking forward

• Review and Plan: Possibilities for Earth Awareness in Class 8 and beyond

• Ending, and continuing, in Community

Typical Session Outline

• Welcome and landing

• Earth Practice

• Reflections and Sharing

• Curriculum Review, Teaching Questions, Action Learning Possibilities, Practice Guiding

• Closing

Q: Do I need to be actively teaching an MBSR course as I participate in the workshop? 

A: It’s helpful if teachers are teaching an MBSR course at some point during their workshop participation, but not a requirement.

Q: Do we talk about our students during the workshop? 

A: At times, teachers may describe students’ experiences for the benefit of the group. This is always done anonymously and within the confidentiality of a teacher gathering.

Q: What if I need to miss an online session? 

A: Workshop sessions will be recorded for the convenience of those unable to attend a given session. All teachers give consent for recording.

Q: What benefits have teachers reported after completing this workshop:

Q: For the students in these MBSR classes, what benefits do teachers report?

A: Teachers have reported an array of benefits, such as feeling closer to the Earth, connecting with the natural world around them, finding inspiration to do more to help the planet, and a desire to apply their mindfulness practice to benefit our shared Earth.

Participants in the workshop are asked to participate in research around best practices for teachers who wish to bring EcoAwareness into their teaching. At the beginning of the first workshop session, you’ll be asked to give your permission for session recording. Program sessions will be recorded for use by participants in the instance of a missed session and also for research purposes.

Workshop participants are asked to give permission to the Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies to review transcriptions of pre-program information forms, session recordings, transcriptions, any written reflections and post-program surveys. 

Here is a statement from our research partners at Lund University, Sweden:

Lund University is conducting early review and research around best practices for teachers bringing EcoAwareness into mindfulness teaching. All information gathered by Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) will be completely anonymized and used solely for research purposes. LUCSUS will not share your data with any external stakeholders, and it will be securely stored in password-protected files. Research data will be archived and disposed of in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Participants may contact Professor Christine Wamsler with any questions or concerns.