Mindfulness Masterclass Learning Objectives

This comprehensive masterclass in mindfulness is designed to support learners on a multi-year journey of embodied awareness, emotional healing, and personal transformation. Rooted in both ancient contemplative traditions and modern scientific research, the course offers a holistic and integrative framework that connects mindfulness to psychology, neuroscience, trauma healing, and spiritual insight. Upon completion of this 24-module program, participants will be able to demonstrate the following competencies and integrative understandings:

Understand the Historical Foundations of Mindfulness
Participants will describe the origins and historical development of mindfulness across Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist traditions, as well as its evolution into contemporary secular and clinical applications. They will be able to articulate how spiritual, scientific, and psychological influences—including Buddhist psychology and modern neuroscience—intersect and inform the practice of mindfulness today.
Describe the Philosophy and Principles of Mindfulness
Learners will demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the philosophical foundations of mindfulness, including key Buddhist teachings such as the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, non-attachment, impermanence, interdependence, and the ethical dimensions of mindful living. They will reflect on how these teachings foster liberation, compassion, and wisdom in daily life.
Explore the Scientific Research Supporting Mindfulness
Participants will summarize and critically evaluate current research on the benefits of mindfulness, including findings in affective neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, and physiology. They will explain how mindfulness reduces anxiety, depression, and stress while enhancing emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, executive function, and overall well-being.
Identify the Foundational Pillars and Attitudes of Mindfulness
Learners will identify and describe the core attitudes of mindfulness as developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn—such as nonjudgment, patience, trust, beginner’s mind, non-striving, acceptance, and letting go—and the foundational pillars articulated by Daniel Siegel, including presence, curiosity, and compassion, with an emphasis on how these attitudes support the development of mindful awareness and interpersonal attunement.
Develop Formal and Informal Mindfulness Practices
Participants will establish a consistent mindfulness practice, including setting aside at least one hour per day for formal meditation, while also learning how to integrate informal mindfulness into daily activities such as eating, walking, communicating, and working. They will explore different techniques including breath awareness, body scanning, open monitoring, and metta (loving-kindness) meditation.
Demonstrate Expanded Skills of Mindfulness
Students will apply advanced mindfulness skills such as Wise Mind, Clear Mind, and Being Mind—drawn from the works of Marsha Linehan and Lane Pederson—to increase psychological flexibility, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and self-compassion. These skills will be taught alongside DBT “what” and “how” skills to support integration into everyday challenges.
Integrate Mindfulness with Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies
Participants will explore the convergence of mindfulness with evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). They will learn how mindfulness enhances therapeutic outcomes by increasing self-awareness, reducing cognitive distortions, and promoting values-based action.
Apply Mindfulness in the Context of Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Learners will explore how mindfulness supports the core processes of IFS therapy by cultivating non-judgmental self-awareness, unblending from protective parts, and fostering compassionate connection with exiles. They will study the contributions of Richard Schwartz, Jay Earley, Bonnie Weiss, Martha Sweezy, Tom Holmes, and Robert Falconer in integrating mindfulness into parts work.
Cultivate a Mindful Self-Leadership Practice
Participants will learn to access and embody the qualities of Self energy—such as calm, clarity, curiosity, and compassion—through mindfulness. They will be trained to engage their internal system with intention and wisdom, fostering personal growth, inner harmony, and interpersonal effectiveness.
Explore Mindfulness Through Somatic-Based Modalities
Students will integrate mindfulness with somatic therapies, including Somatic Experiencing, Polyvagal Theory, and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, learning how to attune to bodily sensations, regulate the autonomic nervous system, and restore a felt sense of safety, presence, and groundedness in the body.
Practice Embodied Mindfulness Through Movement Disciplines
Participants will engage in embodied mindfulness through practices such as yoga, qi gong, and tai chi. They will understand how these traditions support nervous system regulation, breath awareness, tension release, and a deeper connection between body, mind, and spirit.
Understand the Neurobiology of Mindfulness and Trauma
Learners will study how mindfulness impacts the brain and nervous system, including its effects on the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, vagus nerve, and the default mode network. They will explore how trauma is stored in the body and how mindfulness supports healing by fostering neuroplasticity, vagal tone, and emotional resilience.
Foster Compassion, Loving-Kindness, and Nonviolence
Students will cultivate a full-time attitude of loving-kindness and compassion toward themselves, others, and the Earth, learning practices that awaken empathy, reduce reactivity, and support ethical living. They will explore the role of compassion in Buddhist psychology, somatic healing, and environmental mindfulness.
Develop Insight Through Observation and Non-Attachment
Participants will learn to observe thoughts, emotions, sensations, and impulses without clinging, resistance, or aversion, fostering insight into the nature of suffering, reactivity, and impermanence. They will learn how to sit with discomfort, increase distress tolerance, and develop spiritual maturity through radical acceptance and self-inquiry.
Integrate Mindfulness with Ethical and Social Justice Values
Learners will explore how mindfulness intersects with ethics, equity, and collective well-being, reflecting on how mindfulness can be applied to address sociopolitical stress, systemic injustice, environmental degradation, and interpersonal conflict. They will be invited to consider mindfulness not only as an individual practice but as a communal and ecological responsibility.
Recognize and Transform the Inner Critic through Mindful Awareness
Participants will identify the role of the inner critic and learn mindfulness-based strategies to unblend from self-critical parts, using practices inspired by Internal Family Systems and the works of Jay Earley to foster inner compassion, self-worth, and healing.
Apply Mindfulness to Enhance Interpersonal Relationships
Students will learn how mindfulness strengthens communication, empathy, emotional attunement, and interpersonal effectiveness, enhancing both personal and professional relationships through conscious presence and non-reactive listening.
Enhance Self-Regulation and Emotional Intelligence through Mindfulness
Learners will apply mindfulness to cultivate emotional intelligence skills such as self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. They will understand how mindfulness improves the ability to recognize and manage emotions in themselves and others.
Use Mindfulness as a Tool for Lifelong Learning and Growth
Participants will integrate mindfulness into a personal practice of lifelong learning, scientific skepticism, and reflective inquiry, using mindfulness as a foundation for self-directed growth, critical thinking, and values-based living.
Support Clients and Communities through Mindfulness Education
Mental health professionals and wellness practitioners will learn to ethically and skillfully teach mindfulness-based interventions, adapting practices to meet diverse client needs while promoting empowerment, trauma sensitivity, and cultural responsiveness.
Develop a Personalized Mindfulness Framework for Daily Living
Students will create an individualized mindfulness plan that includes daily formal practice, movement, contemplative inquiry, and integration of mindfulness into work, relationships, rest, and recreation.
Evaluate and Reflect on Personal Growth through Mindfulness
Participants will regularly assess their growth through journaling, peer dialogue, self-reflection, and instructor feedback, tracking changes in emotional resilience, attentional control, relationship quality, and inner peace.
Deepen Spiritual Inquiry through Contemplative Practice
Learners will explore the spiritual dimensions of mindfulness, including non-duality, emptiness, awakening, and interconnectedness, using practices from Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist traditions to support their personal spiritual path.
Commit to Mindfulness as a Lifelong Path of Healing and Liberation
Upon completing the masterclass, participants will articulate how mindfulness has become a way of being, a source of healing, a tool for service, and a lifelong path toward liberation, integration, and compassionate presence in the world.

These objectives guide the unfolding of a masterclass that is as intellectually rigorous as it is spiritually expansive, helping learners to embody mindfulness in thought, emotion, behavior, speech, relationships, values, livelihood, meaning, and purpose.