Do you love to meditate and dream of sharing it with others? Does it seem too good to be true to think of being an authentic meditation teacher for a living?

Well, here are 10 important essentials that might help you see this dream become a reality.

 

1. Make meditation a key self-support practice in your life.

 

I know what it’s like – with children, work, social commitments –  we’re all tired!

The fact is that life is 100 times better with meditation to support you, so make the time for your daily practice. You will find that everything else in your life, especially managing all your responsibilities, works better when you meditate. You will feel better (physically and emotionally), think more clearly and make better choices; which has a ripple effect on everything in your life.

You can read all you like in books, but the bulk of your teaching will be around technique and practice.  The only way to really know this stuff is to do it yourself and to have that lived experience to draw from. It enriches your teaching so much and makes you authentic and real as a teacher, which will draw trust from your students.

Here’s a 21 day meditation plan to get you started.

 

2. Find a good mentor or teacher and work with them

 

There are many great teachers out there.

Working with a teacher ensures that you are: working at the edge of yourself, being challenged, being supported when inevitable challenges arise and continuously learning. Being supported by my teachers and learning from them has been a game-changer for me. It has really fast tracked my progress.

In my experience I have known instantly when a teacher was right for me. There was a strong sense of resonance and recognition, almost as though I had known them a long time. I simply loved being around them.

 

3. Find a great meditation teacher training course that is accredited and speaks your language

 

Just like finding a good teacher, look for a course that really speaks to you in a way that feels whole and connected. You will know when you find the right course because something will light up in you.

Make sure that the course is accredited and that it leads to full membership of Meditation Australia, to save hassles and ensure quality training.

At the end of the day, your learning journey will be life long, but finding a course that gives you a good grounding in techniques, facilitation skills, structuring classes and delivering meditations is the best start.

 

4. Become experienced at meditating in groups

 

Meditation can be a solitary practice, especially with the popularity of apps.

Meditating in a group provides so many benefits: accelerating the depth of your practice, learning from the experience of others, connecting you to a community and sharing your experiences with others. 

If you can, find a local group, or create your own! Your teacher may run groups that you can attend. If there are none in your area, some of our graduates run online groups so check them out on our Find a Teacher Page.

It’s valuable to have this experience to become an authentic meditation teacher, since this is what you will be doing when you are teaching. When you enrol in our courses, you have the opportunity to attend our Meditation Teaching Retreats which provide an incredible group experience over 3 days.

 

5. Attend to your emotional stuff and unmet needs

 

Whatever we are not dealing with we are passing onto others or projecting onto others. This might sound blunt but lack of personal responsibility can be damaging so it’s important to talk about.

We’ve all heard of meditation teachers who are egotistical, demanding or abuse the power of their position.

When we are taking personal responsibility for our “stuff” and remaining honest and compassionate with ourselves and others, then we understand that we all carry emotional baggage and that this is unavoidable. However, we can also do our best to attend to it in whatever way we can. This can be through receiving therapy, journalling or receiving support from a mentor.  The main thing is that you are actively working with it and taking responsibility for it.

By doing this you will be a wonderful meditation teacher who truly walks their talks and teaches from an undefended heart. Now you can really make a difference.

 

6. Holistic Self Care

 

Self-care and personal evolution are about more than meditation.  In order to be a great role model, we need to be working on all levels to some degree.  We need to take care of our physical health, emotional health and feed our Spirit.

There are endless ways to do these things and developing a healthy and holistic lifestyle takes many years to do. In fact, like meditation, it’s an ongoing practice.

There is lots of information available about healthy lifestyle practices – so much choice out there. Again, it’s about what resonates with you and where you are ready to start, knowing that the journey will change along the way.

 

7. Attend meditation retreats

 

Retreats provide an immersive and concentrated experience that really allows you to dive deep.

Retreats allow you to leave the rest of your responsibilities and roles (and your usual identity) to the side, and explore more of your essential nature.

Naturally there can be a few layers to work through in order to more fully own that nature, but it is fun and beautiful to be nourished, supported and unveiled in this way.

Attending retreats (as well as other people’s groups) also allows you to be exposed to other ways of teaching which you may choose to adopt, adapt or reject.

 

8 Find your way of teaching that is YOU to become an authentic meditation teacher

 

We have all had our unique way, we have all done courses and practice various modalities. No-one will teach meditation in quite the same way as you.

Trust your unique approach and provided that you have good training, then just be YOU.

Allow your curiosity, experiences and what has worked for you to guide your playfulness and creativity in crafting experiences for your students. Our meditation teaching courses encourage exactly this; especially our workshops and classes elective.

Here’s an important hint: Teach only the techniques that you are very comfortable using in your own practice.

 

9. Practise, practise, practise!

 

Whilst you are studying, practise on your dog, partner and friends.

Once you are qualified get teaching asap!

The best way to gain confidence as a meditation teacher is to just teach – and learn what works and what doesn’t.

The ACMM Diploma in Guiding and Teaching Meditation provides the opportunity for supervised mentoring whilst you begin teaching, giving you all the support and feedback you need to get going.

 

10. Love your students

Meditating awakens feelings of love, unification and compassion. Allow yourself to share these wonderful feelings with your students. This is a quality of an authentic meditation teacher

Be a role model of loving kindness and gratitude.  Ok you don’t have to be perfect, but I have found that teaching meditation brings out the best in me and I like to let that shine, because it gives others permission to do the same. It normalises love and kindness.

I hope that this has helped validate and encourage you and I would love to hear about your meditation teaching experiences in the comments!

Happy Meditation Teaching!

x Lisa