Openground has 20 years of experience in helping people with serious mental and physical health challenges. and our programs spring from a long tradition of preventative and behavioural medicine which has been researched over decades. Much of the more recent mindfulness stuff has been watered down:
- using videos V being supported by a dedicated teacher
- just using an app, rather than a detailed exploration of your patterns and how to interrupt them
- focussing on "well-being" rather than acknowledging just how tough mental health problems can be.

Mindfulness meditation is not just a good idea – it’s a practice! As with any new skill – like learning to swim, do Pilates or play golf – just hearing or reading about mindfulness can only take you so far. Experience and practice are the two things that will lead to lasting and profound changes.

For the meditation training to make a real difference to your mental health, ask yourself if you are willing to make a commitment to undertake some formal meditation practice each day over the eight weeks of your course. This will make all the difference to your satisfaction with the course, the benefits you experience, and your life.

Training in mindfulness will equip you with a very portable set of skills that you can practice anywhere, anytime. Give it a go and let's see what happens!

We may not like it, but real change takes time. This is why your training for stress and burnout, anxiety, depression and trauma unfolds over eight weeks plus a whole day retreat – a total of 27 hours of training, as well as your home practice.

Promises of a quick fix are always tempting. There are many apps and pre-recorded short courses about recently, that don't have the clinical evidence behind them. If you have tried these and only had minimal benefit, that makes sense.
We encourage you to do some research of your own. If you are quite stressed, or you’re facing some big challenges, you may find greater benefit in an in-depth, evidence-based program.

Change happens through practice, and evidence suggests that for clinical conditions eight weeks is an optimum time for new cognitive, emotional, neurological and behavioural changes to become embedded. Our experience is that practice develops most effectively and sustainably when there is an ongoing personal relationship with a teacher who really knows their stuff.

The eight week mindfulness training can assist with your capacity for listening, empathy, compassion and genuine curiosity. It can also help you see into our own patterns that can get in the way of being truly helpful.
However these programs are not a professional training program for using mindfulness with clients. We welcome you to join the course as a participant, leave your professional hat at the door, and immerse yourself in mindfulness practice. Our courses present an opportunity to learn about mindfulness from the inside out, by engaging in the group process and learning from your fellow participants.

There are good ethical and professional reasons to develop an in-depth understanding of your own personal mindfulness practice before teaching others. A sustained mindfulness practice, including completing an MBSR course and a teacher-led silent mindfulness retreat, is a pre-requisite for training to teach

Unfortunately, not all health professionals can be registered to offer a Medicare rebate. Although many of our teachers are among the best trained and most skilled in the country, they are not able to offer a rebate. However, we do offer discounts for people whose circumstances make it impossible to afford the full fee, and we’re happy to discuss this option with you.

In some locations, there are a few courses happening simultaneously, so you could arrange to attend one of the other locations for that week. If that is not possible in your area, the course book is quite detailed in terms of covering the material each week, and you will be able to keep practicing and arrange to check in with your teacher by phone or email about your process that week.

Missing the Day of Mindfulness is also sometimes inevitable. However, this day-long meditation retreat is held every quarter, so you can always attend next time.

Both of these can be valuable pathways for learning mindfulness meditation. However, many people find the intensive retreat process more manageable after they have built some basic practice skills.

One of the advantages of choosing the more gradual, eight-week process is learning to integrate your practice into day-to-day life, and creating mindful habits in the way you relate to yourself, your family, work colleagues and the world.

This is an important question, to ensure you are receiving the best possible guidance from a suitably experienced mindfulness teacher. You could ask your potential teacher if they:
- have their own personal meditation practice
- take regular silent retreats
- have trained in a reputable form of group-based mindfulness training (such as MBSR)?
- And, if so, what form of training did they do? 

All Openground teachers engage in regular professional development, silent retreats, and ongoing personal practice. The University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Mindfulness (CFM) and the Mindfulness Training Institute Australasia (MTIA) recommends a sequence for MBSR teacher training involving foundational training, initial teaching, supervision, advanced training and certification.

To find out more, take a look at this article from Rebecca Crane about standards and competency in teaching: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234071305_Competence_in_Teaching_Mindfulness-Based_Courses_Concepts_Development_and_Assessment/link/0fcfd50a94ad6677f0000000/download

Many people come to MBSR because they specifically want a mindfulness training that is secular and has no particular spiritual orientation or beliefs attached to the process. 

In addition, most ‘free’ meditation centres depend on the generosity of people to support and sustain their work. If you want these centres to survive, you may want to offer payment for the services you receive, so these wonderful resources can continue to thrive.