Learn to teach the wisdom of mindfulness, the artful care of compassion, and the science of well-being

Much more than meditation teacher training, this comprehensive 5-month cross-training in stress reduction, resilience and self-healing gives participants the knowledge, experience and confidence to teach mindfulness meditation, compassion meditation, and embodied practices along with clear instruction in the science of well-being.

Learn to teach the wisdom of mindfulness, the artful care of compassion, and the science of well-being

Much more than meditation teacher training, this comprehensive 5-month cross-training in stress reduction, resilience and self-healing gives participants the knowledge, experience and confidence to teach mindfulness meditation, compassion meditation, and embodied practices along with clear instruction in the science of well-being.

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Why Should I Take this Course?

  • Learn to teach Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT), an evidence-based program developed and field-tested over 20-years
  • Make a difference by enlivening your community, workplace or professional practice with more compassion, resilience and wellbeing
  • Gain a deeper understanding of the science behind why the practices of mindfulness, compassion and embodiment work
  • Build your teaching confidence through peer-to-peer teach backs as well as supervised group instruction
  • Deepen your own contemplative practice through guided meditations, teachings and group discussions
  • Join a supportive community past students have included: social workers, psychologists, nurses, mental health counselors, physicians, palliative care workers, art therapists, educators, school counselors and administrators, executive coaches, organizational consultants, human resource professionals, faith-based counselors and ministers, community workers and lay caregivers

What Is CBRT?

Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT) was developed for Columbia Presbyterian Hospital by Harvard-trained Dr. Joe Loizzo and field-tested over the past 20 years in various hospitals, businesses and schools. The program integrates timeless techniques of contemplative self-regulation from India and Tibet — mindfulness, compassion meditation, imagery and breath work — with contemporary breakthroughs in neuroscience, positive psychology, and optimal health.

Research studies conducted at Weill Cornell Medicine and Albert Einstein College of Medicine with women recovering from breast cancer found that CBRT…

  • Reduces biomarkers of stress,
  • Improves quality of life,
  • Lowers social-emotional and cultural role stress,
  • Enhances resilience and overall functioning,
  • Markedly decreases post-traumatic symptoms including intrusive thinking and traumatic avoidance.

What You’ll Learn...

  • Learn to explain and guide eight progressive practices of mindfulness and compassion, along with a series of coordinated breath and posture practices that help the autonomic nervous system support the process of contemplative stress-reduction, self-healing and building resilience
  • Learn to define and explain in clear, simple terms: the nature of stress and the four phase cycle of stress and trauma; mindfulness and its four scopes of practice; compassion and its four practices and levels; resilience along with its four progressive states and traits
  • Learn to explain how current neuropsychology shows the power of contemplative methods to turn the self-enclosed processing of stress and trauma into the prosocial processing that fuels open engagement and resilience at all levels of mind and brain.
  • Learn how to transform a contemplative skills learning group into an emotionally open and caring community that can spark and sustain the growth of each participant towards greater well-being, engagement, and purpose
  • Learn how to deliver CBRT to groups large and small, whether in healthcare, education, business, or community service settings

Curriculum at a Glance

The training begins with four mindfulness-based personal healing modules that break the cycle of stress and lead to a more balanced and rejuvenated state of well-being.

Module I
Embracing Suffering with Body Mindfulness

Practice Body Mindfulness to reconnect with our inner lives and begin releasing the survival habits of stress, trauma and reactivity.

Module II
Stopping Reactive Habits with Mindful Sensitivity

Practice Mindful Sensitivity to deepen the capacity for conscious self-regulation and cultivate balanced awareness.

Module III
Breaking Free of Stress with Mindful Awareness

Practice Mindful Awareness to cut through the mesh of reactive habits and stress instincts that normally block the full openness and clarity of our mind.

Module IV
Mindful Insight: The Lifelong Path of Self-Healing

Practice Mindful Insight to cut the roots of reactivity and grow proactive new ways of being in the world.

The training continues with four compassion-based relational healing modules that build resilience, prevent burnout and increase our capacity to care for ourselves and others.

Module V
Disarming Social Stress and Bias with Equal Empathy

Practice Equal Empathy to unlearn implicit social survival biases while deepening and expanding our sense of connection to others.

Module VI
Healing Reactive Emotions and Beliefs with Self-Compassion

Practice Self-Compassion to develop a wise, caring mind that orients to our common humanity.

Module VII
Cultivating Prosocial Emotions with Wise Give and Take

Practice Wise Give and Take to explore our boundless human potential for care and strengthen our social muscles of love, joy and equanimity.

Module VIII
Embodying a Resilient Self and Life with Caring Imagery

Practice role model visualizations to stretch our sense of self into a fully empowered, resilient and compassionate self.

Program Format

The program is divided into two levels that can be taken consecutively or independently.

Level 1

  • 5 months
  • Weekly live online 90-minute meetings that include: lecture, group discussion, breakout groups and practice sessions with peers
  • Student portal with 24 pre-recorded class summary videos, 16 recorded guided meditations, a student manual and supplementary scientific and scholarly readings
  • Weekly self-study: daily meditation practices and assigned readings
  • Requirements for the training include a daily meditation practice for at least two years and some familiarity with the positive health benefits of contemplative living

Level 2

  • 3 months
  • Level 1 graduates receive guidance and support setting up and leading their own CBRT group
  • Students receive 3 group supervisions and 1 one-on-one supervision with core CBRT faculty
  • Students are required to write a short reflection paper describing their experience of running their group
  • Graduates of Level 2 are certified as CBRT Teachers and become part of the Certified CBRT Teacher Network

Certified Teachers Network

Graduates of Level 2 are automatically enrolled in the CBRT Certified Teachers Network for 1 year after graduation* which includes:

  • A yearly online retreat with core faculty open to all graduates
  • A dedicated website with all the tools needed to teach your own CBRT class: a student manual, 24 pre-recorded class videos, 16 guided meditations, and a collection of research articles
  • Marketing material templates to promote your classes
  • Teacher photo and bio listed on the Nalanda Institute website
  • Monthly video conference with other certified teachers
  • Opportunities to teach CBRT through Nalanda Institute
  • Access to CBRT core faculty for ongoing support


*After one year students are asked to pay a $100 admin fee to keep their community membership active.

Testimonials

Taking the CBRT teacher training course was a great experience not only because it restarted my own practice and deep reflection of the role contemplation plays in all our lives but also because it provided me with rich and practical resources to share with my clients in my psychotherapy practice.

…an extremely well conceptualized, designed and executed program (both levels). I found particularly noteworthy how much I could personally gain ( knowledge/ experience) by teaching a group myself; I expected it but not to the extent it happened. All in all a truly profound experience on many levels.

The CBRT Teacher Training was a journey into both my development as a teacher and into my own personal growth. I felt very supported by the teachers and the practical aspect helped me gain confidence in my own teaching as well as the opportunity to learn with and from my peers. It has been life changing and I am now teaching the CBRT internationally.

The CBRT teacher training program provided me with the skills, structure and confidence to begin teaching meditation. After many years as a practitioner I'm now able to teach different types of meditation and breathwork and explain the benefits to students at many experience levels. I will be sharing the material from this course for years to come.

Faculty

Joe Loizzo

Joseph (Joe) Loizzo, MD, PhD, Nalanda Institute Founder and Academic Director, is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and Columbia-trained Buddhist scholar with over forty years’ experience studying the beneficial effects of contemplative practices on healing, learning and development. He is Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in Integrative Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, where he researches and teaches contemplative self-healing and optimal health. He has taught the philosophy of science and religion, the scientific study of contemplative states, and the Indo-Tibetan mind and health sciences at Columbia University, where he is Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Columbia Center for Buddhist Studies. Joe is also a clinician in private practice in Manhattan.

Moustafa Abdelrahman

Moustafa Abdelrahman, MBA, RP, is a meditation teacher and Contemplative Therapist. He is certified by the University of Toronto as an Applied Mindfulness Meditation Specialist and holds a Certificate in Contemplative Psychotherapy from Nalanda Institute/Diploma from the Institute of Traditional Medicine. Abdelrahman teaches a variety of mindfulness certificate courses at the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto and has facilitated mindfulness workshops for a wide range of corporate and nonprofit organizations, including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. He is a Senior Teacher for the Meditation Teacher Training at X-Hale Meditation & Wellness Centre and leads the Mindfulness Meditation program at the 519, a City of Toronto agency supporting the LGBTQ2S communities.

fiona brandon

Fiona Brandon, MA, MFT, is a psychotherapist in private practice who draws upon Buddhist psychology, depth psychology, expressive arts therapy, dream imagery, and sensorimotor psychotherapy in her work with adults and couples. Brandon is a graduate of the Masters program in Counseling Psychology from the Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her research focused on the meditative practice of authentic movement, the use of symbols, and dream imagery in psychotherapy. She has taught mindfulness practices at the UCSF Chronic Pelvic Pain Center and has been a teaching assistant at both the California Institute of Integral Studies and the Pacifica Graduate Institute.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I need to participate in this training?

You will need a computer with Zoom installed. We also recommend a comfortable and quiet space for the meditations.


If I miss a class, are there make-up classes?

There are no make-up classes, but instructors record every session and will make that recording available to you after each class. In addition all of the course materials and meditations are available to you online.

I can’t make the course times, will you offer courses at another time?

CBRT Teacher Training is offered once a year in the spring.

Is there homework? How much?

Between weekly meetings students are encouraged to practice the assigned meditations on a daily basis. The meditations are generally no longer than 10–15 minutes. Students are also assigned around 50 minutes of video lectures to watch and/or one chapter a week from the student manual. The chapters are between 20–30 pages.

How much time will I need to put in every week?

Students participate in 1.5 hour weekly live online meetings, plus 10–15 minutes of daily meditation, and 30 minutes to an hour of assigned reading.

Is this course aimed at novice or experienced contemplative practitioners?

The training asks that participants have at least 2 years of a consistent contemplative practice of any kind, including mindfulness, loving-kindness and compassion, TM, the Relaxation Response, visualization, Hatha Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Dzog-chen, Mahamudra, Vedanta, Tantra, Tai-chi, Qi-gong, Orthodox Heart Prayer, Christian Spiritual Exercises, Sufi meditation, Jewish contemplation, Kabbalah, Kirtan and Indigenous chanting.

Can I download the class materials (audio and video)?

Students can download audio files, the student manual and supplemental reading materials. Videos are not downloadable.

Can I pay in installments?

Nalanda Institute asks that all students pay in full prior to the first class. If this is not possible, reach out to the director of the program fiona@nalandainstitute.org.

Do you offer full scholarships?

At this time the Institute offers partial tuition scholarships.  The Institute does offer some full scholarships to those who self identify as a member of a marginalized community including BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. Reach out to the director of the program fiona@nalandainstitute.org for full scholarship guidelines.

What is the refund policy?

Tuition is non-refundable once the class starts.

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