Vipassana / Insight · Hybrid (residential + online)
Two-year mindfulness teacher training from Insight LA, a major secular mindfulness center co-founded by Trudy Goodman. Combines Insight Meditation tradition with secular mindfulness teaching skills. Frequent guest faculty include Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, and Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Awareness in Action is the two-year mindfulness teacher training from Insight LA, the major Insight-tradition meditation center in Los Angeles co-founded by Trudy Goodman. Insight LA emerged from the wider Spirit Rock and Insight Meditation Society lineages and has long served as a Southern California hub for serious vipassana practice alongside secular mindfulness teaching. The Awareness in Action training is its flagship credential program, combining Insight Meditation tradition practice with secular mindfulness teaching skills in a way that holds the full Buddhist roots while preparing teachers for diverse settings. Faculty draws from Insight LA's senior teaching body and frequent guest faculty have included Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ralph De La Rosa, and other major figures in the Insight and secular mindfulness lineages. The program holds substantial weight in the Western Insight community partly because of this faculty access and partly because of Insight LA's institutional history as a serious dharma center rather than a primarily commercial mindfulness operation. Format is hybrid across two years. Cohorts engage online study modules, monthly cohort video sessions, multiple residential silent retreats at Insight LA's retreat facilities or partner centers, mentorship with senior teachers, and supervised teaching practice during the second year. Cohorts are kept small enough for direct mentor relationships. Tuition runs roughly USD 6,500 to 8,500 across the two years, with substantial scholarship support available for teachers serving underserved populations. The credential issued is Insight LA Certified Mindfulness Teacher, recognized within Insight Meditation networks and the wider secular mindfulness field. Graduates teach in dharma centers, lead retreats, deliver MBSR-style courses, integrate the work into clinical practice, or build independent mindfulness teaching practices. The program is unusual among secular mindfulness teacher trainings in its substantial Buddhist-roots grounding; many graduates go on to teach in dharma settings as well as secular ones.
Coursework moves through Insight tradition meditation, secular mindfulness teaching skills, and integration. The Insight tradition foundation covers anapanasati breath awareness, body sweep practice in the Mahasi-influenced lineage, lovingkindness and compassion practices, and Insight inquiry on impermanence, suffering, and not-self. Secular mindfulness teaching covers MBSR-style program structure, group facilitation, mindful inquiry as a teaching method, and the secular framing of practice for non-Buddhist audiences. The dharma study strand covers the Four Noble Truths, dependent origination, the Eightfold Path, and the wider Theravada framework that grounds the Insight tradition. Specialized topics include teaching mindfulness to underserved communities, working with trauma-affected students, and the ethics of teaching practice. Reading includes Kornfield's books, Salzberg's Lovingkindness, the foundational MBSR curriculum, and selected dharma talks and texts.
The two-year hybrid program combines online study, monthly live cohort sessions, multiple residential silent retreats, mentor relationships with senior Insight LA teachers, and supervised teaching practice during the second year. Cohort sizes allow individual mentorship. Faculty include senior Insight LA teachers and rotating guest faculty from the wider Insight tradition. Final certification depends on retreat attendance, mentor review, demonstrated teaching competence, and a culminating integration project. The program assumes participants will engage the dharma roots seriously, not only the secular teaching skills.
Graduates earn the Insight LA Certified Mindfulness Teacher credential and are qualified to teach in dharma centers, lead silent retreats, deliver MBSR-style courses, and build independent teaching practices. The credential is recognized within the Western Insight Meditation network and the wider secular mindfulness field. Some graduates go on to teach at Insight LA itself, lead retreats at other dharma centers, or integrate the credential into clinical practice. The credential does not authorize psychotherapy; clinicians work within their existing license.
Applicants need sustained personal vipassana or mindfulness practice, typically at least three years of regular sitting plus substantial retreat experience including at least one week-long silent retreat. The program looks for serious practitioners rather than newcomers. Application includes essays, references, and an interview. Some prior teaching experience or strong interest in teaching is expected.
Awareness in Action sits alongside the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader and Dedicated Practitioners Program, the Insight Meditation Society teacher training pathway, the UCLA MARC TMF program, and the various MBSR teacher training programs. Insight LA's Awareness in Action holds more dharma roots than UCLA MARC TMF, less monastic-formation orientation than the Spirit Rock programs, and broader teaching scope than MBSR-specific tracks. For practitioners drawn to the Insight tradition who want a teacher credential bridging dharma and secular contexts, Awareness in Action is the natural fit.
| Location | Hybrid (residential + online) |
| Country | United States |
| Tradition | Vipassana / Insight |
| Format | Hybrid, Online, In-person |
| Duration | 2 years |
| Estimated cost | USD 6,500-8,500 |
| Accreditation | Insight LA Certified Mindfulness Teacher |