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Institute for Mindfulness-Based Approaches (IMA)

    The Institute for Mindfulness-Based Approaches (IMA) is the oldest training institute for mindfulness-based approaches on the European Continent. It was founded in 2001 by Dr. Linda Lehrhaupt, who continues to serve as its executive director.

    With its commitment to excellence, the IMA has been a standard bearer both in Europe and internationally for the development of teacher trainings in mindfulness-based programs. The institute’s faculty are among the most experienced and longstanding trainers in Europe and represent ten countries.

    IMA Offerings

    MBSR International Teacher Training Online near Berlin (EUR_7)

    From May 2025, this English-language MBSR teacher training near Berlin offers a compact format of seven modules online and two modules live.

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    MBSR Teacher Training in Japan (JPN_5) - Fall 2024

    Together with the International Mindfulness Centre Japan (IMCJ), we will offer our third MBSR Teacher Training in the fall of 2023. For further information, please contact with IMCJ -> More information

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    MBSR Teacher-Training Poland (PL_10) - Fall 2024

    MBSR Teacher Training in Warsaw, Poland beginning in 2024

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    MBCL Online Teacher Training_3

    Join the next International Online MBCL Teacher Training Programme! It is scheduled from 17th - 26th October 2025 and will be offered in English language by Frits Koster and Jana Willms

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    MBSR Teacher Training in France (FR_13) juin 2025 – decembre 2026

    Formation d’instructeur MBSR en France avec la collaboration d’Euthymia et de l’IMA juin 2025 – décembre 2026 (FR13)

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    All Teacher Trainings and Dates

    Spring Blossoms: On Trust, Faith and Vulnerability in Times of Crisis

    Spring Blossoms: On Trust, Faith and Vulnerability in Times of Crisis

    By Linda Myoki Lehrhaupt
    Spring offers up the promise of joy, hope and inspiration. These qualities can be nourished even in the darkest of seasons, including this one: It is early April 2022, and the warfare continues in the Ukraine. There too spring has arrived, and with new life there is also the death of thousands on both sides of the conflict. But Spring, with its strong drive toward life, mirrors qualities that can inspire us, if we allow them, in these troubled, threatening times.
    The first of these qualities is trust. Trust is embodied and expressed in the myriad spring blossoms responding to the warmth of the sun.
    The second quality is vulnerability. There is a great deal of uncertainty around the bursting forth of new shoots and flowers.
    So there is the trust of opening to the sun’s warmth and the vulnerability to frost.
    Both present year after year, millennium after millennium, from the beginning of life on this earth.

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    Research on  MBCL: Four Studies Show Promising Results

    Research on MBCL: Four Studies Show Promising Results

    There is an increasing amount of research showing the beneficial effects of compassion-based interventions for our physical, emotional and relational health. Supportive evidence for Mindfulness-Based Compassionate Living has been published in various scientific publications (Bartels-Velthuis et al. 2016; Krieger et al. 2016; Schuling et al. 2017; Ondrejková et al. 2020). Two recent controlled trials showed significant health benefits in a clinical population with recurrent depression who followed MBCL after MBCT (Schuling et al., 2020) and a non-clinical population who followed an online adaptation of MBCL (Krieger et al. 2019).

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    The World Needs You

    The World Needs You

    A talk by Dr. Linda Lehrhaupt to graduates of an MBSR teacher-training program

    The last sessions of some of our MBSR teacher-training programs took place during the Covid 19 pandemic in late spring 2020. And for the first time, we were holding the trainings online; a new experience for everyone. We were all enthusiastic how well things went, and the participants were especially happy because they had feared not being able to complete their training.

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    Find an qualified MBSR teacher

    Find an MBSR teacher near you

    Our training program has already been completed by numerous teachers internationally.
    Here you will find qualified MBSR, MBCT and MBCL teachers in your area!

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