This training certificate is designed for professionals andvolunteers working in health, long-term and palliative care field and supports caregivers in developing mindfulness and compassion skills that sustains your wellbeing in meeting the complex demands in our healthcare system.
The full 9 month, 60 hour virtual M+C program is $1295.
We keep our pricing as affordable as possible and offer payment plans upon request.
Upon Completion of the M+C Training, you will receive your Certificate of Attendance. This can be applied as a CE Credit. For More information on how to receive your Certificate if training dates are missed, please refer to our FAQ Below or Contact Us.
This program has opened my eyes that we can face suffering,
but still experience joy, and that we can lead with compassion without becoming overwhelmed by what we face.
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Receive comprehensive training in the foundations, theory, and practices of mindfulness
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Learn compassion-based approaches to alleviate suffering for self, patients and the entire care team
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Address the effects of empathy fatigue, burnout and moral distress, and explore the use of healthy empathy in sustaining well being
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Learn about the latest neuroscience research on the efficacy and effects of mindfulness and compassion skills, pertaining to caregiving
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Support your own mindfulness and compassion practice through our unique peer-focused curriculum
Training Dates
Our live (on Zoom) training runs from 9:30 am – 4:30 pm ET on the following dates:
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Module 1 |
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Sunday March 26 |
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Module 2 Friday May 5** |
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Sunday May 7 |
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Module 3 |
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Sunday July 9
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Module 4 |
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Sunday October 1 |
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Saturday November 18 _________________________ **The weekend of May 5 – 7 has the option of being IN PERSON at Sarana Springs near Chatsworth, ON for an extra fee (to cover catering and other costs). Being in-person for this module is NOT required. The training will also take place on Zoom.
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Included in the Training
- 10 live, virtual on Zoom day long group trainings (60+ hours in total)
- 15+ videos and downloadable audio lectures and guided mindfulness practices to support your learning
- All live sessions will be recorded for participants to replay at any time
- Access to our ongoing M+C resource library
- Mentorship with faculty and peer support with your M+C Practice Pod
Further Info
Program Registration:
Luke Albert, Program Coordinator
luke@saranainstitute.org
Curriculum Details:
(Rev.) Andrew Blake, Program Director
andrew@saranainstitute.org
Our cancellation policy can be viewed here.
If you have any concerns about attending online, need to miss a
live training date, or have
questions about our Payment
Plan options,
please reach out to us.
Free Hour Long Webinar On Mindfulness + Compassion in Health Care:
“It’s interesting to reflect on my personal experience from the course a few years later. I realize now how much of what I learned in the course about compassion has become a central core focus of my leadership in medicine. This informs virtually everything I do. For example, burnout has taken a major toll on physicians for many years. This has led to serious health issues including suicide (physicians have a very high rate sadly) despite very high levels of resiliency. The system in which doctors work contributes seriously to their unhappiness and burnout. During my CMA presidency I brought up the whole idea of addressing dysfunctional medical culture through compassionate leadership – noticing and addressing suffering within the workplace. I have studied this intently. The Canadian Medical Association has even now set up a department to address culture within Medicine, and this forms part of the approach. I have no doubt that these are seeds we planted during my experience with the M & C course way back when.”
Module 1:
Being Present: The Roots & Practices of Everyday Mindfulness
Develop your mindfulness practice and learn everyday mindful skills
– Discover what mindfulness is, how it works and methods for practice. Establish or renew your goals for developing a daily practice
-Explore everyday mindfulness practices, like P.A.U.S.E., as well as Mindful Listening skills that develop presence and bring new awareness to work and life
-Understand the neural pathways of healthy and unhealthy empathy, and discern the differences between empathy, sympathy, empathetic concern and compassion.
-Integrate empirical research from neuroscience that reinforces how effective mindfulness is as a skillful means in reducing stress and increasing well-being.
-Understand the core principles and tenets of mindfulness from a Buddhist perspective.
Training Dates:
Module 2:
Mindfulness & Compassion in Living and Dying Retreats.
Our day long retreats integrate theory into practice, and provide the space to experience the benefits of mindfulness
and compassion.
During these training retreats you will:
-Experience silence and the benefits of extended period of mindfulness practice.
-Build your mindfulness skills and explore various contemplative meditation practices and techniques as a means for exploring your inner awareness.
-Observe your relationship with silence and “non- doing” and also gain insight and clarity about how the practice deepens your sensitivity to what is important to you spiritually and personally.
-Contemplate our relationship with spirituality, death, afterlife, as well as touch what is most meaningful to you in your life.
**This weekend has the option of being IN PERSON at Sarana Springs near Chatsworth, ON. Being in-person for this module is NOT required. The training will also take place on Zoom.
Training Dates:
Module 3:
The Courage of Compassion: Cultivating Kindness and Befriending Distress
Study the psychological and scientific foundations and philosophical underpinnings of compassion through Eastern and Western views.
-Learn the difference between self and other compassion, how they work, and common obstacles.
-Examine how awareness and compassion for the self play a crucial role to improve or sustain the quality of care for others.
-Practice self compassion to alleviate and understand empathy fatigue, burnout and distress.
-Identify how conditioned patterns from childhood can affect present day behaviour and care-giving.
-Explore the neuroscience of compassion as a trainable skill primed by mindfulness, and how this provides an inner stability in meeting the challenging states that accompany working with illness, suffering, loss, dying and death.
Training Dates:
Module 4:
Relational Mindfulness & Workplace Collaboration
At the core of our mindfulness work is our ability to communicate skillfully inwardly to ourselves and outwardly to others, as we meet the challenges and distress that accompany this work.
-Explore Mindful and Non Violent Communication practices that evoke insight and wisdom into the power of language, and how this can transform our reactions into compassion by taking responsibility for our words.
-Meet the many faces of suffering, or “Edge States,” within our work relationships and by bearing witness to the truth of suffering and by turning towards complexity with acceptance and support from a community of like-minded caregivers.
-Address the impact of our workplace environments including moral distress and horizontal/vertical aggression
-Build our empathy and compassion muscles in addressing conflict and difficult workplace conversations.
Training Dates:
Module 5:
Integrating Mindfulness and Compassion into Whole-Person Care
In our final module, we integrate our training skills into a relational view of care-giving: where we can meet the unacceptable with greater acceptance, the complicated with greater ease, and the incurable with lovingkindess.
–Explore Systems Thinking as an approach to transform how we look at problems rather than at the issues.
-Navigate how we can bring our mindfulness and compassion into our experience in teams. How do we experience ourselves as leaders and team members? What is our growing edge in working with others?
-Identify the resources we need to sustain ourselves in the face of systemic challenges and maintain our integrity and self care.
-Collectively explore how we can maintain our practice and take these skills forward into the “real” world.
Training Dates:
Additional Materials:
- 15+ videos and downloadable audio lectures and guided mindfulness practices to support your learning
- All live training days will be recorded for participants to replay at any time
- Lifetime access to our ongoing M+C resource library, including any bonus material added to the course
- 1:1 Mentorship with faculty
- Accountability and peer support with your practice-pod, 2-3 others from the training
Quotes from our past M+C participants
“…has helped me in working with my colleagues and within a hospital structure more than I would have anticipated, both in learning to step into my role/having agency and also in having greater compassion for healthcare teams.”
“…I find now that when I experience any difficulty in my professional role, I am more often returning to self-compassion as the ground from which I sort out the difficulty.”
Meet Our Faculty for 2023
(Rev.) Andrew Blake, RP
Andrew is Co-Founder of Sarana Institute, Buddhist Chaplain, Registered Psychotherapist, Director of the Mindfulness and Compassion Training Program, and ongoing faculty member for the Mindfulness in Nature Retreat, read more
Agnes Wong, MD, PhD, FRCSC
Dr. Agnes Wong is Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, & Psychology at the University of Toronto, and an active staff Ophthalmologist at The Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto. read more
Lysa Toye, MSW, RSW, ExAT
Lysa Toye is an Expressive Arts Therapist and Master’s-trained Social Worker with a collaborative certificate in Palliative and Supportive Care, read more
Our Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to currently be working in health or EOL care to apply?
Our training certificate is designed for those working in these fields and institutions, including nurses, doctors, chaplains, therapists, social workers, hospice workers, management, research, etc. However, we have included applications from those working in other caregiving roles including mental health, education, global development, etc.
Each participant brings their unique background of service and experience. If you’re not sure this certificate training is for you, please email us at info@saranainstitute.org with your detailed intentions for registering.
Is this training in person or online?
This training is conducted entirely online via Zoom. For the weekend of May 5th – 7th there is also an option to join us in person at Sarana Springs near Chatsworth, ON. More details will be shared with the upcoming cohort directly.
Is there a cancellation policy for the M+C Training?
Yes! It’s all here on our Cancellation Page. If you enroll and send in your fees, and decide not to attend, please consult the Cancellation Policy.
Are payment plans available?
Yes! We require a minimum of $200 as a deposit. After we’ve received your application and deposit, you will be contacted to set up a payment plan schedule that suits your needs. Payments must be completed by December 31 of your training year.
What do I do if I need miss a live session?
All of our live sessions will be recorded. if you are absent for a training date, your peer support group, faculty, and the recordings, will help you “catch up”. If recieving your Certificate of Attendance is important for you to obtain CE Credits, you will need to make up the missed session the following year. The Certificate of Attendance is only issued to those who attend all Training Dates. Our Retake fee is $100 per missed Module, or $50 per missed training date. If you know you will need to miss multiple live sessions it is best to contact our Program Director, (Rev.) Andrew Blake, prior to registration to inquire further.
What is Sarana Institute?
Sarana Institute is a Registered Canadian Charity. Our mission is to provide Mindfulness + Compassion Training to sustain our well-being in caring for ourselves, others, and the earth.. Our Mindfulness + Compassion Certificate Training for Health and EOL Professionals is our flagship training. Previously, this has been run in person in Toronto, Ont. Due to concerns around Covid-19, we have adapted our program to be delivered online. We are passionate to serve our health care community, to help you sustain your caregiving in increasingly complex systems.
Questions?
Get in touch with us.
Testimonials & Quotes from past participants
“I think that it is really sinking in that I really have to show compassion for myself – that I cannot be forgotten in the process of the work we do.”
“What I learned is that my presence and my actions make a difference in the lives of others, perhaps more than I realized.”
“I have been able to give compassion to myself-to see how much I give, to express gratefulness to myself for my commitment to my work and for being “me.” This is completely new for me.”
“This training is a gift to me personally and in my work life. I’m more accepting of my vulnerability—I see in others too. I see now that others in my workplace are suffering and I’m more able to be compassionate towards them.”
Sarana Institute
A Registered Canadian Charity.