Seeking Mind Fitness Trainers

The Mind Fitness Training Institute is currently developing a cadre of Trainers to deliver Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT)® within the military services and other high-stress occupational contexts. At this time we are actively recruiting candidates who want to become certified MMFT Trainers. We are seeking individuals who feel called to be of service in performing this vital work.

Mind Fitness Training Institute

The Mind Fitness Training Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to delivering training that helps individuals and organizations maintain peak functioning in highly challenging operational environments. Drawing on and advancing cutting-edge research, the Institute has developed a novel training that enhances performance and builds stress resilience.

The Institute’s mission is to teach mindfulness and resilience skills that enhance performance and strengthen response to stress, change, and uncertainty. Our training prepares individuals and groups to adapt, learn, and succeed even during the most pressing mission demands. Because today’s operational challenges present the U.S. military with a tremendous need for these skills, our initial objective is to serve active-duty U.S. military personnel. However, we are also committed to sharing this training with other public servants, such as police, firefighters, and disaster workers; we aim to help those who serve others. By increasing resilience and by strengthening the core cognitive capacities that support effective decision-making, we aim to improve their performance under stress and, in turn, contribute to greater mission effectiveness.

Learn more about the Institute.

Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training

The Institute’s primary training program is Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT). MMFT (pronounced “M-fit”) is a 20-hour course taught over eight weeks, specifically designed for individuals operating in extreme stress environments. MMFT is a mindfulness-based preventive approach to preparing service-members for the stressors of deployment. MMFT brings together a set of skills and information: mindfulness training, the science that explains the effects of stress on the mind and body, and a set of skills for supporting self-regulation of the stress response – packaged in an accessible format that makes sense to the military audience. The training limits the cognitive degradation that occurs as a result of stress, supports non-reactive decision making, and promotes healthy functioning of the autonomic nervous system – even in the most highly challenging contexts. In addition, MMFT draws on and has been tested through rigorous neuroscience research.

MMFT Trainer Certification

Because MMFT brings together a range of skills and information and is taught in a challenging environment, the Trainer certification process involves many steps that allow Trainers both to master the MMFT skills (through their own first-person experience of engaging mind fitness practice) and to develop/demonstrate teaching competence (through the delivery of the curriculum in the training setting). Only certified MMFT Trainers are allowed to deliver the training.

Qualifications

We are seeking applicants who have prior experience with mindfulness and have an ongoing daily practice. Candidates will also need to complete at least one silent ten-day retreat before becoming certified as an MMFT Trainer. Furthermore, interested candidates should be prepared for extended periods away from home: We deliver MMFT onsite at military installations around the country, and a standard training cycle runs three months. There will be limited opportunities to travel home during these training cycles.

Additionally, the following criteria are highly desirable:

prior military service or other direct experience with the military culture
previous experience teaching or training groups
on-going engagement with a mind/body discipline (e.g., martial arts, yoga, qigong, tai chi)
good physical fitness

Compensation

The Institute will maintain a cadre of certified Trainers as contractors with a standing obligation to a set amount of active training per year. Trainers on assignment will receive full compensation for their time of service, and the Institute will cover most travel and living expenses. We will expect certified Trainers to be available for a minimum of two years’ service.

Join Us

If our mission and requirements align with your interests and you would like to be considered for a position in the Trainer Certification Program, please send your resume or CV and a history of your mindfulness practice and any other body/mind practices (including a description of any intensive retreat practice) to: info@mind-fitness-training.org

We look forward to hearing from you.

More Information

You can find more information about the Mind Fitness Training Institute and MMFT through the menu bar at the top of the page. If you have questions that are not answered there, please email them to: info@mind-fitness-training.org