History of the MTAI
While the MTAI formally became an organisation and a legal entity in 2018 in the Hilton Hotel Dublin with over 70 people attending, its organic development as a supportive network of teachers had fermented over many years prior to this.
In the 2000s, a number of people in Ireland were being trained with various international organisations such as UMass, Linda Lehrhaupt Institute (IMA) and Bangor University. While travelling, some had the opportunity to get to know each other well and felt it would be helpful to meet more regularly as a group of teachers and practitioners in Ireland after qualification.
The first meeting of this network took place in the Sanctuary in Dublin in 2009 where a small group discussed how best to support one another. The idea of an open door was important from the beginning, and all those with an interest in mindfulness and from any training body were welcome to join events.
As time went on, it was decided to host CPD days as well as an annual mindfulness retreat which took place over the following 9 years. Some of the teachers who travelled to Ireland over the years for the retreats and CPD days inlcude Trish Bartley, Choden, Cindy Cooper, Paul Gilbert, Ursula Bates, and Sharon Salzburg.
While there were several international training organisations running teacher training courses at the time, it took some years before any Irish training bodies were set up. With more and more people being trained, there was a growing need for opportunities to meet and events became very well attended.
Over time, as the number of qualified teachers and practitioners grew, a shared desire developed for a professional body which would serve to support mindfulness teachers in their personal and professional development. Another important aspect was to provide a place where members of the public could easily find qualified mindfulness teachers and courses. It was envisioned that the body would allow the growing numbers of mindfulness teachers in Ireland to form a cohesive community that could meet regularly to learn from and be inspired by one another. Teaching is wonderful, however looking after websites and social media are not. The idea of one communal website that would become a go-to for the public as well as for other aligned professionals was also important.
Over the years that followed, there were many meetings where multiple groups of over 30 people met and were externally facilitated through a creative process to identify what teachers wanted and needed from a new professional body. There was a strong desire, given the size of Ireland, to ensure that only one professional body in Ireland would exist if possible rather than having multiple organisations as was common in other countries and professions. This then required the organisation to be inclusive in how it recognises various training pathways, yet uphold high ethical and professional standards for teaching. Both at that time and presently, this involves a continual reflection of programmes and training pathways recognised by our board, standards and membership committees as the landscape of mindfulness practice and teacher training evolves over time.
From these initial meetings and over the following two years, people volunteered to take on various roles to establish committees and a board and to write the MTAI’s constitution. Despite creative tensions during the process, those involved endured to find common ground and sign the MTAI’s first constitution in 2018 which grew organically from small numbers to represent an active community of student and teacher members today.
Some photos from the earliest meetings of the MTAI:
