Art has long played a powerful role in human experience – offering comfort, sparking curiosity, and helping us make sense of the world. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a report with 900 studies showing how the arts can support health and well-being. When combined with mindfulness, the impact can be profound.
This 8-week training for mindfulness teachers explores how mindfulness and the arts can come together to deepen practice, foster emotional resilience, and support mental health. Whether in museums, galleries, healthcare settings or community spaces, mindful art engagement can help us connect more fully – to ourselves, to others, and to the present moment.
Developed by Jolien Posthumus, this specialist training is designed for trained mindfulness teachers who want to integrate the arts into their teaching. You’ll explore the Mindfulness in Museums (MiM) method, experience key practices, and develop your own art-based programme with supervision and support.
“Mindfully engaging with art can help us cultivate a beginner’s mind, enhance our sensory awareness, build the courage to face difficulties, and foster appreciation and joyfulness. In art we encounter life at its fullest.“
Jolien Posthumus
Teacher, Trainer, Supervisor & Practitioner
Together, we’ll explore insights from Buddhist teachings, Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness (TSM), and the latest research in NeuroArts. You’ll gain deeper insight into the relationship between mindfulness (MBCT) and art – including how mindful art engagement can enhance sensory awareness and nurture social connection. You’ll also learn how MBCT techniques can be applied to arts-based interventions.
By the end of the training, you’ll have the tools and confidence to deliver your own mindfulness-in-art programme – grounded in research and shaped by your experience.
On completion, you’ll a receive ‘Certificate of Attendance’ from Oxford Mindfulness.
What to expect on this course
This teacher training offers a structured, integrative approach – combining key practices, curriculum design, and the opportunity to develop and deliver your own art-based mindfulness programme, supported by both supervision and intervision (peer reflection sessions where teachers learn collaboratively through shared experience and feedback).
The training includes 8 x 2.5 – 3-hour teaching and practice sessions and two intervision sessions. Individual supervision sessions with Jolien are optional and to be scheduled directly with Jolien.
All sessions are delivered online in a supportive group format.
The training is divided into two blocks:
Block 1 explores the connection between mindfulness and the arts, including how sensory awareness supports mental health. You’ll engage with global research and emerging insights from NeuroArts, examine innovative programmes for diverse audiences, and learn how to apply and adapt MBCT techniques and inquiry to trauma-informed, arts-based interventions. You’ll also explore how the arts can become a trusted ally – helping us turn toward our inner world with care and curiosity.
Block 2 focuses on developing your own mindfulness-in-art programme, tailored to your professional context. You’ll design a curriculum and implementation plan suited to your healthcare, cultural, or social setting. Through intervision with peers and supervision with the teacher, you’ll receive feedback and support as you refine your programme and prepare to teach it.
On completion, you’ll receive a Certificate of Attendance from Oxford Mindfulness. To be eligible, you’ll need to attend and participate in 100% of the training, including breakout rooms and three individual supervision sessions with Jolien Posthumus.
Full course dates
Training takes place on Fridays, 09:00-12:00 UK Time:
- Session 1: 27 March 2026*
- Session 2: 3 April 2026
- Session 3: 10 April 2026
- Session 4: 17 April 2026
- Session 5: 24 April 2026
- Session 6: 1 May 2026
- Session 7: 8 May 2026
- Session 8: 15 May 2026
Additionally, you’ll be required to plan 2 x intervision sessions with your peer-group.
There is the opportunity to book 3 x optional individual sessions directly with the trainer, Jolien Posthumus. Please note: The cost for the 3 indiviudal sessions isn’t included in the course cost. Separate payment with the course trainer, Jolien, is required.
*UK Time shifts from GMT to BST on Sunday 29th March 2026.
What you can do after this course
By the end of the course, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to implement mindfulness in the arts in a trauma-informed way. You’ll explore both active and passive approaches to mindful art engagement and learn how to adapt and apply MBCT techniques and inquiry within art-based mindfulness sessions. You’ll also gain insight into how mindfulness in art can support mental health, enhance sensory awareness, and foster social connection.
In addition, you’ll have developed your own programme – one that’s ready to be implemented in your professional setting, whether in healthcare, education, cultural institutions, or community spaces.
You’ll also receive:
- Teacher guidance notes and practical insights from Jolien Posthumus
- Mandatory reading suggestions to deepen your understanding
- Handouts to support your teaching and programme delivery
Entry criteria – who can apply for this course?
You can apply to this course if you have:
- Actively or passively worked with art, or have the intention do so, and have the ability to develop your own programme for your own situation. A backgound in arts isn’t mandatory.
- Completed a mindfulness teacher training pathway of at least 12 months in another 8-week mindfulness-based programme (MBCT, MBSR, MBCT-L, etc), which meets the Good Practice Guidelines for training pathways, led by a trainer in-person or live online, and not self-guided*.
- Been assessed as safe to teach under supervision by your training provider and / or be registered as a mindfulness teacher on e.g. BAMBA or another equivalent directory.
- Experience with the Frame-by-Frame training and Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness. This is recommended but isn’t mandatory.
- An established and regular personal mindfulness practice, ideally for at least a year. Please see the Good Practice Guidelines for Teaching Mindfulness-Based Courses.
- Knowledge and experience of the adult population, target groups and context where you’d like to teach. This might include workplace, education, criminal justice, physical or mental healthcare, or general population settings.
- The ability to speak, write, and understand English to a level where you can fully take part in all parts of the training without the need for extra translation support.
- A stable internet connection, the right equipment and the technical skills to join an online training programme via Zoom, with the video always on.
- A private indoor space where you can take part in the training without being interrupted or overheard by other people.
If you have questions relating this course, please contact Jolien directly
*Please note: If you’re an experienced specialist mindfulness teacher from a different tradition, working within the Good Practice Guidelines and affiliated with / supported by one of the major internationally recognised mindfulness training centres, please provide full details on your application form.
Please do not sign up for this training if you’re not fully trained to teach mindfulness or are limited by only attending a course as a participant. In these cases, your application will not be approved, and you may be charged an administration fee when we refund your payment.
About Jolien Posthumus
Jolien is a mindfulness trainer and teacher, trailblazer in Art & Mental Health and the founder of Mindfulness in Museums (MiM). With a background in applied arts and working as trauma-sensitive mindfulness trainer in psychological care, Jolien bridges the transformative power of art and mental health.
She was appointed as the first Mental Health Programme Manager in a Dutch museum: 2022 EMYA winner Museum of the Mind. She also played a key role in the Van Gogh Museum’s mental health initiative ‘Open up with Vincent’, challenging stigma that surrounds HIV and AIDS through dance – working for Dance4Life and advising the pioneering Dutch project ‘Museum on Prescription’.
Today, she consults cultural and healthcare institutes worldwide on the societal challenges in relation to (mental) health. Jolien develops and integrates Art & Mindfulness-based approaches in mental health strategies and trains teams on working with a focus on mental health and in a trauma informed way. As a sought-after speaker, she shares insights on the intersection of art, mindfulness, mental health, stress reduction and post-traumatic growth.
In 2017, Jolien founded Mindfulness in Museums and developed Mindfulness in Museums programmes and Art Meditations in The Netherlands and abroad. She developed the Mindfulness in Museums method and implemented it in mindfulness programmes and art meditations for the public, young adults, people with mental health challenges (stress/trauma, anxiety and depression), health care professionals and caregivers of people with dementia.
In 2023/24, the first 12 mindfulness trainers completed the Dutch Mindfulness in Museums teacher training.
“I’m absolutely thrilled with the way Oxford Mindfulness brings mindfulness to us all and creates space for us all. Being a Guest Trainer with this innovate organisation means learning from and co-creating with leaders in our field.”
Jolien Posthumus
Teacher, Trainer, Supervisor & Practitioner