The Mindfulness
Ambassador Program (MAP)
Ambassador Program (MAP)
The evidence-based Mindfulness Ambassador Program offers individuals a forum to meet face-to-face and learn about constructive ways to address personal, social, and community challenges. At the heart of the program are social and emotional learning practices and mindfulness practices that help individuals access the wisdom within themselves and within the group. The program establishes a common language based on sharing, modelling and practicing 12 universal principles
that provide participants with tools to unlock human potential and strengthen overall well-being.
We are excited to finish our first year back with the Mindfulness Ambassador Program (MAP) and MAP Facilitator Certification Training! Programming for these trainings will resume in early 2024. Stay tuned for more information!
Participants of all ages experience a range of secular mindfulness practices and strategies that enhance their capacity to live in the present moment. They learn to hold space for reflection, forge deeper connections with themselves and everyone around them. They explore their talents and gifts. They ask questions. They build a repertoire of resources to help them develop as knowledgeable, responsible and caring citizens. As well, they join thousands of individuals globally who have taken the program in becoming mindfulness ambassadors.
As a core pillar of the Mindfulness Ambassador Program (MAP), we acknowledge and honour the important cultures, religions, and histories that have brought mindfulness to people and communities for centuries. During MAP, the Facilitators set the stage for inclusivity, diversity, and equity for mindfulness - welcoming participants of any faith, culture, and background to learn and examine how mindfulness can deepen their overall well-being. The MAP invites the discovery and reflection of all ways of being and becoming mindful.
The MAP integrates the well-researched, five interrelated CASEL cognitive, affective and behavioral competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. By facilitating the development of such competencies, SEL-based programs can serve as important factors for human development and change the way individuals adapt to their environment and respond to stress. Harnessing these competencies also cultivates strengthened capacities for individuals and teams to catalyze community-and societal changes.
The council practice sets the stage for participation, mutual respect, respect, and ethical concern for each other in the MAP. In this practice, individuals are invited to sit in a circle, witness one another for their authentic selves, and explore interests, values, and learnings by listening and speaking from the heart. Such practice has been widely used globally, particlarly by collective, tribal, and Indigenous communities. The way of council was introducted to us by the Ojai Foundation lineage (now the Topa Institute), which can be traced to the League of the Iroquois and the Peoples of the Plains and Southwestern Pueblos.
The MAP was originally developed by Mindfulness Without Borders, a leading provider of best practices and evidence-based programs on secular mindfulness and social emotional learning. The Global MINDS Collective team is now working with a team to adapt the curriculum in a manner that reflects equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonial practices, while still honouring the spirit of the program. As such, a revised MAP version will be offered in 2024.