Individual Paths, Collective Support:

A 6-month MMTCP Alumni Journey (Round II)

Sept 2025-Feb 2026

Why Round 2?

The pilot round of "Individual Paths: Collective Support" (March-July 2025) provided MMTCP alumni with monthly 1:1 sessions and small group sangha gatherings to deepen their practice.

Anonymous survey feedback confirmed that the combination of 1:1 mentorship and sangha support was particularly powerful:

  • "Our 1:1 sessions have been somewhat life-changing. I love how themes and throughlines in a session always arise and it ends up being this cohesive lesson for me. I get so much out of both the more spiritual and practical elements of our conversations. What you offer in our 1:1s has been incredibly resonant and apt, inspirational and thought-provoking, and has really been a compass on the journey for me!"

  • "I really like hearing where fellow MMTCP alumni are at. I love that feeling of continued parallel paths, like here we are, having pursued and accomplished this same thing, sharing some similar aspirations, and we get to stay connected and grow together. It's lovely just knowing what's capturing their attention these days."

  • "Your skillfulness and wisdom, along with your ability to so succinctly mirror back to me has been beautiful and sacred. I deeply appreciate this, as it allows me to respond to life and my inner landscape with more compassion, clarity & kindness."

  • “I enjoy the guided meditations. I also enjoy hearing how others are doing in their personal practice as well as struggles they may be having in terms of personal practice, the daily integration of mindfulness, or various areas of teaching.”

Survey data also revealed areas for improvement:

  1. More flexible participation options to make the program more accessible

  2. Longer sangha sessions—there’s so much to discuss and share!

  3. A request to change the weekday time to the evening so that it does not conflict with the workday.

  4. Optional “homework” to do between sessions

Round 2 incorporates this thoughtful feedback: Read on to learn more.

*Note: Due to Alison’s other professional responsibilities in 2026, after Round II of “Individual Paths, Collective Support” the program will likely not be offered again until late 2026 or 2027.

“Individual Paths, Collective Support” Round II Information

After graduation from MMTCP, continue to grow as a teacher-practitioner by:

1. Meeting with a supportive monthly MMTCP alumni sangha

2. Connecting 1:1 with Alison

3. Deepening and expanding on your understanding of MMTCP content

Important note: “Individual Paths, Collective Support” is open to MMTCP graduates from the past four cohorts, regardless of whether or not you were one of Alison’s mentees.

Connect with Alison for 1:1 mentoring at a frequency that works for you

For many teacher-practitioners, periodic 1:1 mentoring is key to continued growth and development. The first component will be hourlong mentoring sessions with me. There are two options:

  • Meeting each month for a total of six 1:1 sessions

  • Meeting three times during the six months: before the first sangha session, midway through, and at the end

In August, you'll receive a scheduling link to book your sessions.

In each 60-minute 1:1, we'll explore your reflections and questions about teaching and practice "on and off the cushion" from a mindfulness and compassion cultivation standpoint. You might choose to spend multiple sessions doing a deep dive into a particular area or change topics from session to session.

For example, you might spend all sessions on teaching-related questions, or explore forgiveness in one session, ways to enliven your personal practice in the next, and curriculum development in another.

Our time together will generally follow this structure:

  • A few minutes of sitting together as a way of arriving

  • Checking in on how you're doing, in this moment and in life more broadly

  • Touching base about what topics feel most important to discuss today

  • Discussing and exploring them through conversation, guided inquiry (somatic inquiry, light-touch Parts work, variations of RAIN, journaling prompts, Buddhist psychology practices), or collaborative planning. If you'd like thought partnership on an upcoming course, I can share my screen and take notes as we brainstorm. Optional "homework" between sessions is also available if that appeals to you!

  • Closing check out: What are you taking away? Next steps?

You may want to take notes during the 1:1s, so I encourage you to bring a journal and pen. You're also welcome to record the session if revisiting it later would be helpful.

My hope is that you leave our 1:1 time together feeling uplifted and empowered to take any next steps we've discussed.

2. Meet with a supportive MMTCP alumni sangha

The communal complement to our 1:1 time together will be *one* sangha session per month facilitated by me.

  • I will offer two sanghas each month, one that meets on Sundays from 2-3:45 pm ET and one that meets on the third Thursday of each month from 7-8:45 pm ET. Each will have a bathroom/stretch break partway through, and you’re welcome to eat during the sessions. During registration, you will be asked to choose which day of the week works best for you: Sunday, Wednesday, or availability for either. In August, you will receive an email with your sangha assignment: Sunday or Wednesday.

  • Your group will meet for the first time in September 2025.

    • Thursday 2025 group dates (third Thursday of the month, 7-8:45 pm ET): September 18, October 16, November 20, December 18, January 15, February 19

    • Sunday 2025 group dates (third Sunday of the month, 2-3:45 pm ET): September 21, October 19, November 16, December 21, January 18, February 15

  • Recordings: Sangha sessions will be recorded and each recording will be shared soon after each session. However, the power of in-real-time sangha is invaluable: please plan to attend at least 4 of the 6 sessions.

  • Monthly emails: An email will arrive in your inbox each month with a reminder about your upcoming sangha session, notes on practice and teaching, and (of course!) an inspirational quote or poem. You will also receive a follow-up email containing the recording, any announcements…and another quote or poem :).

Each sangha session will have a different theme and will include these elements:

Each sangha session will have a different theme and will include these elements:

We'll begin by sitting together—I'll offer some guidance before we sit in quiet together—followed by check-ins, guided by prompts related to practice and teaching. The rest of the session time will include:

  • Self-reflection on the teacher's journey: Guided contemplation on aspects of being a meditation teacher, such as navigating the balance between confidence and humility, working with difficult emotions that arise while teaching, or exploring your unique teaching voice and style.

  • Teaching scenario exploration: Interactive practice in both small breakout groups and with the full sangha, where we'll work through real teaching challenges—from handling disruptive participants to adapting practices for different populations, or responding skillfully when students share personal struggles.

  • Expanded practice exploration: Introduction and practice of mindfulness and compassion cultivation techniques that extend beyond the MMTCP curriculum, such as advanced loving-kindness variations, somatic awareness practices, or integration techniques for daily life application.

  • Teaching wisdom exchange: Brief reflection from Alison on patterns emerging from 1:1 sessions, followed by open discussion where we explore the intersection of personal practice, teaching skills, and navigating life as 21st-century dharma practitioners.

My hope is that you leave each session with an embodied sense that you are part of a global sangha of teacher-practitioners—and that you have new insights, inquiries, and practices to explore until we meet again.

3. Learn informal practices

Each time we meet, we’ll experiment with a different informal practice that you can incorporate into your daily life and teaching.

These informal practices fall into different categories, such as:

  • body-based

  • visual

  • phrases

  • acronyms

  • touchstones

As many teachers have said, “brief moments of awareness repeated many times become continuous.”

Registration and Pricing

“Individual Paths, Collective Support: An MMTCP Alumni Journey,” is offered on a three-tiered sliding scale explained below. Please choose the registration link that makes sense for you and your financial circumstances. If paying in installments works best for you, you’re welcome to pay in two installments. If you would prefer three or more installments, please email me to set that up.

Sustainer Rate for the 10-session journey (5 60-minute 1:1s, 5 90-minute sangha sessions, monthly emails):

The Sustainer Rate reflects the actual cost of participating: $1,200 USD total.

  • Registration link if you’re registering at the Sustainer Rate and paying in full

  • Registration link if you’re registering at the Sustainer rate and paying the first of two installments ($600). You will receive an email with the second installment link in May.

Giver Rate for the 10-session journey (5 60-minute 1:1s, 5 90-minute sangha sessions, monthly emails):

The Giver Rate covers the cost of your participation and generously supports the participation of those who are paying the Base Rate: $1,500 USD total.

  • Registration link if you’re registering at the Giver Rate and paying in full

  • Registration link if you’re registering at the Giver rate and paying the first of two installments ($750). You will receive an email with the second installment link in May.

Base Rate for the 10-session journey (5 60-minute 1:1s, 5 90-minute sangha sessions, monthly emails):

If the Sustainer Rate is not financially possible for you, please participate at the Base Rate: $900 total, or two installments of $450 USD.

  • Registration link if you’re registering at the Base Rate and paying in full

  • Registration link if you’re registering at the Base rate and paying the first of two installments ($450). You will receive an email with the second installment link in May.

If you would like to participate but the Base rate is more than what your financial circumstances allow, please email me to discuss possibilities.

A poem in the spirit of “Individual Paths, Collective Support”

“Belonging”

by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

And if it’s true we are alone,

we are alone together,

the way blades of grass are alone,

but exist as a field.

Sometimes I feel it,

the green fuse that ignites us,

the wild thrum that unites us,

an inner hum that reminds us of our shared humanity.

Just as thirty-five trillion red blood cells join in one body to become one blood.

Just as one hundred thirty-six thousand notes make up one symphony.

Alone as we are, our small voices weave into the one big conversation.

Our actions are essential to the one infinite story of what it is to be alive.

When we feel alone,

we belong to the grand communion of those who sometimes feel alone— we are the dust,

the dust that hopes,

a rising of dust,

a thrill of dust,

the dust that dances in the light with all other dust,

the dust that makes the world.

To aloneness, to togetherness, and to endings and beginnings full of sangha and support!

Excited for this five-month experiment!

Please email me with questions: alison@twowingsmindfulness.com