ABSTRACT
This chapter the focus is on learning about and understanding the experiences of vulnerable children, young people and adults in areas relating to mindfulness meditation to assist us to develop compassion, patience and empathy – a key intervention in itself. It explores particular vulnerabilities in relation to mindfulness teachers' need to know to inform their preparation for teaching mindfulness in school and higher education classrooms. McCown and colleagues recommend that mindfulness teachers collect information about potential students to assess their suitability for mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation without adjustment for such students may not be safe because as trauma specialist van der Kolk has noted because being mindful means that people get confronted with people's internal world. Given that students with trauma histories, symptoms or a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder are likely to be in the majority of classroom groups, there is a need to understand the needs of this group.
