Before: arrive and prepare
Meet on shore. Name the purpose, explain roles and invite questions privately or with the group. Agree how anyone can pause or opt out. Check readiness and the plan with the responsible activity leader.
For partners & allies
The ocean has many guardians. We build with them.
Bring your experience, community and questions. Help shape how mindful diving is taught and shared, while keeping your identity and existing agency standards.
Explore a collaboration →Start a conversation
Build on the care you already bring to diving.
Small groups, unhurried teaching, a connection with your local reef: your experience matters here. A centre, an independent instructor or a federation can each help shape the work. Exploring it does not require buying a membership.
01
Explore and contribute
Tell us what you already do well and what you want to develop. Review the public method and resources; any complimentary course or book access is confirmed individually in your invitation.
02
Agree one first experience
Choose a small pilot that fits your people and water. Name the host and authorised instructor, check readiness, and agree the sessions, assessments, inclusions and full cost before booking.
03
Review before growing
Listen to learners and instructors, then decide together what to repeat or change. Your existing identity stays yours. Agree attribution and permission before sharing a case study, logo or joint material.
Federations, clubs and established projects
You can bring your community together, review the material and propose a pilot without automatically becoming an MDI centre. Together we agree your contribution, the operating host and the authorised PRO. Public mentions, logo use and any institutional endorsement need both parties’ agreement.
Conservation & community groups
A community day, with the ocean at its heart.
An adaptable one-day introduction, with an optional second day. Bring your existing partners and community together to prepare, take part and reflect. No MDI course or purchase is required to participate.
Plan a community dayIn the water: keep it simple
Join only activities for which you meet the operator’s requirements. Follow the briefing, buddy procedures and dive plan. With scuba, breathe naturally and continuously. No breath holds, prescribed breathing rhythms or added inward exercises underwater.
On shore: a full place
Offer an equally valued shore option: learning about the local ecosystem, supporting an approved community activity or sharing local knowledge. Agree accessibility and suitable roles with the host in advance.
After: notice and learn
Once safely ashore, ask: What did you notice? What felt demanding? What would help next time? Sharing is optional. Choose one realistic next action, such as a host-approved volunteer introduction or learning session.
Clear roles, shared care
The host sets conservation priorities and permissions. Qualified operators lead diving and emergency arrangements. Restoration teams set training and supervision requirements for any work. MDI supports preparation and reflection; it does not authorise diving or restoration.
Access and costs
No MDI qualification is a prerequisite. Diving, park access, equipment and facilitation may have costs. Agree fees, eligibility, accessibility and cancellation arrangements before opening registration; a community day is not automatically free.
Continue at your own pace
Stay involved through the host’s volunteer or education pathway. For further personal learning, explore Mindful Diving, Mindful Breath or The Diving Mind. These optional courses do not qualify you to carry out restoration work.
Centers, PROs and partners: roles and fees
Center / operator
Owns guest bookings and diving operations. Agrees the guest price, logistics, instructor and payment allocation. Its membership does not affiliate its whole team.
MDI PRO
An individually affiliated professional. Teaches and assesses within verified authority; earns the agreed teaching fee. PRO-1 covers MD-1/MD-2; PRO-2 adds MD-3. MD-4/MD-5 need Institute arrangements.
Federation / community partner
Contributes experience, convenes members and helps shape the pilot. May work with an operating host without becoming a center. Agrees attribution, costs and public endorsement. Partnership alone grants no teaching rights or standard referral reward.
Diver / participant
Receives one clear inclusion and cost summary, uses an individual email and completes the applicable learning, practice and assessment. A community demonstration does not award certification.
Membership is separate from enrollment and teaching: Founding PRO €111.00/year; Seed €190.00 in the first year. Confirm Founding eligibility, renewals and previous payments. Seed and the audited Seal are distinct services. Certification credits are also separate from teaching fees.
See all fees and termsPlan the first cohort · fees, people and next steps
Build a draft together. Blank costs stay ‘To agree’. Download a copy before leaving; this page does not save your draft or contact anyone.
Group estimate · 1 person
- Guest total (before any separately agreed extras)
- To agree
- MDI allocation
- €0.00
- Practical balance after entered teaching / operating costs, before taxes
- To agree
- Name a host coordinator; agree operator capacity, eligibility and conservation permissions before registration.
- Offer a complete shore programme and a weather alternative. Agree each cost and its payer.
- Keep reflection and guided meditation on land. Operators retain normal diving responsibilities.
- Review feedback after 7 days and the agreed conservation contribution after 30 days. Further learning is optional.
DRAFT - confirm the written agreement before booking. This estimate does not issue an invoice, grant access or certify a participant.
Ways to work together
Dive agencies
Mindful Diving is complementary to, and independent of, SSI, PADI, CMAS and RAID. Nothing in our curriculum replaces a single line of your standards; it sits on top of them as an attention and wellbeing layer. The five levels are written distinctive-specialty-ready, so an agency can adopt or adapt them without rewriting its own progression.
Our offer: a distinctive-specialty-ready curriculum, free to review.
Safety & dive medicine
On scuba, breathe naturally and continuously as trained; never hold, skip or deliberately restrict your breathing. Keep attention on your buddy, buoyancy, gas and surroundings. Leave optional exercises out of descents, ascents and any demanding task.
Our offer: an open invitation to review the Standard's safety language, line by line.
Conservation guardians
Bring your volunteers, local community and partner centers together for a practical introduction to presence and ocean care. There is a place on shore, too.
An adaptable one-day introduction, with an optional second day. Bring your existing partners and community together to prepare, take part and reflect. No MDI course or purchase is required to participate.
Universities & research
Use wellbeing questionnaires with informed consent and appropriate privacy. FP20 is a reflection tool: its score is not a diagnosis, medical clearance or proof that a programme works. Consult the research registry for study methods, validation evidence and results.
Our offer: teaching materials open to review and a conversation about research methods, consent and appropriate outcome measures.
Our alliances
The centers already taking the Institute's work into the water.
ALLIANCE · CABO DE PALOS, SPAIN
Planeta Azul
The first center to take the Institute's work into the water with us.
Diving into Presence · 6–9 November 2026
What we bring
- A published, open Standard
- A free briefing toolkit
- A public directory with participation status
- Reflection tools with clear evidence limits
- Learning in 11 languages
Public mentions of organisations express admiration and alignment, not formal partnership, until both sides say otherwise.
Write to the Institute
Tell us who you are and what you would like to build. A member of the Institute reads every note personally and replies within two working days.
Tell us what you want to explore. We will respond to your inquiry and agree the next step; submitting this form does not activate a membership, course or booking. Please leave out medical details and learners’ personal information.
Or write directly
lgallardo@worldhappiness.foundation
Nobody dives alone.