Meena Srinivasan - Teach, Breathe, Learn: Mindfulness in and out of the Classroom

PRAISE FOR TEACH, BREATHE, LEARN

Now is the time to transform our educational system for the sake of our children. We need to think outside the box and embrace new approaches that can draw out our deep inner resources. Mindfulness offers a way to tap into the inner resilience, focus and well-being that are already inside us. Teach, Breathe, Learn is a key that unlocks this inner potential. This book makes mindfulness accessible for teachers everywhere and is a great resource for sharing mindfulness with young people. It is a helpful tool for parents and educators of all backgrounds. As an accomplished international educator and dedicated mindfulness practitioner, Meena Srinivasan brings these two worlds together in this compelling book, showing how to embed mindfulness into teaching and life. Meenas current work implementing Social Emotional Learning in the Oakland public school district embodies her commitment to transforming our nations education system from the inside out.

Congressman Tim Ryan, A Mindful Nation

Completely inspiring. Meena Srinivasan addresses what mindfulness training is, why it matters, and how to bring it to the classroom. What a smart, compelling read! I want to run out and buy Teach, Breathe, Learn for every teacher I know.

Kathryn Lee, project director of RULER for Families, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence

Meena Srinivasan offers an inspiring vision of what a truly mindful education can look like. Her eloquent personal anecdotes and lesson plans are a guide into a new and transformative educational paradigm.

Daniel Rechtschaffen, MFT, The Way of Mindful Education

Teach, Breathe, Learn provides valuable insights and practical tips for educators. It is a wonderful toolbox, ideal for both professional and personal development.

Lilian Cheung, DSc, RD, coauthor, Savor

Clear, honest, and heartfelt, Teach, Breathe, Learn is a book by a truly exceptional teacher. It addresses the day-to-day realities of classroom teaching and offers teachers very practical ways to share specific skills to help students cultivate inner and outer peace throughout their school day, and in their lives beyond the classroom.

Amy Saltzman MD, A Still Quiet Place

Meena Srinivasans experienced and kind voice, her respect for her colleagues, and her inclusion of the voices of her students demonstrates a lived understanding of the interconnection that mindfulness reveals. This is a careful and comprehensive guide to mindful teaching and learning.

Mirabai Bush, Contemplative Practices in Higher Education

Teach, Breathe, Learn is a very readable, insightful book, filled with wisdom, that makes crystal clear the power of mindfulness in the classroom and how it can transform students lives.

Theo Koffler, founder, Mindfulness Without Borders

Meena Srinivasans authentic teachers voice narrates her journey into mindfulness both in and out of the classroom. Teach, Breathe, Learn is a delicious masala of recipes for any educator interested in mapping their own journey into mindfulness.

Lauren Alderfer, PhD, Mindful Monkey, Happy Panda

Teach, Breathe, Learn provides an intimate look into the life and teaching of an experienced mindfulness practitioner. Meena Srinivasan beautifully describes developing and sharing mindfulness lessons with students and teachers and using these same mindfulness practices in her own life.

Richard Brady, president, Mindfulness in Education Network

This truly is authentic social and emotional learning in action! Srinivasan combines personal mindfulness practice with her skills as a gifted classroom teacher to produce a model for all who seek to explore and develop mindfulness in education.

Kevin Hawkins, middle school principal, International School of Prague

This book offers a model of teaching that can be embraced by any teacher ready to commit to a journey of self-awareness, mindfulness, and authenticity. Meenas students demonstrate, in their own words, what it means to be human and to live with gratitude and compassion.

Prajna Hallstrom, founder of the Karuna School: A High School for Peace

A must-have for mindful teachers. Teach, Breathe, Learn is chock-full of useful resources. It shows why and how mental fitness enhances teaching and increases learning. Srinivasan is a teachers teacher, and her authentic and authoritative voice communicates practical wisdom with gentleness and grace.

Deborah Schoeberlein David, MEd, Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness

Meena Srinivasan shares detailed and inspirational narratives and reflections on her careful approach to support the social, emotional and moral development of her students. She provides curricular materials and wise guidance for anyone wishing to bring mindfulness into the lives of students.

Irene McHenry, PhD, Executive Director, Friends Council on Education

In memory of Tom Little, founding teacher and director of Park Day School, the birthplace of mindful schools. May Toms commitment to bringing mindfulness into education continue through the countless lives hes touched.

To all my studentsyou are my greatest teachers.

You can count the seeds in an apple, but you cant count the apples in a seed. When you teach, you never know how many lives you will influence... you are teaching for eternity.

Karen Jensen

CONTENTS

by Thich Nhat Hanh

by Shantum Seth

HAPPY TEACHERS CHANGE THE WORLD. Each of us can learn to cultivate and grow our joy; this is the gift and the invitation of mindfulness. We dont need more time in our day to be mindful. We can simply do the things we usually do, but with deepening awareness, relaxation and joy. We cant transmit mindfulness if we dont embody it first.

The most important thing we can offer others is our own happiness and peace. We can do this, first, by bringing greater mindfulness and ease into our own daily lives and, second, by sharing these qualities with our students and colleagues. This book, by a master teacher, shows us how.

Teach, Breathe, Learn is a practical guide to help educators find their own unique path to deeper fulfillment and efficacy in their own lives and in their work. Meena is a precious ambassador of mindfulness, concretely showing us how to bring mindfulness to the front lines of the classroom, the staffroom, and everywhere throughout our day.

The wisdom in this book is grounded in Meenas personal experience of applying mindfulness and compassion to respond rather than react to situations, in order to nurture what is best in us and in our students, and in order to skillfully take care of difficult moments.

These teachings are of a secular nature, reflecting the innate human qualities of mindfulness and compassion. The practices and curriculum in this book are the very foundations of creating true peace in the world. They are a powerful peace education that our students, educators, families and society desperately need. I am deeply pleased that such a resource will now be available for educators and caregivers.