Teach, Breathe, Learn: Mindfulness in and Out of the Classroom

Meena Srinivasan began teaching for the reasons many elect this difficult profession: to touch lives and help make the world a better place. But with the demands of covering curriculum and supervising children, she'd all but forgotten her aspiration. During a retreat for educators led by Zen master and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, Meena learned for the first time about mindfulness. The simple instructions on bringing awareness to breathing brought her a new and transformational sense of calm and peace. "Mindfulness helped reawaken the light inside myself and I came to see how mindfulness, this wholesome awareness of what's happening in the present moment inside of us and around us, could be a powerful tool to promote wellbeing in my entire school community." In "Teach, Breathe, Learn," Srinivasan highlights how mindfulness can be an effective tool for bringing kindness, virtue, and love into the classroom. "The unwritten curriculum in the classroom is the teacher's presence," writes Srinivasan. Before teaching content, teachers must begin by cultivating an inner sense of love and authenticity. What makes this book truly unique is Srinivasan's perspective as a classroom teacher, wrestling daily with the conditions about which she writes. Each chapter begins with a personal narrative concerning a challenge Srinivasan faced during the school day and how a specific mindfulness practice helped her work with that challenge in a skillful, loving way. Testimonials from students, teaching colleagues, and parents appear in each chapter along with a mindfulness practice that can be shared with students and fellow teachers. Part 1 of the book, How Do I Implement Mindfulness in My Life?, helps teachers develop compassion and shift from "reacting" to "responding" to demands. Only by dissolving the boundaries of student and teacher and responding authentically to another human being can teachers receive students with warmth and create a classroom filled with peace. Part 2: Sharing Mindfulness, offers techniques for cultivating loving kindness and seeing students, colleagues, and parents as oneself. The author shares what research says about the effects of mindfulness practice on academic, social, and emotional learning. But even more importantly, she shares the deep experience of presence and resilience that comes from a dedicated practice of mindfulness. The last section of the books introduces the complete curriculum any el-hi teacher can use to incorporate mindfulness into their teaching regimen, replete with lesson plans, PowerPoint diagrams, handouts, and homework assignments.