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“In today’s rush, we all think too much— seek too much— want too much — and forget about the joy of just being.”– Eckhart Tolle
A wonderful mindfulness quote that greatly relates to our teachers.
We are constantly surrounded by various stimuli related to our past and present, resulting in not living in the moment and not enjoying our present. It has led us nowhere but to various psychological and emotional problems.
Educators, who are the pillars of a healthy child’s foundation are no exception to this reality. While it is a huge problem, there is also a practical solution to it, which is being mindful.
Mindfulness is the practice of being fully aware of our present, consciously aware of our present thoughts, actions, and emotions, and having control of them. In this post, we have covered some amazing mindfulness resources for educators that they can easily apply in their lives and classrooms and have a fulfilling and joyful life.
Amazing mindfulness resources for teachers
These mindfulness resources are categorized into various domains, such as websites, books, podcasts, and so on. You can use one, two, some, or all as per your liking and become mindful of your actions and surroundings.
I. Apps
Some great mindfulness-based apps are listed below-
1. Headspace: Mindful Meditation
Headspace is a wonderful space for practicing meditation and mindfulness and combining both to get a stress-free and calm life. It is a great resource for teachers to learn mindfulness and incorporate it into their personal as well as professional lives. Teachers, school staff, and school administrators can access the app free of cost and enjoy its various amazing services. Headspace provides guided meditation for reducing stress and tackling sleep problems and helps become mindful of one’s surroundings.
Headspace has an exclusive feature called, ‘Headspace for Educators”, which is a Facebook community for educators where mindful practices are shared and encouraged among educators. Lastly, you can view interactive videos and workout sessions on the app to keep yourself motivated.
App link: Playstore | Appstore
2. Mindfulness Coach
Mindfulness Coach is a self-guided, mindfulness training app for teachers, veterans, service members, and others to engage in mindfulness activity and live in the present moment without passing judgment or getting lost in the spiral of past and future worries. The self-guided training program gradually takes you through simple mindfulness activities and assessments that you can complete to your liking.
There are more than twelve mindfulness activities for teachers, such as getting aware of your senses, body, and breadth, walking mindfully, eating mindfully, etc. The app will also allow you to build your mindfulness knowledge base through the various articles available on the app. Lastly, you can keep track of your mindfulness journey and know about your growth.
App link: Playstore | Appstore
3. Buddhify
Buddhify is an amazing mindfulness and meditation app with tons of features and easy access to its services. The best part is that Buddhify brings you mindfulness services in a way that easily adjusts to your schedule and you don’t have to put extra effort into rescheduling your day. The app has over 200 meditations to help deal with various life challenges and these mindful practices can be applied anytime, such as while talking, walking, eating, etc.
Additionally, Buddhify provides you with both beginner as well as advanced levels of mindful practices that you can start at your pace and the duration of sessions also varies. A wonderful resource at educators’ disposal to bring mindfulness to their classroom and be fully indulged in their present actions.
App link: Playstore | Appstore
II. Books
Here is a list of some informative and amazing books to incorporate mindfulness into your life-
1. Mindfulness for Teachers: Simple Skills for Peace and Productivity in the Classroom
A book by Patricia Jennings is based on scientific and evidence-based strategies for mindfulness that educators can use in their daily lives as well as classrooms. The book also guides educators to become self-aware of their emotions in classrooms and how to regulate their emotions in challenging situations.
This self-help book draws research from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and education and brings to educators the best practices to foster emotional awareness, listening, and mindfulness.
2. Happy Teachers Change the World: A Guide for Cultivating Mindfulness in Education
A book by Thich Nhat Hanh and Katherine Weaver is a step-by-step guide to strategies and techniques for secular mindfulness that can be used by teachers and applied in their classrooms and schools. The book also involves various basic mindfulness practices, devised by renowned Thich Nhat Hanh and guidance from educators who are already using these strategies.
Additionally, you will find plenty of instructions, activities, tips, in-class interpretations, inspirational stories from administrators, counselors, and teachers regarding the discussed mindful strategies, and some more.
3. Teach, Breathe, Learn: Mindfulness In and Out of the Classroom
A book by Meena Srinivasan is dedicated to all teachers and is divided into two parts. Part one deals with guiding educators to cultivate compassion towards their colleagues and students. It will help educators respond to them, rather than only reacting to their conversations.
The second part deals with techniques to cultivate kindness and gratitude towards students and be mindful of their needs and demands. A wonderful book with complete practical exposure to how to bring mindfulness to classrooms and implement it in their daily life.
III. Websites
Some amazing mindfulness websites are as follows-
1. Mindful Schools
Mindful Schools is a website dedicated to empowering educators and cultivating mindful activities among teachers to tackle mental health problems. The website has a plethora of mindful resources for teachers, such as informative articles, courses, videos, workshops, retreats, etc. You can access resources like articles, videos, and research for free on ‘Mindful Schools’, however, a certain amount of fee is required to get access to other resources.
The best feature of ‘Mindful Schools’ is the free community practice, where like-minded peers connect either once a week or a month and get their inspiration for practicing mindfulness daily. It is a great way to foster healthy relationships among educators and help them utilize the power of mindfulness in their daily lives.
2. Ten Percent Happier
Ten Percent Happier is a guided meditation and mindfulness website for educators that provides various resources, such as courses, meditation strategies, and podcasts to keep educators’ spirits uplifted and help them bring the charm of mindfulness to their classrooms.
You can also subscribe to their newsletter and receive weekly encouragement and mindfulness tips, tricks, and techniques that are easy to implement and follow. Whether you are looking for the basics of mindfulness and meditation or a sound way to incorporate it into your busy life, Ten Percent Happier got you covered.
IV. Podcasts
Some enlightening podcasts for implementing mindfulness strategies in your life are-
1. The Balanced Educator Podcast
Kailey Lefko and Josianne Barnabe are the teachers and co-founders of Edcalme and the host of a wonderful podcast channel ‘The Balanced Educator Podcast’. The podcast is dedicated to all educators and parents to bring positive changes in their lives and make their days more fun, mindful, and full of enthusiasm. The podcast covers different strategies on how teachers can be mindful in classroom settings or practice mindfulness in schools.
The major purpose of the podcast is to make educators feel more balanced, tuned, and rooted in themselves, without getting lost in their work pressure. It’s when educators feel content and happy, they can provide the best to the students.
2. The Mindful Educators Podcast
The Mindful Educators Podcast is another wonderful podcast channel that is run by teachers themselves who believe in the power of mindful classrooms and positive school culture and impart the same knowledge through their inspiring episodes.
You will find a great deal of informative episodes on Dave and Erin’s podcasts that deal with various issues, such as anxiety and stress in classrooms, fostering healthy relationships with children, emotional and physical safety, social-emotional learning, and so on. If you are an educator, looking for engaging and fun conversations on how to be mindful in classrooms and school, The Mindful Educators Podcast is your go-to space.
3. The Well Teacher
The Well Teacher, hosted by Jamie Thom is a great space for educators to learn, grow, and reflect. The dedicated podcast channel puts educators first and explores different strategies and techniques that can be useful for teachers to be mindful in their classrooms.
Whether you are looking for some easy-to-apply techniques for having a work-life balance or simply the benefits of being mindful in schools, The Well Teacher has something for you. The informative and inspiring episodes are a great source of knowledge for educators that can easily be brought into daily life and enjoy its various benefits.
V. Best Practices
Some amazing and easy-to-implement mindfulness practices are-
1. Mindful Breathing
Mindful Breathing is getting aware of your breathing pattern. You don’t have to purposefully breathe fast or slow to be mindful of your breathing, rather, breathe normally, and focus on the ins and outs of your breath. You can do this anytime, you feel like you are losing touch with the present. If you are practicing mindful breathing in specifically challenging situations, try to inhale for 3 seconds through your nostrils, hold it for 2 seconds, and slowly exhale in about 4 seconds. Repeat the process until you begin to feel calm.
2. Mindful Listening
Mindful listening or active listening is another great mindfulness practice for educators that can be done anytime and anywhere. It simply involves listening to others with a genuine intent of responding and trying to avoid criticism, judgment, or other thoughts while listening to others. It is an effective method of communication and being aware of the present moment. It also helps the listener become aware of the speaker’s thoughts and emotions and communicate efficiently.
3. 5 senses technique: 5-4-3-2-1
A super effective technique to gather your scattered thoughts and emotions and focus on the present moment. Begin with noticing five things you can see around yourself, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. Again, this can be easily done in the classroom and will help the educators focus on the present moment with complete concentration.
Bottom line
Apart from mindfulness online games, these mindfulness resources for teachers are great go-to tools for understanding, learning, and implementing mindfulness strategies in daily life and enjoying its benefits across different areas of life.
Being mindful helps in effectively dealing with psychological issues, such as anxiety, depression, stress, etc., emotional issues, such as negative thoughts, overthinking, etc., and physiological issues, such as body pains. As an educator, utilize these resources to their full extent and live a rich and healthy life at both personal and professional levels.
I am Sehjal Goel, a psychology student, and a writer. I am currently pursuing my Masters’s from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Child psychology has always fascinated me and I have a deep interest in learning about disabilities in children and spreading awareness regarding the same. My other areas of interest are neuropsychology and cognitive psychology. Connect me on Linkedin