Number 59

In this issue…

• Stopping

• New interview

• Ongoing events

  Happy Teachers Sangha of the Americas

  Happy Teachers Sangha International

• Upcoming events

  Nourishing a Peaceful and Spacious Heart - Educator Retreat – Wednesday July 3 - Sunday July 7. Alstead, New Hampshire

Stopping 

In Human Bells of Mindfulness, the theme of my first newsletter, I described the mindfulness practice my colleague Ann and I engaged in for a year in which, whenever and wherever we saw each other, we would stop, smile to each other and take three slow in and out breaths. I continued the theme of stopping in The Pause that Refreshes, the theme of Newsletter #34, describing inviting a bell to sound during my classes as a way of inviting the students to come back to the present moment.

However, stopping provides much more than refreshment. When I lead educator retreats, following the sound of the bell, I often invite participants to come back to the present moment and be aware of whatever thoughts and feelings are present. This is precisely what I described in Meditate Before Tests, the theme of Newsletter #2. Stopping to look inward has several functions. I told my students that there was nothing wrong with what they found. However, whatever they discovered wasn’t the whole story, and they didn’t need to get stuck there. Memories accompanied by positive thoughts and feelings were also present. We then turned our attention to our positive memories.

Going a step further with educators, stopping and looking deeply at what we found inside gave us the opportunity to discern ingredients of distress that had surfaced, some of which we might be able to mitigate. Others we could hold with compassion. We might, on the other hand, discover that we are feeling happy and pause to savor the moment and even notice some of its ingredients, which we might give more attention to in the future.

New interview

Psychiatry & Society Podcast Interview by Dr. Reuben Hendler on Mindfulness in Education - March 4, 2024

Ongoing events

Happy Teachers Sangha of the Americas on Zoom the third Thursday of most months from 7:00 until 8:30 pm ET

Happy Teachers Sangha International on Zoom the third Saturday of some months from 7:00 until 8:30 am ET

Check the Wake Up Schools Website for information and Zoom links for meetings. These meetings are intended to support and connect educators who are interested in Plum Village practice in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. Each meeting has a theme, specifically focused on the educator, e.g., “Free at Work” and sometimes for both educators and their students, e.g., “Rest.”

 Upcoming Events

Nourishing a Peaceful and Spacious Heart - Educator Retreat – Wednesday July 3 - Sunday July 7. Morning Sun Mindfulness Center, Alstead, New Hampshire. This retreat will be of interest to teachers, counselors, and administrators.