Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Happy Teachers Change the World is the first official, authoritative manual of the Thich Nhat Hanh/Plum Village approach to mindfulness in education. Spanning the whole range of schools and grade levels, from preschool through higher education, these techniques are grounded in the everyday world of schools, colleges, and universities.

Beginning firmly with teachers and all those working with students, including administrators, counselors, and other personnel, the Plum Village approach stresses that educators must first establish their own mindfulness practice since everything they do in the classroom will be based on that foundation. The book includes easy-to-follow, step-by-step techniques perfected by educators to teach themselves and to apply to their work with students and colleagues, along with inspirational stories of the ways in which teachers have made mindfulness practice alive and relevant for themselves and their students across the school and out into the community.

The instructions in Happy Teachers Change the World are offered as basic practices taught by Thich Nhat Hanh, followed by guidance from educators using these practices in their classrooms, with ample in-class interpretations, activities, tips, and instructions. Woven throughout are stories from members of the Plum Village community around the world who are applying these teachings in their own lives and educational contexts.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword (p. xiii)
• Letter to a young teacher thich nhat hanh (p. xvii)
• Preface: A vision for education the plum village community (p. xxvi)
• Preface: The plum village contribution to the field of mindfulness in education (p. xxxii)
• Part 1 Core practices
• 1 The breath (p. 2)
• Breathe, you are alive! thich nhat hanh (p. 3)
• Teaching notes on getting in touch with our breath (p. 6)
• Core practice: getting in touch with our breath (p. 8)
• Mindful breathing in our lives and our teaching (p. 12)
• 2 The bell of mindfulness (p. 20)
• An ambassador for peace and happiness thich nhat hanh (p. 21)
• Teaching notes on the bell of mindfulness (p. 24)
• Core practice: inviting the bell (p. 27)
• Core practice: listening to the bell (p. 28)
• The bell of mindfulness in our lives and our teaching (p. 30)
• 3 Sitting (p. 40)
• Sitting like a mountain thich nhat hanh (p. 41)
• Teaching notes on sitting mindfully (p. 44)
• Core practice: short sitting practice (p. 47)
• Teaching notes on finding the best sitting position (p. 52)
• Sitting mindfully in our lives and our teaching (p. 53)
• 4 Walking (p. 58)
• Walking just to walk thich nhat hanh (p. 59)
• Teaching notes on mindful walking (p. 61)
• Core practice: mindful walking in a circle (p. 63)
• Core practice: longer mindful walk (p. 66)
• Mindful walking in our lives and our teaching (p. 69)
• 5 The body (p. 81)
• Body and mind united thich nhat hanh (p. 82)
• Teaching notes on the body practices (p. 84)
• Teaching notes on awareness of body and breath (p. 85)
• Core practice: awareness of the body and the breath (p. 86)
• Teaching notes on ten mindful movements (p. 88)
• Core practice: ten mindful movements (p. 89)
• Teaching notes on deep relaxation (p. 96)
• Core practice: deep relaxation (p. 98)
• Teaching notes on lying down in the classroom (p. 102)
• Awareness of the body and body practices, in our lives and our teaching (p. 104)
• 6 Eating (p. 110)
• The cosmos in a carrot thich nhat hanh (p. 111)
• A food contemplation (p. 112)
• Teaching notes on mindful eating (p. 113)
• Core practice: tangerine meditation (p. 116)
• Core practice: eating a snack mindfully (p. 119)
• Core practice: eating a whole meal mindfully (p. 121)
• Mindful eating in our lives and our teaching (p. 122)
• 7 Taking care of our emotions (p. 130)
• No mud, no lotus thich nhat hanh (p. 131)
• Teaching notes on taking care of our emotions (p. 136)
• Teaching notes on using our breath to get in touch with our emotions (p. 138)
• Core practice: using our breath to get in touch with our emotions (p. 139)
• Teaching notes on tree in a storm (p. 142)
• Core practice: tree in a storm (p. 143)
• Teaching notes on pebble meditation (p. 145)
• Core practice: pebble meditation (p. 147)
• Taking care of emotions in our lives and in our teaching (p. 151)
• 8 Being together (p. 160)
• Deep listening and loving speech thich nhat hanh (p. 161)
• Teaching notes on being together (p. 165)
• Core practice: sharing in a circle with deep listening and loving speech (p. 168)
• Teaching notes on beginning anew (p. 173)
• Core practice: beginning anew (p. 178)
• Being together in our lives and in our teaching (p. 180)
• Part 2 Bringing it all together
• 9 Cultivating mindfulness in ourselves (p. 194)
• Mindfulness begins with ourselves (p. 195)
• What do teachers gain from practicing mindfulness? (p. 196)
• Becoming more mindful ourselves: first steps (p. 201)
• Deepening our practice: going on a retreat (p. 206)
• Building a local community (p. 209)
• Cultivating mindfulness in our everyday lives (p. 210)
• 10 Cultivating mindfulness in our students and classrooms (p. 214)
• Cultivating mindfulness in our students (p. 215)
• Relating skillfully to student behavior (p. 215)
• Preparing to teach students mindfulness (p. 218)
• Methods and approaches for teaching mindfulness (p. 221)
• Mindfulness and learning (p. 224)
• Integrating mindfulness within an ethical and social and emotional curriculum (p. 227)
• Mindfulness and the mainstream subject-based curriculum (p. 238)
• When mindfulness is difficult to teach (p. 256)
• 11 Cultivating mindfulness across school and university communities (p. 260)
• Cultivating a sense of family (p. 261)
• Sharing mindfulness with our colleagues (p. 262)
• Reaching out to students' families (p. 271)
• A whole-school, comprehensive approach (p. 279)
• Happy teachers change the world (p. 285)
• Appendices
• A Summaries of the core practices (p. 289)
• Getting in touch with our breath (p. 290)
• Inviting and listening to the bell (p. 292)
• Mindful sitting (p. 294)
• Mindful walking (p. 296)
• Awareness of the body and the breath (p. 298)
• Ten mindful movements (p. 299)
• Deep relaxation (p. 302)
• Mindful eating (tangerine meditation) (p. 304)
• Using our breath to get in touch with our emotions (p. 306)
• Tree in a storm (p. 308)
• Pebble meditation (p. 310)
• Circle sharing (p. 312)
• Beginning anew (p. 314)
• B The five mindfulness trainings (p. 316)
• C The five contemplations before eating (p. 319)
• D What next? resources to develop your personal practice and your teaching of mindfulness (p. 320)
• Notes (p. 330)
• Acknowledgments (p. 334)
• Contributors to this book (p. 336)

Author notes provided by Syndetics