You may have the list of easy beach reads to break out this summer or plan on trying to finally find the time to muddle through the novel that you started in January and fell asleep reading each time you find a spare moment. By all means, finish those books!
But if you are looking for some book recommendations that can provide you with some foundational knowledge about mindfulness and increasing well being, books that you can ruminate on throughout the summer or books that may have some applicability when you get back in the classroom, look no further than the following list…
Memoir of CBS News correspondent, Dan Harris’ unlikely path to becoming a proponent of mindfulness practice. Forever a cynic, he concludes that after consistent practice he’s about “10% happier and that’s better than before!” If you are uncertain about the benefits of taking time to practice mindfulness and want to hear a first hand account of the journey from doubter to meditator, this is a great book to check out.
Great book for basic ways to integrate mindfulness into your daily life and into your students’. This book is especially great at showing small places where mindfulness can be added to a teacher’s already busy day. It includes scripts and other guides that make the implementation fairly smooth.
Written by a teacher, for teachers, Mindfulness for Teachers is a great read to get a deeper understanding of how mindfulness is especially useful for our profession. This book is practical, useful and thought provoking. It posits that through practicing mindfulness, teachers will be able to better manage stress, anxiety, and burnout while improving classroom management and building relationships. This book is primarily focused on teachers practicing mindfulness, not on teaching mindfulness to students, so it’s a great book to start with on this journey.
The Whole-Brain Child gives readers a collection of great, easily accessible strategies to understand and more adequately support the growth and development of the adolescent brain. This is a great book for teachers or parents!
Brainstorm provides readers with a revealing look at the teenage brain and why this phase of development is one of the least understood and most important to nurture. Siegel provides countless useful tools and activities to help turn this often frustrating stage of life into something much more rewarding.
This book is not specifically geared toward teachers or education but it provides invaluable information, excellent tools, helpful meditations and necessary reminders about the importance of cultivating self-compassion in our lives. After reading this book, it will be clear how practicing self-compassion may help transform both your personal life and your classroom. Practicing self-compassion this summer may be a great way to start your school year off right.
Hopefully you can leisurely enjoy some of these books while thinking about how some of their concepts can be implemented during the school year. Please feel free to comment on any of the previously books or add some books on your “to read” list to the comment section below!