For those of you who are heavy readers or are enjoying what we are doing and want some extra curricular books to dive into, here are some of my favorite suggestions:

Silence Thich Nhat Hahn

A great, simple, intro to mindfulness and the power of silence in our lives. It is a quick and easy read that shares many tips, tools and thoughts from the Buddhist perspective.

Wherever You Go, There You Are Jon Kabat Zinn

Jon Kabat Zinn is the pioneer of western, non secular mindfulness. Although mindfulness has been around for centuries in the Buddhist world, Kabat Zinn began using it in hospitals (in Massachusetts) with great results. This book is another great, simple intro to mindfulness. Also, it's divided up into tiny sections which is oh-so easy to make your way through! I found it really nice to just read one section a day as a bit of inspiration to chew on.

Say What You Mean Oren Jay Sofer

This book outlines Mindful Communication, aka non-violent communication from a mindfulness perspective. I definitely picked this book up not because I wanted to get better at communicating, but because I was just curious about what Oren had to say (I've heard his podcast of 10% Happier)... WELL, let me tell you how much I got from this book (and how I was put in my place). Everything we do is connected by communication, learning how to communicate better is possibly the single most valuable thing you could do to improve your life drastically. I had a harder time to get through it, just not as easy of a read, but very valuable.

Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness David Treleaven

As a teacher I think this book is a major game changer in your approach to yourself and your students. It beautifully outlines the ins and outs of trauma and how to navigate it. This book is the major guide for our section on Trauma. Plus, it was easy to read and so incredibly interesting.

The Power of Now Eckhart Tolle

This is a classic, and a great place to start if you are getting curious about (ick) self help and development. Although I did read the book cover to cover, it's an easy one to keep on hand and just periodically pick up and read a few pages. It can be a bit redundant but he will suddenly hit on a point that really changes how you see things.

The Culture Code Daniel Coyle

This was a brilliant book that I recommend for just about anyone who works with people (so everyone). Another quick and easy read it goes into what makes organizations run successfully. Yea, it's great for leaders, but realistically we all have a major impact on whatever groups we are apart of, plus as educators you are the leaders of your classrooms and there are some powerful reminders in here that override some of the bad habits that we have picked up from our upbringing and conditioning.

Healing Resistance Kazu Haga

I loved this book so much. He is really casual and direct in his writing, which I enjoyed though I will say that there were comments that I recognized triggered me a bit. His explanation of nonviolence and how use it for the greater good is really powerful. Highly recommend (plus it's easy to read)!

Full Catastrophe Living Jon Kabat-Zinn

Full disclosure, this is more of a textbook! However, it is chock full of everything you need to know about mindfulness based stress reduction and the studies to back it up. It is fully worth having on your shelf and periodically reading a chapter.

Greater Good Magazine

It's slogan is science based insight for a meaningful life and that about sums it up! They have great articles as well as Greater Good in Action which is full of activities that you can do to support resilience, compassion, optimism, kindness, mindfulness and more.