Resources
Articles
Belonging: The Heart of Social and Emotional Learning (Medium - K12 Inspired Ideas)
A reflection on SEL as the heart of belonging. Explore what belonging truly means, especially as our nation faces a deep sense of polarization.
Five Self-Care Strategies
Five evidence-based strategies to support self-care. A great resource to share with staff and support each other.
Three Keys to Infusing SEL into What You Already Teach (Greater Good Magazine)
Teachers can incorporate SEL into everyday classroom lessons—and make education come alive for everyone.
Social and Emotional Learning Starts with Adults (ASCD Express)
Three wellness practices that strengthen social-emotional learning competencies and cultivate Adult SEL.
Mindful School Leadership (Educational Leadership Magazine)
Tips for how to incorporate Mindfulness into your life as an educational leader.
Benefits of Meditation (Educational Leadership Magazine)
A guided meditation for Educational Leaders and tips for how to meditate.
10 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement (Mindful Magazine)
Meena’s featured in the fourth annual focus on women leaders of the mindfulness movement. Ten women share what they’ve learned about living a life of meaning and purpose.
Powerful Synergy: SEL & Mindfulness Working Together (Mindful Schools)
Explore how Mindfulness and SEL can work together to optimize learning and cultivate compassion in schools.
Can We Make Real, Transformative Change in Education (Greater Good Science Center Magazine)
Learn about the organization Meena leads and co-founded, Transformative Educational Leadership.
Transformative Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) as a Catalyst for Climate Action (Kosmos)
Explore how SEL can support climate action in K12 Education.
Transformative Social and Emotional Learning as a Catalyst for Climate Action (Mind & Life)
A shorter version of Meena’s feature in Kosmos about how SEL and Climate Action connect.
Tips for Integrating Mindfulness into Virtual Settings
This guide includes a samples meeting agenda and template for integrating mindfulness into professional settings.
Meditations
Meena’s meditations can also be experienced on these platforms:
“Meena composed and recorded beautiful, secular guided audio meditations for UC Berkeley's Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Foundations course. It was important to include embodied experiences that helped to foster adult SEL among the course's students, who are all in-service educators and administrators. I'm so grateful to Meena for bringing her genius and so much heart to the project!”
- Pamela McVeagh-Lally, Founding Partner, SEL Consulting Collaborative
This expanding awareness meditation focuses first on your breath followed by body, sounds, thoughts and feelings and finally open awareness where you’re choicelessly aware of whatever is most predominant in your consciousness. When engaged in daily, this practice of expanding awareness can be foundational in building our meditation muscle.
This guided mindful breathing practice is inspired by the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. Through utilizing a gatha (short, insightful phrase to support present moment awareness) and a bell this practice gently guides one into relaxation and presence.
This short, guided meditation is focused on mindfulness of the body. This is a great beginner practice to start cultivating present moment awareness of sensations felt in the body. Try this practice before you begin a longer body scan.
Mindfulness of sounds is a wonderful, accessible way to practice mindfulness. Through this short, guided practice you are encouraged to just listen to the sounds of the earth, take them in and be with whatever sounds arise around you.
This meditation guides you through allowing thoughts to come and go as they please, without judging or attaching to them. This meditation also invites you to notice whatever feelings arise for you, where you feel the emotion in your body and bring a quality of acceptance and curiosity to your emotions. Plan to engage in this practice for at least 10 minutes. After the guided meditation ends after 5 minutes, continue to sit for at least another 5 minutes observing your thoughts and feelings.
This guided loving kindness practice focuses on sending loving kindness to oneself. Through this short practice you are invited to hold yourself with loving awareness and compassion as you cultivate mindful, heart-centered breathing.
This is a short body scan practice adapted from Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). In this practice you are invited to slowly and intentionally scan your body. Body scans promote body awareness, stress awareness, and relaxation. Try to commit to practicing daily either first thing in the morning or before you go to sleep for maximum benefits.
This practice of yoga nidra is a powerful way to relax, cultivate awareness and deepen one's intention (sankalpa). The focus of this yoga nidra practice is to strengthen one's awareness and understanding as the "witness." Yoga nidra is most effective when it's practiced with frequency.
This guided deep relaxation is inspired by the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism. This practice is an invitation to care for your body and being with compassion and appreciation.
This short progressive muscle relaxation practice is a great way to quickly relax your body throughout the day. Through tensing and releasing muscles you are invited to care for your body. This practice can also support you with falling asleep.
This short, guided meditation is offered to cultivate rootedness and open heartedness during challenging times. During the meditation we are invited to draw strength from those who have come before us. This meditation is inspired by the teachings of Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh and was featured on Mindful.org.
Educational Leadership Magazine asked Meena to record a meditation specifically for educators to cultivate wellbeing. This meditation utilizes mindfulness bells and our breathing to help cultivate a sense of calm and emotional balance.
Affectionate breathing is an accessible way to practice self-compassion. In this guided meditation you will connect feelings of affection and kindness with the act of slow, deep, mindful breathing. This meditation is inspired by the work of Kristen Neff and Chris Germer.
This longer loving kindness practice begins with showering oneself with loving kindness and then adapts the traditional loving kindness practice to include loved ones, neutral parties and eventually all inhabitants of the world. This is a great practice to engage in once you have spent some time cultivating loving kindness for yourself.
This Lake Meditation is one of the visualization meditations offered in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). This traditional MBSR meditation has been enhanced with music. Visualization meditations are powerful because our brains are a fan of visual stimuli.
Podcasts
Mindful Education, Trauma, and SEL
The Power of Gratitude
Mindfulness, SEL, and Leadership
Relationship Focused Classrooms
Mindfulness as a Daily Journey of SEL
Teachers Aligned
The Mindful Podcast
Raising Emotionally Intelligent Kids
The 360 Podcast on Student-Centered Education
Videos
TEDx Talk: Unlocking the Secret Powers of Tenderness
Mindfulness & SEL in Service of Belonging Offered in Partnership with UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center to launch Meena’s SEL Every Day Online Courses (April 2020)
Coalition of Schools Educating Mindfully Equity Based Conversation (Jan 2022)
Discussing key strategies for SEL in Secondary
Meena introducing the powerful concept of Interbeing at the 2019 SEL Exchange
Meena speaking about the importance of integrating Leadership, Equity, SEL & Mindfulness
Meena answering a question from the audience on leveraging support for SEL and Equity when it isn’t seen as a priority from the top