Meditation can be a potent practice for creating focus and facilitating learning in the classroom. This is true for kindergarteners, grad students, and everyone in between. Longtime schoolteacher William Meyer has taught a variety of meditation techniques to students, fellow teachers, and parents with remarkable results. In Three Breaths and Begin: A Guide to Meditation in the Classroom, Meyer details how teachers can incorporate mindfulness into their curricula every day. He covers every aspect of teaching meditation, from creating a dedicated space in the classroom to meditating on field trips, during sports, and even in the midst of tragedy.

Drawing on her wide experience studying spiritual teachings from around the world, Opening to Meditation author Diana Lang teaches a gentle, guided approach to meditation that is very easy to implement. In this inspiring interview with host Kim Corbin, Diana reminds us that meditating is as simple as breathing, and she explains how it can reconnect us with our foundational essence of soul and self, where peace and centeredness are always available.

The medical assistant called me in. She tried to retrieve my record on the computer. It wouldn’t come up. She apologized and said she would have to take notes by hand. She was clearly irritated. I decided to do an abbreviated loving-kindness meditation, offering her my best wishes. Silently I said something like:

I’d like you to be safe
I’d like you to be healthy
I’d like you to be happy
I’d like you to be at ease in the world