This book is about Yau Yan Wong’s experiences as a teacher-researcher in practicing, teaching, and researching mindfulness practice in Thailand over the past 13 years. After learning from several Buddhist masters from different wisdom traditions, she introduced mindfulness practice to the students and teachers in an international school to nurture a healthier and more compassionate culture within the community. This book includes Wong’s years of research findings on the benefits of mindfulness on child development, such as better focus, higher emotional intelligence, psychological resilience, and more. It also includes many short mindfulness practices and heuristics for teachers and parents to promote their emotional well-being and that of others in their daily lives.

Table of Contents:
Preface: Finding an Alternative Way of Living  Yau Yan Wong Acknowledgements List of Figures and Tables 1 Why Mindfulness?  1 Reuniting with an Old Friend  2 What Is Mindfulness?  3 Why Mindfulness?  4 First Awakening Experience  5 An Overview of This Book 2 What Is Mindfulness?  1 Waking Up from Thoughts  2 Thai Plum Village Monastery  3 Jesus and Buddha as Brothers  4 Understanding Mindfulness  5 A Different Kind of Faith  6 A Day of Mindfulness  7 Waking Up  8 Mindfulness in Daily Life  9 Teaching Mindfulness to Children  10 Mindfulness Practice and Emotional Intelligence 3 A Simpler Form of Happiness  1 Question about Renunciation  2 First Vipassanā Retreat at Chom Tong Temple  3 Many Teachers, Many Learners  4 Concentration vs. Mindfulness  5 Meeting Luang Phu Tong  6 Lessons Learned from the First Retreat  7 The Importance of Early Intervention 4 Becoming an Observer  1 Solving Problems with Mindfulness  2 Meeting Venerable Suksan  3 Roadblock to Meditation – Trying Too Hard  4 Letting Go  5 The Problem with Bullying  6 Cultivating Wisdom  7 Cultivating Compassion  8 Transforming Anger  9 Mindful Parenting  10 Transformations in the Classroom  11 Mindful Listening  12 Mindfulness and the Five Faculties  13 Ten Perfections  14 Knowledge and Practice  15 Problem with Laziness 5 Another Level of Consciousness  1 Exploring the Meaning of Success  2 The Second Retreat  3 Help Yourself First before Helping Others  4 Dealing with Pain  5 Balancing Five Strengths  6 The Observer Is a Non-Self  7 Separating Body and Mind  8 Paradox of Jedi  9 How to Deal with Physical Pain  10 About Afterlife  11 Special Phenomenon  12 Suffering from Impermanence  13 Attachment to Happiness  14 Levels of Merit-Giving  15 Meeting My Deceased Relatives  16 Beginning of the Exam  17 The Hardest Three Hours  18 Defining Self  19 Three Prerequisites of Practice  20 Strategies to Survive  21 The Power of Concentration  22 Albert Einstein Was Right  23 Four Kinds of Wealth  24 The Final Assignment  25 The Best Gifts  26 Forgiveness  27 The Final Challenge  28 After the Retreat  29 Combining Zen Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism 6 Practicing Mindfulness in Parenting  1 Embracing Imperfection  2 Becoming a Parent  3 Practicing Mindfulness in Delivery  4 Mindfulness Practice for Busy Moms  5 Transforming My Teaching Practice Again  6 Teachers’ Discussions about Students’ Well-Being  7 Does Learning Have to Be Painful?  8 Mindfulness for Families  9 A Few Shots of Mindful Parenting 7 Nurturing a Mindful School Community  1 The Secular Approach to Mindfulness  2 Mindfulness Curriculum for Children  3 Mindfulness Sessions for Teachers  4 Mindfulness Professional Learning Community  5 Mindful Living  6 Hurrying Energy  7 Working Meditation  8 Nowhere to Go, Nothing to Do  9 Not So Lazy Monday  10 Walk with Me  11 Hugging Meditation  12 Combining Buddhist and Secular Mindfulness Practices  13 Scaffolding Mindfulness Education 8 Just Know So  1 Sustained Attention vs. Mindfulness  2 Meeting Luangpu Pramote  3 A Boundless Mind  4 International Vipassanā Retreat  5 First Dhamma Talk  6 It Is Okay to Feel Not Okay  7 Be a Turtle, Not a Hare  8 About Enlightenment  9 Desire and the Five Precepts  10 The Beginning of Wisdom Development  11 Automatic Knower  12 Mindfulness for Insight  13 Free the Mind 9 Understand Mindfulness through Science  1 Developing a Stable Mind  2 Mindfulness and Sustainable Development  3 Mindfulness Defined by Psychologists  4 Authentic Inquiry  5 The Brain and the Mind  6 The Purpose of Mindfulness Practice  7 Understanding Non-Self  8 Reorientation of Research 10 Transcending Happiness and Suffering  1 The Puppy Mind  2 Dhamma Discussion with Monk Koffman  3 The Nature of the Mind  4 The Nature of Thoughts  5 The Observation of Craving  6 Finding a Temporary Home Base for the Mind  7 Vipassanā and Samatha Practices  8 Application of Mindfulness  9 Suffering Is Our Teacher 11 How to Cultivate a Stable Mind  1 Find a Home for the Mind  2 Venerable Nimmalo’s Story  3 Beginning His Monastic Life  4 Use Samatha to Lead Mindfulness  5 Right Samādhi  6 One Pointedness and a Stable Mind  7 Mindfulness and Well-Being  8 Mindfulness in Education  9 The Story of Sariputta  10 Can the Mind Be Measured?  11 Separating the Five Aggregates  12 Observing the Impermanence of a Phenomenon  13 Imagine an Alternative Way of Teaching and Learning 12 How to Cultivate an Equanimous Mind  1 No Mud, No Lotus  2 Ajahn Malee’s Story  3 Joining Silent Retreats  4 Using Her Home as the Temple  5 First Awakening Moment  6 Seeing the Dhamma  7 Becoming a Dhamma Teacher  8 Practitioners vs. Non-Practitioners  9 Facing Crises with Mindfulness  10 Observe Ourselves with Equanimity  11 Experience of Vipassanā Moment 13 Mindfulness in Daily Life Heuristics  1 The Separation between the Body and the Mind  2 The Basic Principles  3 An Overview of Case Studies  4 Reflection on the MiDL Program 14 Facing Crises with Equanimity Forum  1 Begin with the Idea of Sharing  2 Online Informal Science Education for the Global Community  3 Sharing in a Circle  4 Managing Stress  5 Ameliorating Intense Emotions  6 Practicing Mindfulness in the Middle Way  7 Anger Management  8 The Path of Surrender  9 Surrendering vs. Blind Faith 15 Now, Present and Future  1 Learning to Let Go  2 Ongoing Projects  3 Less Is More 16 Developing a Mindful Lifestyle  1 Mindfulness Is for Everyone  2 Upholding the Five Precepts  3 Find a Temporary Home  4 Daily Meditation  5 Metta Meditation  6 Cultivating Wisdom in Daily Life  7 Useful Links Glossary Index