A question I return to often: What's the most loving thing I can do right now? For myself? For others? Alongside it, I practice the Four Boundless Qualities Thich Nhat Hanh taught as the foundation of true love: friendliness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

I still remember the bus ride to school after Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom aired. Kids asked if I ate monkey brains, not knowing I came from a vegetarian family with thousands of years of that tradition. I didn't have words for it then.

My teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, taught something called the non-toothache meditation. When we have a toothache, we know instantly it's a gift not to. But most days without one, we don't notice at all. Try noticing what's not wrong right now. Even briefly. 🙏🏽 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np5qoMeZG5Y

Self-Care Awareness Month offers us a chance to remember something we can easily lose sight of when caring for others: we are part of the circle of care, too. I’m sharing a short guided practice from my YouTube channel as an invitation to pause and reconnect with that truth.

I was grateful to sit down with Rare Beauty for a conversation about burnout, self-compassion, boundaries, and what it means to care for ourselves while continuing to care for others. You can read the full thing here: https://rarebeauty.substack.com/p/f4b5df12-afca-430c-8b5d-063f51c0ca22

In the fall of 2010, I was invited to Nagpur to speak with the Dalit Buddhist community about freedom, liberation, and education. I was also invited to spend time with the children there. 🧵

Every August-September, I remember that particular tiredness of walking back into a classroom with tiredness that isn't really about summer ending. Tenderness has become my way back into the body when burnout says push through. Be tender with yourself today. 🙏🏽

Close your eyes. Let an image come to mind that softens you, maybe sunlight through leaves, or your child's hand in yours. Open your eyes and carry it with you.

One of the things I’m learning about leadership is that I can be deeply responsible for an organization without believing I am responsible for carrying it because in reality, I'm stewarding an organism. It might be hard to see at first, but there is a difference. 🧵

One of the things I love most about the TEL Fellowship is that the opening retreat is only the beginning. Now comes the harder and, I think, more important part. We get to practice carrying mindfulness into the rest of our lives and leadership. 🙏🏽💖

I’ve always had a soft spot for HGTV, so talking parenting with Drew Scott at last year’s Rare Impact Fund Gala was a fun surprise. We ended up talking about how caring for children also asks us to care for ourselves—a truly tender moment. Looking forward to this year’s gathering on Oct. 14. 🙏🏽

Kai dancing to Hall & Oates is apparently the perfect trailer for my September newsletter 😂 Sacred boundaries, deeper yeses, carrying only what is mine, and celebrating the opening of the Thich Nhat Hanh School of Interbeing. 💛 sel-every-day.mykajabi.com/meena-s-news...

I’ve been thinking about the difference between a moment that calls for deeper collective reflection and one that asks an individual to look inward. I’ve been on both sides of this, and my Buddhist practice keeps teaching me that compassion and accountability can coexist.

This video is hilarious and, sadly, so true. Thank you to Kat Rogers for sending it to me. I watched it, laughed, and then found myself thinking about the science behind it. 🧵

Three years ago, Dr. James Floman came to me in meditation. That unexpected beginning became a research collaboration exploring the science of tenderness. Our work now suggests tenderness may be a pathway into a deeper experience of interbeing.

Last October, I had the joy of joining Christina Piranio, CEO of San Diego Children's Discovery Museum, Whitney Raser, Director of Education, and my dear friend and colleague Dr. Christobelle Tan for a professional development day for educators. 🧵

Some of the people who shaped the field of Contemplative Education and SEL have also shaped my life. I met Rob Roeser and Kim Schonert-Reichl 15+ years ago. Last year, we reunited as colleagues at Mind & Life’s Summer Research Institute. A beautiful full-circle moment. 🙏🏽💖

My dad is a civil engineer who specializes in bridges. A few years ago, I sat down with him to learn how to build one that lasts. His lessons about structure, foundations, and what makes something hold have shaped how I think about building bridges between people, too.

Tomorrow, our Dharma family will gather to honor the one-year continuation of Reverend Dr. Larry Ward. I feel especially grateful for the time our family had with Larry and Peggy. Looking at these photographs, I feel the tenderness. A life continues in the people we have touched.

In my recent reflection, I shared why our family felt called to help bring the Thích Nhất Hạnh School of Interbeing to life. Today, I wanted to continue that conversation by sharing Jessica Li-Winkler's beautiful vision of what a day at the school might actually feel like. 🙏🏽💛

Envisioning a Day in the Life of Students at the Thích Nhất Hạnh School of Interbeing – The Mindfulness Bell

Follow a school day of a future student, highlighting curriculum aspirations at the heart of the school’s mission: interdependence. 

parallax.org

Teaching is sacred work. It can also be exhausting. As a new school year begins, both truths can coexist. To every educator holding excitement and anxiety at once, your feelings are valid. There's no shame in not feeling ready to go back. I've been there before, too.

In this clip, I reflect on a question that has been staying with me: What would it mean to move at the speed of love? This does not mean stepping away from urgency or avoiding difficult realities. In fact, it often asks more of us. 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb_39Il9G1c

One of the teachings from Thich Nhat Hanh that I return to often is the image of the mother and the crying baby. The teaching is that we each carry both. 🧵

Organization → Organism. My August newsletter explores a leadership stance that has become unmistakably clear to me after 8 years of leading TEL: What changes when we lead the organization while stewarding the organism? sel-every-day.mykajabi.com/meena-s-news...

In just a couple of weeks, on August 17, the Thich Nhat Hanh School of Interbeing will welcome its first students. Even writing that sentence brings tears to my eyes. For a long time, this school has lived as a shared aspiration. 🧵

Appreciation matters. But educators also need to be truly seen. Burnout isn't only about workload. It's about carrying so much of the emotional weight of teaching with so little recognition. A wider circle of care (not just gratitude) is part of what educators need.

Many of the stories we carry arrive with a sense of certainty. Sometimes those stories are true. But they're almost always more complicated. "Are you sure?" creates just enough space for curiosity to enter. It reminds us that certainty can close a door before we've really looked through it.

Before we re-enter classrooms and communities this fall, there's a question worth sitting with: How are we resourcing our own hearts? Those of us who care for others also need to let ourselves be cared for. That's not separate from the work. It's part of what makes the work sustainable.

In this clip from my closing keynote for the California Charter Schools Association, I share a short practice called “Just Like Me.” It’s an invitation to explore what I call emotional proximity: the ability to move a little closer to another person’s humanity, especially when there is tension.

Joy is often described as something we find within ourselves. And there is truth in that. But for those of us in service, some of the deepest joy comes through connection with others who remind us that we do not have to carry everything alone. Transformation happens through community. 🙏🏽💖