Education
Mindfulness is being aware of what is happening inside and around us in the present moment. It is recognized as an essential support for students, teachers, school administrators and parents. Medical research says that mindfulness is known to:
- increase attention and concentration
- develop emotional and cognitive awareness and understanding
- develop interpersonal awareness and skills
- decrease stress, attention deficiency, depression, anxiety and hostility and enhance inner resilience
- promote a sense of well-being
Cultivating mindfulness in education brings practices to educators so that they can use it in their own lives and share it with their students. The workshop will include talks, questions and answers, group discussions, guided meditations, exercises in stress reduction and relaxation, mindful- consumption, and practices to restore and maintain good communication.
Wake Up Schools
Mindfulness and Applied Ethics in Education: For several years, inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh’s Wake Up Schools movement, Ahimsa Trust has been offering Mindfulness Trainings in schools. Wake Up Schools is a world-wide movement believing in the transformative power of mindfulness, especially in learning environments. It includes a global network of dedicated practitioners who are committed to establishing a steady personal practice (breath, walking, movement, body scan, eating, and more). In a spirit of service, educators explore how to integrate core practices into their educational setting with children, teenagers, young adults, and all members of their school communities.
Since 2008, Ahimsa has offered numerous workshops to thousands of educators across India. The workshops are designed as retreats, with the goal of assisting teachers to imbibe the practice for their personal lives and then, to share it with their students.
Ahimsa Trust is committed to reviving the pedagogical practice of Mindfulness in Education, in India.
Do watch a documentary on Wake Up Schools in India
If you would like more information on the international movement of Wake Up Schools please visit
Mindfulness Training and Teacher's Training retreats
Mrs Kirandeep Kaur, Principal Heritage GCE campus, having experienced Ahimsa Trust’s 2-day retreat at Heritage Rohini in January 2023, was very keen to bring Plum Village practices to Heritage GCE campus, which she now leads.
There was a total of 105 participants for the day of Mindfulness. All teaching faculty and administrative staff from the GCE, and 5 participants each from all the other Heritage campuses participated in the day’s practices. They all offered beautiful presence and very little or no distractions through the day. The time management of each practice, flow of sessions and movement through the day was well planned and well executed. Read More ..
Ahimsa Trust in collaboration with The Heritage School, Rohini in New Delhi, conducted a two-day workshop for 150 teachers and administrative staff. Senior facilitators of Ahimsa Trust and The Heritage School teachers jointly designed the workshop taking into account the school’s needs. The two-day programme held on January 5th-6th, 2023, offered a combination of Mindfulness practices with talks and meetings in small groups. The school’s deep interest and readiness to practice was evident from the very first session. The participants were eager, alert and focused, on time and asked meaningful questions. They shared about their personal struggles and were honest about challenges they had with meditation.
Yakshi Gulati, Principal, welcomed the Sangha members and the school participants and gave a brief history of the school’s association with Mindfulness. She introduced Dh. Shantum the Co-Founder of Ahimsa Trust and the 13 facilitators of the Trust. Dh. Shantum gave a talk on Mindfulness and the Wake-Up schools movement and the vision of teacher’s role in education with the slogan ‘Happy Teachers Change the World.’
He also led a guided meditation and talked about the significance of the bell, how it was invited and that its sound was to make us stop and bring us home to ourselves. Interaction was encouraged and participants were asked to write their questions which were answered by the facilitators. Circle Sharing, an important practice of Mindfulness was offered in small groups and Ahimsa members facilitated it. In these groups, eating meditation, deep relaxation, and individual sharing was offered. Participants were eager to engage in the practices and share about their personal struggles and challenges in living mindfully as well as their experiences with the practices. On the second day, feedback forms were circulated and filled by the participants. Numerous teachers shared how inspiring, nourishing, and helpful the experience was. Six members of the Ahimsa Trust shared their experiences with the Mindfulness practice and how it had made a difference to their lives. The topics were: Difficult Emotions & Relationships; Deep Listening & Compassionate Speech; Stopping & Bells of Mindfulness; Nourishing Joy; Beginning Anew and Building Community. Songs are a vital part of the practice and were shared and sung during the two days of the workshop.
The participants shared in their feedback forms that they were deeply moved. The different practices made them reflect on their lives, their thoughts and what they could do with the practice of being Mindful and getting back to their breath.
On the first day, Ahimsa trainers facilitated a half day workshop for senior teachers of all the 3 schools in Faridabad, Noida and Gurgaon. The teachers from the new Shiv Nadar school in Chennai also attended online. Teachers attending had all participated in the orientation in April 2022 and were opting to be part of the core group on mindfulness in their particular school. About 60 participants joined us.
On the second day, around 20 senior corporate members of HCL attended a full day workshop hosted by the school. The Ahimsa facilitators focused on the 3 powers and besides the talk led certain group practices which were received very well by the participants. Mr Shikhar Malhotra, who is part of the Shiv Nadar family also attended the workshop was very keen to start a training centre for teachers in collaboration with Ahimsa.
The Community of practitioners and Dharmacharya Shantum of Ahimsa Trust ran a 10-week online course from the 6th of June to the 8th of August 2020 with a special emphasis on educators. It was linked to the Wake-Up schools’ movement of Plum Village. The Sessions focused on an introduction to the practice of mindfulness and orientation to walking, sitting, eating, working meditation, circle sharing and noble silence. The sessions also focussed on stopping, the breath, the body and feelings. This was in a retreat format for two hours every Saturday for 10 weeks and include a talk, sharing of experiences, practices and circle sharing in smaller groups. There were around 200 participants, including teachers from the Delhi Government, Teach for India, and participants outside of India.
A second retreat was organised and co-hosted by Ahimsa Trust and Welham Boys School, Dehradun and was conducted entirely with Hindi translation. It was attended by 96 people including 44 CRPF jawans, school teachers from John Martyn School and various other educators, NGOs, students etc. It was a learning and humbling experience for all of us to hear each other within the generated energy of practice created by the monastics.
The retreats were a follow up on successful National Retreats in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018 conducted in schools and colleges such as Shiv Nadar School, The Doon School, Vasant Valley School, Sanskriti School, Pathways World School, Welham Boys’ School, Step By Step School, Genesis School, Bluebells School, Lady Shri Ram College and Ambedkar University. These were led by teachers in the tradition of Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Ahimsa Trust and Shiv Nadar School, Noida collaborated with the teachers, parents and students to organize a 3 day Mindfulness retreat/workshop on Cultivating Mindfulness, titled “Interbeing” which was held at Shiv Nadar School, Noida in December 2019. There were 262 Shiv Nadar teachers/administration and 90 others who were educators and members of the public. The program constituted of talks, practices of sitting, walking, eating meditation, circle sharing and deep relaxation. Being an engaged practice, the teachings focused on practicing all day, mindful of whatever activity we are engaged in.
In May 2018, Shiv Nadar School invited Ahimsa Trust to lead a half day of mindfulness for 120 of its parents. The session was very well received. Thereafter, the Principal, Ms Shashi Banerjee requested a retreat for all her teachers. A 3-day retreat “ The Way Out is In” was organised in September 2018 for the Shiv Nadar School. The retreat was open to all teachers around Delhi and India. There were 185 participants. The workshop was for 3 full days including lunch, and led by 6 monastics from Blue Cliff Monastery, lay teachers and volunteers. Sitting, guided, eating and walking meditation were introduced among other mindfulness practices, questions and answers sessions took place, talks were presented each day and smaller group discussions conducted. As a follow up to this retreat, Shiv Nadar school invited the mindfulness trainers to come once a month and conduct training sessions for their teachers.
A half day of mindfulness from 11.45 am to 4 pm was organised at the Kasiga school for 70 teachers and 8 senior students. Certain mindfulness practices like eating meditation were introduced to the whole school. Kasiga is interested in having regular sessions led by Ahimsa and a 3-day retreat at their school is being considered in their school in the near future.
The B Ed Students of Indraprastha college have Mindfulness as part of their syllabus. Two days of mindfulness were organised for 217 students in Dwarka and 250 students at Bharti Vidya Bhavan, respectively in September and October 2018. The students had many questions and it was an animated and fruitful session. The University is very keen to have regular retreats for their students as its compulsory for every B Ed student to complete such a course. The university wants Ahimsa Trust to conduct these workshops.
– Kamla Nehru
Students from Kamla Nehru college invited Ahimsa to do an evening workshop for them which was conducted by Shantum Seth and other core members. They too want a regular group training and have been encouraged to join the Central Delhi group which meets twice a month.
– Dehradun Institute of Technology
In October 2018, a special half day of mindfulness was organised for 60 students with Dehradun Institute of Technology (DIT) Architecture School students with Professor Kartik at Jamun Village.
In October 2017, 11 mindfulness teachers visited from France, to conduct sessions on Mindfulness in Education and retreats for the general public along with our Ahimsa Trust teachers and volunteers.
At the workshop conducted at Welham Boys’ School there were a total of 173 people who attended. Among them were 17 police officers, 14 teachers from the Kendriya Vidyalaya’s, 23 teachers from the Shri Guru Ram Rai schools and 72 government school teachers, half of who were the principals of the government schools. The response from the police was especially encouraging and Ahimsa Trust has been asked to conduct sessions at their Police lines in Dehradun.
There was also a full day separate workshop with 72 students from Welham Boys School and 25 students from Shri Guru Ram Rai School and Dehradun Hill Academy.
The workshop was for 3 full days from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm including lunch. There was sitting, guided, eating and walking meditation introduced, questions and answers sessions, talks each day, small group discussions and on the last day the workshop also focused on how to bring mindfulness into the classroom. 8 different options were offered and people chose their areas of interest and were divided into smaller groups, where the discussions were quite animated and live.
In November 2017, The Pathways School in Gurgaon organized the venue for the workshop beautifully with different mindfulness quotes hanging from trees. The Principal, Dr Sarvesh Naidu and his wife, Mrs. Pathma Naidu were extremely enthusiastic and supportive. Mrs. Naidu is in charge of the Counselling and the Well Being Department at Pathways school and has been introducing mindfulness techniques to her students and teachers for years. It was especially heartening to hear the young junior children singing the songs at assembly.
A number of teachers attended from schools in the NCR area despite the distance. There were 107 teachers from different schools in the NCR (including 13 students from IP College), 51 teachers and students from Amity College. 150 Pathways school teachers attended the retreat on 3 different days in rotation as the school was in session.
Interestingly Mrs. Naidu requested that about 40 of her students also attend all three days. They had their own group discussions and were very involved in all the activities conducted.
Mrs Naidu also organized a peace march by the students one evening followed by a singing and question and answer session with the whole school. There were about 300 students. The next morning at assembly about 600 students were present and Ahimsa Trust activities were shared and the school gave a donation of Rs.1 lakh prize money which Pathways students had won, as recognition of Ahimsa’s work in the field of education.
The three days at Pathways school was conducted along the same lines as the Welham Boys’ School workshop. Both the Dehradun events were covered in the local newspaper, the Garwhal Post.
Ahimsa Trust organized two Mindfulness in Education workshops, in October 2014 at The Doon School in Dehradun from the 2nd to 5th of October 2014 and at Step By Step School Noida from the 9th to 11th of October 2014. The focus of these events was to teach practical mindfulness tools in order to cultivate personal practices for teachers, students, parents and young people. These events are a continuation of initiatives started by Ahimsa Trust 12 years ago that got a strong endorsement when Thich Nhat Hanh visited India in 2008 and another visit by the monastics and lay teachers in 2010 & 2012. The retreat in Dehradun was attended by about 150 teachers, including government teachers from Uttarakhand. An evening of mindfulness was also organized for students and teachers of Woodstock School, Mussoorie. The Noida retreat had 180 teachers, students and parents respectively.
Mindfulness In Education is increasingly being recognized as an essential educational tool, invaluable to all sections of society. Mindfulness is the foundation of the educational process, supporting all pedagogical approaches, and providing optimal conditions for learning and teaching. It develops skills such as attention and concentration, emotional and cognitive awareness and understanding, bodily awareness and coordination and interpersonal awareness.
The workshops were held like a retreat where there were two main purposes. One was to help teachers imbibe a practice to make their own lives more happy and helpful; the other was to share practices that they could share with their children in class.
In November 2010, two Mindfulness In Education retreats for Educators, Teachers and parents across India were held at The Doon School in Dehradun and Sanskriti School in Delhi. The other events included an evening at the Mind & Life conference in collaboration with The Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness The Dalai Lama.
Mindfulness in Education: Workshop/Retreat (11-14, November 2010), Sanskriti School, New Delhi
In Delhi the non residential Workshop was open to Delhi teachers and about 170 teachers attended. A schedule had been developed which included various practices including Sitting Meditation, Dharma talk, Walking meditation, Eating meditation, Deep Relaxation, Touching the Earth & Dharma sharing.
Mindfulness in Education: Workshop/Retreat (15-18, November 2010), The Doon School, Dehradun
In Dehradun we had about a 150 participants of whom 70 were teachers from various Government schools and colleges of the state of Uttarakhand. Other teachers from private schools came from across India including the southern state of Kerela, the western states of Maharashtra and Gujrat, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. The outstation guests were provided residential facilities at The Doon school, Welham’s girls school and Mr/s Varma’s home.
Support A Child
Through Ahimsa Trust, individuals have been sponsoring the school education of various socially disadvantaged background children whose ages range from 4 – 18 years with a special emphasis on the girl child. Ahimsa also supports other organisations who give tuitions to girls in government schools.
Home Schools
Other Activities
Ahimsa Trust has a project of distribution of books of Thich Nhat Hanh to Educational institutions and deserving people. Books have been widely distributed at the Buddhist sites of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, especially ‘Old Path White Clouds’ and ‘Jahan Jahan Kadam Pare Gautam Ke’, so that the local people get to know about their own land ancestors, the Buddha and his life and teachings. Books have also been distributed amongst the dalit community as also rural school students and teachers. Some books are gifted as prizes.
Pilgrims who come on a journey with Dharmacharya Shantum often want to support local projects and families at the sites they visit. One such group of pilgrims donated the money to build the roof of a school in Kushinagar. Other groups have also donated to build a well and a toilet. Some to buy cows and others to help with medical bills of the poor and support the education of the girl child.
Ahimsa Trust has been relatively in discussion with and advising Gandhi Smriti Darshan committee on programs such as non violent communication, peace education and the similarity of approach of Gandhiji and the Buddha during a session hosted by HH Dalai Lama. Mr. Vedabhayas is currently writing a book, ‘Dialogues of Peace’ which is being published by Gandhi Smriti.
