If you're a teacher the last thing you probably want to be doing in the summer holidays is reading books by other teachers! Or at any time for that matter (with a few exceptions) because you will only be reading about what you already know. 
This summer take time out from anything directly education related to expand your mind. Here are a few books to get you started.
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Congratulations on taking the first step to becoming a happier teacher! I was stressed out like you once and left full time teaching after 3 years in 2005. When I returned 6 years later I had the tools to be able to cope. Here are my top 7 tips that helped me gain a better life balance:

1. Always sit down to eat lunch and don't work while eating.

2. Brighten up your environment with flowers, posters - whatever makes you happy.

3. Have strict boundaries on your time and let go of the unimportant stuff.

4. Change the way you view children's (and other members of staff's) behaviour and stop taking it personally.

5. Reduce input.

6. Build in reflection time into every day and focus on what went well. A daily gratitude practice helps too.

7. Get a coach. For me this helped me overcome my limiting beliefs and become more confident.

Come and join our 7 week Mindfulness course this September where we will be going through these steps in more detail.

To your happiness.

Helen Pengelly

Founder of Happy Teachers

​Did you know you are the result of thousands of years of conditioning? We were conditioned by our parents, teachers, society, TV etc. from a very early age. We formed very strong limiting beliefs by the time we were five years old.In turn our parents were the result of their conditioning too. So it goes back through the generations. We can see it, for example, when we are talking to our children we sound just like our mother! This is just the tip of the iceberg. Think about where you live, what job you do, your friends, your hobbies - how much of it is really your own free will or did you choose them because of your conditioning?
Take school subjects, which were artificially created. Why do you teach the things you do? Do you ever take stock and really consider that? Is it because you think it will help your pupils pass their exams? Is it a genuine life skill they need? Is it because you learned it in school? How much is really useful?
We are divine, spiritual beings. When we were born we instinctively knew the answers to everything lay within us. We are intuitive, psychic, healers and are all connected. We knew this until it was 'educated' out of us unless we were fortunate enough to have farsighted parents.
The industrial age, governments, organised religion have all cranked up the level of fear in our world so we are now mostly afraid of that part of ourselves.
The good news is - it has never gone away. It is buried deeply below all the layers of your conditioning. This is your true self who is not bound by the ego but is pure love. Your true self knows the real reason you are here and what your divine purpose is.
You were probably called to teaching, like me, because you knew, deep down, you had a message to share. The real reason for so much dissatisfaction in our education system is because the curriculum is out of alignment with our true selves. That is why there appears to be a 'mental health' crisis. There is nothing wrong with us - it is the system that is wrong!
Do you want to get back in touch with your true self? That part of you that knows no fear, shame, anger or hate but only love? Then come and be part of the Conscious Schools movement. We launch on Tuesday 23 April. This is going to revolutionise education.
WARNING: You will have to take full responsibility for what you have created in your life so far. There can be no excuses, no blaming the government or OFSTED. Only you can create your reality.
Do you want more love, kindness and compassion? Then you're in the right place, be a pioneer and get in at the beginning. Together we can be a force for good.
https://happyteachers.sendmedetails.com/conscious-teacher-programme

How did you spend half term? Did you spend most of it feeling guilty for not doing your school week and end up binge watching Netflix? I've been there too and while it may have seemed enjoyable at the time I always felt worse afterwards.
We live in an instant gratification society. If they don't see tangible results immediately most people give up on trying to improve themselves. For me it took huge amounts of faith and once I did see my life getting better there was no way I wanted to go back to where I was.
Think back to when you started university, you didn't expect to get your degree within a week! Yet once we start teaching our personal development is often overlooked - mostly by ourselves. When I had another business in 2005 I first met coaches at networking events. I learned to meditate and started to do deep inner work on myself. My world transformed - not overnight and there is still a lot of work to do - but when I sometimes find myself slipping back into my old habits it is deeply uncomfortable and I don't want to go there any more. 
We will fall off the wagon occasionally - we are only human - but instead of beating ourselves up we can get right back on it! Having a coach helps me because they see my potential and believe in me when I don't believe in myself. 
I used to think I was the only one who felt like an impostor and it was many years before I discovered that most people felt like that too. I still struggle with my limiting beliefs at times but when I help others transform I know I am doing the world a disservice by hiding away. 
If any of this resonates with you and you know that you can achieve so much more then contact us today for a strategy session.

Happiness does not happen by accident or luck. It is a conscious choice. Bad things happen to us all the time and it's not always our fault but so do good ones. The happiest people are happy not because they never experience sadness, grief, loss, fear and because they don't have issues. They have all of those (and often in spades) but they have changed the way they view them.

Our government leads out of fear and if we are not careful fear can filter into our schools. The cuts, teacher recruitment & retention, mental health issues for teachers and pupils are what we read in the media every day. How can school leaders ensure that they protect themselves and their staff and pupils from a growing tide of negativity? Here are 5 simple happiness habits you can put into practice today.
1. Practice gratitude
2. Reduce social media use
3. Adopt an abundant mindset
4. Do nothing for at least 30 minutes a day
5. Get a coach. Contact us today to arrange a free one hour strategy session to help you create a happy school.

Last month (April 2017) I ran a survey to find out more about teachers' mindfulness experience. Due to limited time and resources I wasn't able to do it very scientifically so it wasn't random or stratified. However the results were interesting and provided a useful insight into the varying experiences.

39% of all respondents had never practised mindfulness and 50% over all never practised or did so less than once a month.

61% of the respondents were in Management Positions so I am not going to analyse the results from classroom teachers because there weren't enough to give any valuable data. 

• All the Head Teachers and CEOs of MATs who responded had a mindfulness practice - 75% of those more than once a week.
• 50% of Senior Managers practised mindfulness more than once a week.
• None of the Middle Managers who answered the survey had a mindfulness practice and some had experienced problems when being made to do mindfulness training in their schools. In fact they were the only group who reported any problems. One Middle Manager's experience in particular raised alarm bells about the danger of inexperienced trainers which I have already blogged about here.
• 2/3 who were consultants or coaches practised at least once a week.