iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Since practicing a technology sabbath, I’ve been thinking differently about intention. When there’s less noise around us, we can notice what has been quietly asking for our attention. I created a short guided practice on YouTube to help make space for that.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Today, October 2, marks the birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi helped lead India’s struggle for independence from British colonial rule, but his contribution was larger than political resistance alone. 🧵

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

For seven years, our family has practiced a weekly tech sabbath. So much more space I had to breathe and appreciate what was right in front of me. For me, it’s become a spiritual practice in being present.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Thrilled to join The Buddha the Scientist as a Dharma teacher and contemplative researcher, sharing our tenderness research with Dr. James Floman/Yale and exploring what becomes possible when science, Dharma, lived experience, and multiple ways of knowing meet. deerparkmonastery.org/visit/events...

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

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. 🙏🏽 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np5qoMeZG5Y

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

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: rarebeauty.substack.com/p/f4b5df12-…

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

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. 🧵

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

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. 🙏🏽

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

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. 🧵

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

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. 🙏🏽💖

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

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. 🙏🏽

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

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...

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

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. 🧵

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

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. 🧵

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

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. 🙏🏽💖

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

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. 🙏🏽💛

parallax.org

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

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. 🔗 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb_39Il9G1c

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

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. 🧵

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

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...

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

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. 🧵

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

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.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

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. 🙏🏽💖

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

I've always been fascinated by the dance between the dreamers and the practical builders. Some people see what's possible. Others know how to make things work. The real magic happens when those energies meet. 🧵

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

July marks Disability Pride Month and the anniversary of the ADA. This has prompted me to think about inclusion and belonging. Inclusion often means making room for someone within a system that already exists. Belonging asks: Does the system itself reflect the full range of human experience?

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Do you ever notice all at once that you’re carrying way too many things? It definitely happens to me from time to time. For many of us who are deeply committed to service, there is a tendency to normalize the weight we carry.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Sovereignty is not about independence or preserving ourselves from the demands of the world. It is the freedom to consciously direct our life force toward what is sacred. Because what is sacred requires stewardship. I invite you to read more about sovereignty below. 🙏🏽💖

meenasrinivasan.substack.com

The True Meaning of Sovereignty

Life force is sacred.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

One of the ideas I've been carrying with me since the Rare Impact gathering in New York is something I heard from Raquel Mata: Humility and confidence aren't opposites. I still believe humility matters. But as I got older, I realized that humility and shrinking are not the same thing.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Four cohorts. One room. For the first time ever. When we launched TEL, I held a quiet hope that the community we were building would outlast any single fellowship year, that the people who moved through TEL would carry something forward, and find their way back to each other.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

"There's a place you can go in yourself that you can't go by yourself." That line came to me through Aija Simmons from her mentor, Dr. Cindy Trimm. When keynotingthe California Charter Schools Association I shared this line when speaking about Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL).

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

What if the exhaustion of comparison isn't a personal failing, but a sign that we're caught in an illusion? A teaching from my Plum Village community has been with me lately: the superiority, inferiority, and equality complexes all arise from the same root: the belief in a separate self.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

What is SEL actually for? Not as a framework but as a living commitment. What future are we trying to build, and are we honest about what that requires of us as adults first? For years I've watched SEL get narrowed. Reduced to behavior management in some schools. Treated as a soft add-on in others.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

This is the first post in a mini-series I’m writing on sovereignty: what it has meant to me in this season, and how that meaning has been shifting in real time while in a crucible of transformation and practice.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Conflict is the spirit of the relationship asking itself to deepen. We spend so much energy trying to manage it, minimize it, move past it. But what if conflict was pointing toward something the relationship actually needed? There are many ways we respond when conflict arises.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Educators aren't burning out because they don't care—they care deeply, but support isn't matching the workload. Dr. Bloodine Barthelus’ whitepaper offers a thoughtful look at educator wellbeing and how we can heal our schools. 🤍 drive.google.com/file/d/1S-Q9gU2RlA…

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I love this recording from a TEL gathering where Linda Lantieri offers a guided centering before a day of learning together. It’s simple: attention to the body, the breath, the room we’re in, and the intention we bring into shared space can matter so much.

vimeo.com

Omega Session Sat AM 1- Linda Meditation

This is "Omega Session Sat AM 1- Linda Meditation" by TEL on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

What does independence mean in a country this fractured? On this Fourth of July, I find myself thinking about the educational leaders I learn alongside through Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL), and the quiet, unglamorous work they do every day to build something real across difference.

$What does independence mean in a country this fractured? On this Fourth of July, I find myself thinking about the educational leaders I learn alongside through Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL), and the quiet, unglamorous work they do every day to build something real across difference.$

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

One of the gifts of contemplative practice is learning not to turn away from suffering, or become consumed by it. To hold joy and heartbreak together. To keep our hearts open without losing our clarity. Grateful for this article from Rebecca Solnit! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

What is the United States of America now? | Rebecca Solnit

The United States of America is … so many things, horrific and magnificent, good and evil, promising and cursed

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@HeartOfMeena @heartofmeena.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Grateful to have sat down with the Talk to Me podcast and the conversation went deep. Even at 45, I'm learning that beginner's mind isn't a limitation of the practice. It is the practice. Episode here: open.spotify.com/show/4pgW2zNGwFHO0…

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