Abstract
<p>Teachers are at high risk of burnout and various occupational stressors, making preventive measures to promote their well-being highly important. Since studies on the effectiveness of the Art-of-Living approach among teachers are currently lacking, this study addresses that research gap. In a randomized controlled design with three groups and three measurement points, N = 158 teachers are assigned to an experimental group with individual exercises (EG1), a combined group with individual and environmental exercises (EG2), and an active placebo control group (CG). The seven-day intervention is based on the Art-of-Living repertoire and is designed as a Wise-Intervention. To assess well-being and burnout, the PANAS, SWLS, AOLI, and CBI are used. The two-way repeated measures ANOVA shows no significant group × time interaction. However, t-tests for dependent measures reveal significant reductions in Negative Affect and burnout scores in EG1 with moderate effect sizes. In EG2, only a significant reduction in Negative Affect is observed, whereas delayed effects on burnout and Art-of-Living become visible only in the follow-up measurement. The effects observed remain stable from post-measurement to follow-up, and there are no significant differences between the two experimental groups. The findings provide initial promising evidence that the Art-of-Living approach is suitable as a low-threshold, everyday preventive measure to promote teachers' well-being. Future studies should employ longer intervention periods, larger sample sizes, and additional measurement tools to substantiate the effectiveness of this approach further.</p>