Santa Ana, CA, Dec. 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Yvonne Hernández of Decide Balance recently announced her goal of teaching one million children to meditate by 2026 Deepak Chopra and Mallika Choprathe new CEO of Chopra Global. The goal was inspired and fueled by the Dalai Lama‘s quote: “If every 8-year-old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence within a generation”.

After noticing a marked change in her son’s behavior due to changes in school, she began offering meditation for children. Yvonne explains: “It was unusual for my son to slack off on his homework, get frustrated and not want to go to school. When I asked my son what was going on, he said his classroom was so small that there was no space when the school was under construction and all the 3rd grade classes were moved to bungalows. I figured if this emotional shift happened to my son, maybe it would happen to the other kids too. Eventually I started offering whole school meditation classes, PreK through 8th grade.”

Meditation serves to calm the body, mind and soul and can also be used to prevent illness and ailments. Studies have shown the benefits of meditation and mindfulness in students can help with behavioral issues, trauma, anxiety, depression, and more.

Yvonne reminds us: “As adults we forget to take a break and through observation our children learn that high levels of stress are normal. I teach them to slow down through meditation.” Stress causes inflammation in our bodies, which can cause illness and disease. An excerpt from the Protecting the mental health of adolescents The US Surgeon General’s Advisory e-book states, “Recent research involving 80,000 adolescents worldwide found that symptoms of depression and anxiety have doubled during the pandemic.”

An article in UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Magazine mentioned that “studies have shown that teaching mindfulness practices to children improves school attendance, attention and…