Santa Ana, CA, Dec. 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yvonne Hernández of Decide Balance recently announced her goal to teach one million children to meditate by 2026 to Deepak Chopra and Mallika Chopra, the 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 one generation”.
After noticing a distinct shift in her son’s behavior due to changes happening at school, she began offering meditation for kids. Yvonne explains, “It was unusual for my son to be slacking on his homework, frustrated, and not wanting to go to school. When I asked my son what was going on, he said his classroom was so small, there’s no space. Turns out the school was under construction and moved all of the 3rd grade classes into bungalows. I figured if this emotional shift was happening for my son, it may be happening for the other children too. I eventually began offering meditation classes to the entire school, PreK through 8th grade.”
Meditation is used to calm the body, mind and spirit and can also be used as preventative care for diseases and illnesses. Studies have shown the benefits of meditation and mindfulness in students can help with behavioral problems, trauma, anxiety, depression and much more.
Yvonne reminds us, “As adults, we forget to take a pause and through observation our kids are learning that high stress is normal. I’m teaching them to slow down through meditation.” Stress leads to inflammation in our bodies which can cause illnesses and diseases. An excerpt from the Protecting Youth Mental Health Ebook by The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory states that, “Recent research covering 80,000 youth globally found that depressive and anxiety symptoms doubled during the pandemic”.
An article in UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Magazine mentioned that “studies have shown that teaching children mindfulness practices can increase school attendance, attentiveness and focus, respect for themselves and others, improve sleep and have positive effects on their family and the entire school culture.”
Yvonne Hernández is a Chopra Certified Meditation Teacher, Reiki Master, and Creator of a 5-Minute Bilingual Meditation podcast. So far Yvonne has taught almost 1,000 children how to meditate. She’s currently looking to connect with more schools and organizations around the world to support in reaching her goal.
To learn more visit Decide Balance.
