To: The Illinois State House, The Illinois State Senate, and Governor J.B. Pritzker

It's time to raise healthy children to create a healthier world! Implementing Meditation in Illin...

Our mission is to establish a consistent meditation practice in all the public schools surrounding the Chicago area, beginning with the South Suburban Communities. Children are under great pressure at school and home, as well as experiencing heightened symptoms of stress including: chronic anxiety, panic attacks, ADHD, hyperactivity, difficulty in sleeping, anger, fear, lack of focus and clarity, and depression. Meditation has been proven in numerous studies to alleviate symptoms of stress. So why are we not helping our children release these symptoms naturally, through self-healing and self-awareness?

Why is this important?

Kids are stressed out!
Children today are certainly more stressed out than their parents realize. One in five children said they worried a great deal about things going on in their lives, and nearly a third admitted to stress-related symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, according to the American Psychological Association's annual Stress in America report. Yet the same report found that only 8 percent of all parents were aware that their children experienced any stress at all.

A regular meditation practice has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety; relax a busy mind; shift negative thoughts into positive ones; and lessen symptoms of depression. Researcher professor Felicia Huppert of the University of Cambridge said in a press release, "Psychological well-being has been linked to better learning, social relationships and academic performance, so the enhancement of well-being is likely to improve a range of outcomes in the school context."