By Amanda Walsh Dennis
In the heart of one of the poorest and most violent neighborhoods in San Francisco, middle school and high school kids are learning to access the peaceful stillness through the practice of meditation; even with chaos swirling just outside of their school walls.
Four years ago, Burton High and Visitacion Valley School were plagued with fights 3-5 times per week and ranked in the bottom of California schools. They turned to an unusual remedy, transcendental meditation, and the results have been dramatic.
Since implementing the program in which the school stops and takes 15 minutes of silence twice per day, suspensions in both schools are down over 75%, attendance has increased into the high 90th percentiles and kids are becoming “more conscious of their actions” and “less angry.”
Administrators and teachers were skeptical at first, but the results have made believers out the most doubtful as they have watched the children and their school transform from the inside out.
For more details, watch the full video here: http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/san-francisco-schools-transformed-power-meditation-n276301
SoulBridging.com is an avid supporter of the practice of meditation, especially for our youth. We support the David Lynch foundation (http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/) an organization established to support any child in America who wants to learn and practice the Transcendental Meditation program, by donating 20% of the proceeds of our CD Compilation.
Whether or not your child’s school understands the power of meditation at this point, you can begin implementing meditation at home. We have listed some great resources below to help you get started:
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