The results showed the positive impact was wide-ranging, with students reporting significant reductions in bullying incidents and disruptive behaviour in the classroom as well as improvements in sleep quality, concentration, behaviour and engagement. At-risk students benefited the most; students who experienced higher levels of emotional distress before participating in the program showed the biggest improvements. In their own words, students said the exercises made them "feel confident", "helped me get relaxed", "I feel more energised" and "it was nice just to slow down for a little bit". One of the Lara College participants said: "I have Asperger syndrome and when I meditate it calms me down a lot. I don't have a lot of panic attacks any more and I daydream less." Smiling Mind co-founder Jane Martino says one of the most powerful outcomes of meditation is management of emotional responses.

"As well as meditation we can also support our young people by providing plenty of 'down time' and not over-scheduling them," Martino says. "They don't need too many activities over and above school so they feel 'busy' before they even reach puberty. I'm convinced this is a large driver of anxiety in many of our young people, particularly in primary school. "We can also work on giving to others and sometimes focusing more heavily on what we do have rather than what we don't." Co-founder James Tutton says that in addition to cultivating mindfulness, it's important for young people to have a good diet, plenty of sleep, exercise and healthy technology habits. "Issues around anxiety and stress are amplified in today's world due to societal and social changes, especially the use of technology and the impact this has on sleep, bullying, peer pressure," Tutton says. "Anxiety and stress are very dangerous issues if left untreated. They have a direct correlation to a breadth of negative mental health conditions.

"Smiling Mind cultivates mindfulness, which is no silver bullet, but can play a very substantial role in good mental health."