Sri Sri Ravi Shankar addresses US' Delaware State Senate and House of Representatives

Bengaluru, 13 May Global humanitarian and spiritual leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of The Art of Living addressed both US's Delaware State Senate and the House of Representatives, becoming the first Indian spiritual leader to be invited to both the houses, an official statement has said.

His address to the Delaware General Assembly was focused on dealing with mental health challenges and establishing peace.

He highlighted the importance of using one's own breath to achieve inner peace and mental wellbeing.

Interestingly, Delaware is the first state to ratify the Constitution of the US and is the electoral constituency of US President Joe Biden.

During the meeting, each chamber presented a tribute acknowledging "the extensive work of The Art of Living globally towards peace, trauma relief, conflict resolution, women empowerment and community development". The tributes also recognised Ravi Shankar's long standing role in mediation and conflict resolution in countries like Iraq, Sri Lanka, Columbia, Cameroom, Bihar, among others.

In his address, Ravi Shankar emphasised on the importance of building communities where human values are cherished and nurtured. He also encouraged all the stakeholders to join forces and be a part of the "I Stand for Peace" campaign, a movement to bring the focus back to "peaceful progress, unity and harmony".

"We are proud to honour and thank Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's humanitarianism, spiritual leadership and commitment to peace here in the United States and across the world," mentioned John Carney, Governor and Bethany Hall-Long, Lieutenant Governor in their joint tribute to the spritual leader, recognising Art of Living's work.

As part of his first tour of US this year, Ravi Shankar has initiated a critical conversation on the importance of mental health and well being in the post pandemic times, "when the incidences of mental health illnesses including depression, fatigue and anxiety are on the rise across the globe". His 2022 US tour began in Miami where he addressed a conference of physic on the role of meditation for mental health and overall well-being.

He continued to Boston, where he shared his thoughts about destigmatising mental health at Harvard University.