The popularity of yoga has increased globally by leaps and bounds in the past few decades and only continues to increase. This popularity can easily be attributed to the physical and psychological therapeutic nature of yoga practice. Some of the common benefits people experience from yoga practice are a sense of calming, or peacefulness, a sense of contentedness and grounding, better focus, increased ability to feel present, better ability to respond instead of react, and a better ability to deal with stress. Most of us could say we could use a little more of all of that in our lives. Prisoners would be no exception, and arguably could use it even more than anyone. Some prisons are now aware of this fact and taking measures to offer yoga to inmates.  For over 10 years, Seattle based non-profit Yoga Behind Bars has been serving folks in the criminal justice system.  Their vision is:

“We envision a world where all communities are healthy and thriving, where all people feel safe, connected, and valued. Through our programs, we open doors to self-understanding, resilience, and transformation. We advocate for restorative justice solutions, holistic re-entry services, and the removal of other barriers that prevent formerly incarcerated people to rebuild their lives upon release. We work with the WA State corrections leadership to create opportunities within the system, including yoga classes for prison staff and yoga teacher trainings for incarcerated people” (Yoga Behind Bars, 2019).

Trauma-Informed yoga

“We define trauma-informed yoga as offering accessible embodiment practices that encourage participants to reclaim their agency through choice, inclusion, and nervous-system regulation”  (Yoga Behind Bars, 2019).

Trauma-informed yoga is particularly helpful because, lets face it, most people in prison (and people in general for that matter) have experienced some amount of trauma, but few  are given tools like these to work with those traumas on a psycho-somatic level.

 

Photo Credit: Kelly Sullivan

 

 

There are three main programs through Yoga Behind Bars.

1. Adult Programs:  Adult programs focus on nervous system regulation, stress management, and resilience.  Restorative poses and practices are used to facilitate these goals.
2. Youth Programs:  Youth programs focus on building inner strengths and connection. Many, if not all young people in prison have experienced varying degrees of trauma which resides in the body.  Yoga behind bars believes it is integral to address the body as a central part of treatment and recovery.  Trauma sensitive yoga is a valuable tool in this recovery work.
3. Yoga Teacher Training for Incarcerated People:  This program trains inmates to become yoga teachers themselves.There are currently over 10 incarcerated men and women teaching 8 classes at 4 different prisons.

Academic studies have shown the benefit of yoga on prison inmates.  In one study that spanned from 2013-2015, Sfendla, Mallstrom, Torstensson, and Kerekes (2018)  concluded “yoga exercise in particular can be an important tool for improving their reintegration into society and for helping them lead a drug free and law-abiding lifestyle upon release”  They found increased and specific benefits for prisoners, beyond those experienced by the control group who only participated in activities like fitness training in a gym, basketball, walking or football.

“This study confirms that physical activity has a positive effect on the psychological distress levels of prison inmates and provides new evidence about the specific positive effect of yoga on symptoms such as paranoid thoughts, memory problems, difficult decision making, trouble concentrating, obsessive thoughts, perception of bodily dysfunction, and somatization” (Sfendla et al. 2018).

References

Sfendla, Anis, Malmström, Petter, Torstensson, Sara, & Kerekes, Nora. (2018). Yoga Practice Reduces the Psychological Distress Levels of Prison Inmates. Frontiers In Psychiatry, 9, 407.

 

Yoga behind bars. (n.d.). Retrieved from

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