First Yoga Teachers Training in a correctional institution
The Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch just started a Yoga Teachers Training Course (TTC) free of charge in a correctional facility. The initiative – the first one of its kind – is taking place in April-October of 2015 in FCI Otisville, a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in New York State.
Project Description
Beyond helping 16 inmates to build a much stronger personal practice leading to an improvement in their everyday life, training yoga teachers within the prison’s walls will also enable inmates to teach each other on a more frequent basis, thus bringing yoga to a larger inmate population and in turn, benefiting the entire prison.
We wish this pilot initiative will inspire and will be replicated in other prisons, generating a greater impact and possibilities for the entire US prison population.
Background
With 2.3 millions prisoners, the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world.
The prison’s world is particularly stressful: overcrowding, noise and limited space can deeply amplify experiences of anxiety, depression, hopelessness, grief, fear and rage for inmates already often dealing with anger or violent impulses.
In a context offering limited recreational and educational programs, yoga can prove a low-cost and very efficient alternative, considering prison’s rehabilitation objective. Beyond the purely physical and health benefits, yoga in prison has shown significant impact to reduce stress, anxiety and depression and to help inmates dealing with daily stress that comes with incarceration. The practice is also a powerful tool for positive transformation: as inmates cultivate peace of mind and positive thinking theydevelop control over their emotions, enhance sensitivity towards themselves and empathy towards others, leading to compassion and in turn to prevention of violence. A regular yoga practice can transform them completely by the time of their release.
For the past 20 years, the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch has been sending yoga books to inmates, exchanging correspondence and teaching yoga classes and meditation in prison. In 2014, the Yoga Ranch raised about $6,700, sent 550 books and taught classes in 2 correctional facilities in New York State.