Yoga, Meditation ,and Mindfulness in the Prison Population

Location: Oklahoma and Northern Colorado

"WE ARE USING THIS SUPER FLY TECHNIQUE OF YOGA, MINDFULNESS, & SELF-INQUIRY AS A VEHICLE TO EMPOWER INCARCERATED WOMEN & UNDER-RESOURCED YOUTH OF THEIR OWN CAPACITY TO HEAL & THRIVE REGARDLESS OF THEIR PAST."

"Liberation Prison Yoga is a registered 501 (c)3 charity with a mission to serve prisons and jails, bringing trauma-conscious yoga programs to incarcerated women, men, LGBTQ, youth, staff, and those whose lives are affected by incarceration; to train yoga instructors to work inside the prison system; and to educate the public about trauma-conscious yoga."

Location: Deerfield, MA

"Our Mission is to provide prisoners, prison staff and prison volunteers, with the most effective, evidence-based tools for rehabilitation, self-transformation, and personal & professional development. In particular, we provide and promote the use of proven effective mindfulness-based interventions (MBI’s). Our dual focus is on transforming individual lives as well as transforming the corrections system as a whole in order to mitigate its extremely destructive impact on families, communities and the overall social capital of our society."

Location: Los Angeles, CA

"Prison Yoga + Meditation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) group of volunteers that brings yoga and meditation to prisoners in 5 Los Angeles county, state and federal facilities to help them heal. "

Location: Chicago, IL

"Our mission is to provide trauma-informed yoga, meditation, and breathwork programming as a form of social activism to rehabilitate the criminal justice system."

"To truly help men and women in prison to turn their lives around, we need to do something different.

We’re helping incarcerated men and women to build a better life through the Prison Yoga Project’s program of trauma-informed yoga, taught as a mindfulness practice. The practice helps students to restore the connection between their mind, body and heart, experience self-compassion and empathy for others, and take responsibility for their actions. They can also begin to change trauma-induced unconscious behavioral patterns and develop skills for impulse control, reducing the likelihood that they will return to jail."

Location: Santa Barbara, CA

"We invite incarcerated individuals in Santa Barbara County to practice yoga, meditation and mindfulness as an effective, evidenced-based rehabilitative therapy to reduce the impact of life's traumas and the stress of incarceration. We seek to build the skills and mindsets that increase successful re-entry and reduce recidivism rates. Our sessions provide essential stress relief for the present and build critical skills for successful societal re-entry. The men and women we serve learn skills that will benefit them immediately and as they return to homes and jobs: learning to breathe, focusing on the present moment, slowing down their minds, learning how to cope with anger and stress, growing less reactive and more rational. In turn, positive change is felt by their children, families and communities as well.

Location: Northern VA

SEVA's mission is to bring mindful/trauma conscious yoga to incarcerated populations in Northern Virginia to promote holistic healing, positive connection to self and others, and tools to cope with stress, anger and chaotic environments.

Location: Philadelphia, PA area

Trauma Sensitive Yoga Programs for youth and adults Introduce the application of yoga as a lifestyle, on and beyond the mat; Develop the whole person by increasing self-awareness and self-regulation; Build awareness of mental patterns and how those patterns relate to behavior; Provide practical tools for developing mindful solutions to difficult situations; Encourage compassion toward oneself and others; Manage deeply held, unresolved trauma; Reduce stress, anxiety, and depression

Location: Washington State

"Yoga Behind Bars (YBB) is the only nonprofit organization in Washington state dedicated to bringing yoga and meditation to prisons, jails, and detention centers. Our programs promote rehabilitation, help to build safer communities, and contribute to reform of the corrections system. Since 2008, we have equipped thousands of incarcerated men, women, and youth with the physical and mental tools to change their lives from the inside out."

Location: Chicago, IL

"Yoga for Recovery founded by Katy Maguire, is a Chicago based, 501c3 non-profit organization that brings the therapeutic support of yoga to women in the Cook County Sheriff's Women's Justice Program in Chicago, IL."