Prison Program

For people in custody
or engaged in community corrections

The program for prisoners is aimed at :-

  • Supporting transformation and rehabilitation for prisoners through a mindfulness-based and trauma informed approach; i.e. providing a service to a group of people who will ultimately return to the community

  • Helping develop a prisoner’s skills in relaxation, mindfulness and self-soothing strategies using yoga 

  • Bringing participants awareness to their bodies through mindfulness-based and trauma informed yoga practice

  • Assisting participants with rebooting their nervous system through body movement and breath and increasing their ability to be aware of and control their emotions

  • Creating a calmer prison population by providing them with the skills and techniques to assist in meeting the need for stress management, impulse control, anger management, and addiction recovery

  • Providing an additional method of promoting a rehabilitation model that is PRO-SOCIAL, supports reintegration, facilitation, personal development and a reduction in recidivism rates

Australian Prisons - 2023

Yoga on the Inside is an Australian Affiliate of Prison Yoga Project (founded by James Fox - USA)

Participants in ‘chair pose’ at
Adelaide Women’s Centre (South Australia)

10 week Program or Weekly classes

Benefits

  • Encouragement of self-discipline, compassion, development of empathy for oneself and others, development of self-esteem and overall physical fitness 

  • Reduction to the cost on the system 

  • A decrease in recidivism = less people in incarceration and less financial burden on tax payers and the government

  • Healthier inmates = a reduction in medical/health costs per individual

  • Decrease in recidivism / re-offending – in the USA only 8% of individuals who took 4 or more yoga classes returned to prison, compared with a national average of 60% recidivism (as per studies undertaken by Yoga Behind Bars)

  • Calmer temperament amongst prisoners, resulting in fewer conflicts with staff and other inmates

  • Resulting in better working conditions for correctional officers

  • Leading to the reduction of staff turn-over due to long-terms stress 

More Benefits

  • Reduction in human suffering and an opportunity for prisoners to address their own unresolved trauma which in many cases has lead to their criminal behaviour

  • The possibility for prisons to experience personal transformation and a sense of hope for their future

  • Community engagement opportunities with yogic values of non-judgement and non-aggression which is promoted through the program

  • Reduction in psychological distress and overall improved health

  • Resulting in a reduction in healthcare costs for the government

  • Enabling better working conditions for correctional officers by allowing Yoga on the Inside to assist in fostering a more peaceful incarceration environment so that they can do their work with greater ease .