By Dr. Steven Landau
Teaching yoga and meditation to inmates at state prisons in North Carolina has been
one of the most satisfying things I do in my life. The inmates love it. The ones who don’t
come don’t care, although they greet me with smiles and “Hey Yoga Man!” On of my
trainees, Shiva Steve Ordog even wrote a book called “Hey Yoga Man!” with instructions
and stories.
To get set up, you call your local prison (not usually a jail, which is county run and often
doesn’t have facilities to house a class). Tell them you’d like to teach a class in yoga
and meditation and that it’s been found to dramatically reduce the rate of re-
incarceration among those who take the class at least 4 times voluntarily.
Please see:
https://prsinstitute.org/downloads/related/spiritual-sciences/meditation/ReincarcerationStudy.pdf
Then get some mats, talk to the people in the Programs or Chaplaincy departments,
and prepare to wait. And wait. And call again. Then it happens, after you’ve filled out the
forms and had a background check. Prepare for anything, even last minute
cancellations. Have some posters to put up, or have them make an announcement on
the overhead. It works. A few people will come and get something out of it, and so will
you. Make it a regular habit, preferably weekly. Sometimes they call you years later with
stories of how well they’ve done. Sometimes they tell you how they feel better physically
or mentally. Sometimes I get Community Volunteer passes and take them out to a
holistic church service or a local yoga class and dinner at a Chinese restaurant with tofu
and veggies. They love it and so will you.
Other people do it too. Look up the Prison Yoga Project, where they offer formal
trainings. I can help you get started. Just ask.
Contact Dr. Landau here: moc.liamg@atcodigoy +1-919-868-4729.