YOGA FOR RECOVERY
The primary goal of Yoga for Recovery is to provide opportunities for empowerment and recovery for incarcerated women. Yoga can enhance coping skills, bolster recovery from substance abuse, relieve anxiety, assist with anger management, and provide exercise opportunities. By focusing on strengths and self-acceptance, yoga can enhance overall health and well-being. These features are of particular importance to incarcerated women, who may have traumatic histories and are currently experiencing both confinement and ongoing stress.
Mindfulness is a key component of several evidence-based treatments for trauma, including Dialectic Behavioral Therapy and Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress. Mindfulness, as promoted by the breathing and self-awareness skills learned through yoga, can help to address trauma symptoms including hypervigilance and hyperarousal. By increasing participants ability to soothe themselves, these skills can decrease the risk of behaviors that lead to conflict, danger, and possible re-offending.
"The memory of trauma is imprinted on the human organism. I don't think you can overcome it unless you learn to have a friendly relationship with your body." - Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, and pioneering researcher in the field of trauma.
Prison is a breeding ground for mental, emotional and physical distress. Experiences of anxiety, depression, fear, distrust, agitation, hopelessness, grief and violence can be greatly increased under incarcerated conditions. Psychiatrists, psychologists and clinical social workers acknowledge that embodiment practices such as yoga can greatly help people alleviate the symptoms that lead to both reactive behaviors and stress related disease. So learning a practice in prison for Mindful Awareness and embodiment is not only important for supporting behavioral rehabilitation, it is critical for physical and emotional well-being.
Dr. Van der Kolkâ's quote illustrates that to heal from the emotional and sometimes physical pain of trauma requires establishing a meaningful connection with our heart and bodies. Most people in prison have become disassociated from their feelings and bodies as a result of backgrounds of trauma including neglect or abuse, violent behavior, and/or the overuse of drugs and alcohol. The convict code can further distance one form a meaningful connection with his body, emotions and deeper self. Yoga helps to become more sensitive to yourself because it is a practice of self-awareness and self-control that promotes non – reactivity and self-acceptance. A regular yoga practice can help free the mind from confusion and the body from distress, allowing one to be at peace and receptive to learning new ways of thinking, feeling and being. Yoga emphasizes discipline of the mind and body for developing positive behavioral habits and impulse control.
Adapted from "Why Yoga in Prison?" by Stephanie Shorter, Prisonyoga.org.
Prison is a breeding ground for mental, emotional and physical distress. Experiences of anxiety, depression, fear, distrust, agitation, hopelessness, grief and violence can be greatly increased under incarcerated conditions. Psychiatrists, psychologists and clinical social workers acknowledge that embodiment practices such as yoga can greatly help people alleviate the symptoms that lead to both reactive behaviors and stress related disease. So learning a practice in prison for Mindful Awareness and embodiment is not only important for supporting behavioral rehabilitation, it is critical for physical and emotional well-being.
Dr. Van der Kolkâ's quote illustrates that to heal from the emotional and sometimes physical pain of trauma requires establishing a meaningful connection with our heart and bodies. Most people in prison have become disassociated from their feelings and bodies as a result of backgrounds of trauma including neglect or abuse, violent behavior, and/or the overuse of drugs and alcohol. The convict code can further distance one form a meaningful connection with his body, emotions and deeper self. Yoga helps to become more sensitive to yourself because it is a practice of self-awareness and self-control that promotes non – reactivity and self-acceptance. A regular yoga practice can help free the mind from confusion and the body from distress, allowing one to be at peace and receptive to learning new ways of thinking, feeling and being. Yoga emphasizes discipline of the mind and body for developing positive behavioral habits and impulse control.
Adapted from "Why Yoga in Prison?" by Stephanie Shorter, Prisonyoga.org.
