 Yoga in Jail Could Help Inmates with Stress, Addictions
Downward facing dog, or Adho Mukha Svanasana, is finding its way into inmates' lives in correctional facilities throughout the country. The integration of yoga in jails provides inmates with a stress management technique that is provided to them at no cost to the county. Based on volunteer services, institutionalized yoga classes, like the one in the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh, helps ease tension and stress among inmates, and guides them to gain control in difficult situations.
In addition to stress, yoga may help inmates with addictions by introducing "them to their inner self, so that they can build up that part of them up, which has been taken over by, in a lot of cases, the addiction", said Judy Garvey, volunteer coordinator and group founder.
The idea began in Jaipur Central Jail, a maximum security facility in India, by yoga expert, Suraj Karan Jindel. Through breathing, stretching, and strengthening techniques, inmates are given an opportunity to learn an ancient Indian art that is economically and ecologically sustainable, and could benefit their mental, social, and physical wellbeing.
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