"I've been going in and out of San Quentin and other prisons for the last 13 years.
The Prison Yoga Project grew out of my experience teaching more than 1400 yoga and mindfulness classes to hundreds
of prisoners while facilitating victim/offender education,
violence prevention and emotional literacy classes. I've witnessed
yoga's effectiveness firsthand, helping prisoners to release stress and anxiety, achieve emotional control and calmer temperament, improve rational decision-making and confront chronic behavioral issues.
Prisoners who've suffered lifelong trauma are met with empathy and respect.
Few realize that most prisoners have suffered significant trauma as children or young adults...abandonment, parental death, poverty, acute hunger, aggravated bullying, homelessness, domestic violence, sexual abuse, human trafficking, discrimination, drug and alcohol abuse and witnessing violent crime, including murder. Carrying unresolved trauma into their lives impacts everything they do. Their behavior often lands them in prison, where they experience further trauma. But their hypervigilance and reactive behavior can be turned around with understanding and self-awareness practices that promote personal accountability.
Our goal is emotionally stable prisoners and safer communities.
I created a Training program that prepares yoga teachers, really anyone with a committed yoga practice, to teach
yoga and mindfulness to trauma-impacted people, especially people in prison. More than 1000 teachers have taken PYP Training and are now conducting
classes in more than 100 mens' and womens' jails, prisons, reentry and rehab facilities throughout the United States. We've learned that to change chronic negative behavior it is critical to provide them with the skills for increased self-awareness, emotional intelligence, empathy and personal accountability.
Why should you care?
Because 93% of all prisoners are eventually released. Emotionally and physically healthy prisoners translates into lower healthcare costs for prisons and upon release, safer neighborhoods.
We’re swamped with requests for more classes which means more teachers, more mats, more books and other instructional materials, more equipment, more staff, more research to support the known benefits of our methodology. More prisons want yoga and as the word about our programs continues to spread through this country’s
4,575 prisons, stubborn resistance has turned into growing demand, and now, we're stretched beyond capacity.”
~ James Fox, founder and director
We need to raise $125,000.
Now.
We’ve accomplished a lot in
the last four and a half years - with a tiny staff and several dozen dedicated associates all over the country. We push to get yoga into prison every way we can think of. And, its paying off. But we have expenses. Until now, we’ve relied on Training fees, individual donations, small
grants, and the sale of books, DVD and T-shirts to further our
mission...but now we have increased expenses and the need for further resources to meet the demand before us. We need:
·
Annual Support for existing staff, increased adminstrative assistance and equipment. $40,000
· Partial Salary for Chapter Development Director, a staff person to support local chapter coordinators who set up and keep classes running in local prisons. This is what keeps classes going in the 12 cities we operate in right now. $35,000
Support for Teacher Engagement and Retention. We need to defray hardship for local coordinators and teachers. Prisons demand sustainable programs and covering basic expenses of volunteers who really need it keeps the programs running. $35,000
· Partial Salary for A Volunteer Coordinator to shape, staff and manage the 1001 assignments that need doing all over the country. We need serious help recruiting, engaging and nurturing volunteers. $25,000
Resources
to complete additional instructional materials so prisoners can continue
learning on their own, including an audio CD/download of conscious breathing and
meditation practices, and brochures for various specific health-related issues
common to prisoners. $10,000
Resources to edit and finish the filmed version of our Training. We shot the whole 12 hours of our Training in San Francisco on July 25, 26. This will help us take the Training places where we can't physically go. Virtually, wherever English is spoken. $7500
Resources to finish upgrading our website, adding a teacher portal where all thousand+ PYP Trained teachers can exchange ideas, to enhance engagement and improve the overall work experience. $7500
Why give?
Imagine the value of a yoga practice to someone in constant confinement, or even worse, solitary. Think of the lives and families that can be restored; the impact on prisons and prison culture when more and more prisoners are practicing yoga. Money saved, anguish averted, suffering relieved.
Between us, you and us, we have the know-how and the dedication to get this
done – to handle the demand and to bring yoga and mindfulness
into every American prison. This is
what we worked for and it’s happening. It’s clear, if we improve what we’re doing, all resistance will fade. Please help us be ready for
it.
