This spring a friend asked me if I wanted to teach yoga for some inmates of the highest security prison in Norway. My immediate response was ‘yes’; this would be a perfect forum to inquire into whether the practice of yoga actually has any practical relevance for criminals and people who have lost touch with the general norms and standards of society.
Now all good intentions aside, in my experience of teaching yoga I’ve also come to the conclusion that no matter how good and noble our intentions are, no matter how much we’ve been able to learn about the theory and actual practice of yoga, if we cannot embody it and communicate it to our students in a way that is understanding and receptive to them, we often end up creating greater confusion, than the genuine service it truly requires. This I experienced in my encounter with the prisoners and I would therefor like to share this little story with you.
On my first class with the prisoners fifteen men showed up. Some of them were well built with strong muscular bodies; curved upper backs and looking at me like a boxer ready to fight his opponent. Others were overweight and some were skinny with a protruding belly. Never the less, with some hesitation hey were eager to check out this thing called yoga. After all, it was better than being locked up in the cell.
My intention was to first and foremost introduce some yoga philosophy, but after a few minutes I had lost them completely and they were looking utterly bored and could not really follow what I was trying to convey to them about inner freedom, calmness of mind, standing up for what is good and how to minimize suffering. It was nothing but empty words to them and before long I felt the attention was dwindling. It was time to do something different and we cleared the space and started the physical practice of yoga.
I started out with some sun-salutations. Those that were fit liked the challenge, but those that were overweight or had other physical imbalances could not keep up. In order to cater for everybody I decided to change my approach once again, after all my intention was to try and reach the whole group and not just those of a certain physical predisposition. The best way to do this I figured was to lie down on the floor and try some relaxation exercises.
Ten minutes into the practice the whole energy in the room changed. From a tense anticipated atmosphere it was now a relaxing nourishing environment. After the initial blunder, I realized that the best way to reach the prisoners was certainly not with sophisticated philosophy about life, nor a physical practice that would challenge their core strength and balance, but rather through softness, helping them connect with their breath a little better. This made them all more relaxed, suddenly the inside world was more interesting than the outside world, at least for some time, when I could hold their attention on the breath and keep them relaxed and calm. Then as soon as I challenged them a bit, unfortunately some slipped into patterns of achieving and others just gave up because they felt inadequate.
After teaching them for a few months, I slowly came to experience what works and what works less good. Working them too hard would bring out the warriors in them and they easily got caught up in a fighting modality. Doing a lot of relaxation exercises, were indeed nourishing on many levels, and crucial in the beginning. However, the real breakthrough came when they learned a little sequence for themselves, which they were asked to repeat while keeping their focus inside and trying to remain as relaxed as they could. Here they had to take responsibility for doing their own practice, while keeping their focus inward. This also gave them a deeper receptivity to their own breath while trying to keep calm and relaxed while breathing through their pain and discomfort. A private inner space was initiated, some of them took it to heart immediately others took a little longer to investigate it, but we must have reached a common chord of understanding since they kept coming back with a cheeky smile on their face, insisting that they liked this thing called yoga!
On the last class, before I left for India, we chatted loosely about this that and the other, once the class was finished I asked them if they had felt any changes in their mind and body from practicing yoga.
Lars, a small solid guy in his forties, with the neck of a bull and muscles like a body builder, smiled through his golden teeth and said:
“Here we don’t pay that much attention to feelings, that want make you last around here!”
“How about physical changes “, I said hoping to strike a dialogue.
“Yoga is f***** painful said Stian, but it touches the heart of my soul and for whatever reason I feel it’s good for us”.
“I tell you honestly” said Dan, another stout man witch muscles like a super hero: “For the first time in many years, I can sleep a whole night through without waking up. It feels great. I’m sure it has something to do with yoga!”
“I’ve stopped popping all the pills”, said another guy from Russia. “I used to feel like shit in here and I was so depressed. No medication was working, now I’ve just stopped and I feel better than ever. This yoga makes me feel f****** great!”
“Like a drug? I said, trying to be funny?
“Nah man, the drugs don’t work, we all know that. Drugs are for losers”, said Lars.
“I like my drugs said Sebastian” and smiled!
“You are a fucking loser!” said Stian with another smile.
“Yo listen up”, said Lars. He spoke with authority, and others would always keep quiet when he was talking. “Yoga is a temporarily distraction like everything else in here, but it makes us feel good. That is a great thing! What I don’t like is that we’re all become so bloody sensitive.”
“Just because you want to touch me and you don’t”, said Khalid, a young pakistani guy with delicate manners.
“If I touched you I would break you”, said Lars, while lifting his fist, flaring his teeth and making a cheeky smile. They all laughed.
Then the inspectors said it was time to go back to the cell. Each of the inmates came up to me, reached out their hand and gave me a solid handshake.
“Make sure you don’t forget about us”, said Lars as he was leaving. We’ll keep our part of the deal and stick to this practice.
“What’s the deal”, I asked with curiosity.
“There is no deal”, said Lars, but if you treat it as one we’ll also take it more seriously.
“Know for sure I’ll come back”, I said. You guys have taught me more about yoga in a few months, than I’ve learned from fifteen years of teaching?
“Hæ”, said Lars, ”have we been your geunia pigs?” turning his broad back as he was about to exit the door.
“No you’ve taught me the practical side of yoga”, I said.
“How’s that possible”, he said and stopped in the door.
“You helped me find a center and stand firm in what really matters “, I said.
“You would go crazy in here”; he said being pulled by the guard. “Doing time is not a philosophical contemplation. It is all about practical survival!”
“So is yoga!” I said, “but most people are keeping themselves busy and distracted while their mind and body is falling apart and they are slowly dying.”
The heavy metal door shut and I could not really hear his reply. It didn’t really matter, I was grateful to them for having shown me a different side of life. That even in the worst criminals there are seeds of good, rays of hope that equally wants to live up and find clarity of expression in appropriate actions. The hard part is refining our expression and having the tools to refine it.
I’m not there to save anybody. That’s impossible and if I tried I’d be the greatest hypocrite. But I’ve experienced the transformative powers of yoga, and if applied properly it can heal the scars and bruises of our existence. Tear down the walls of our boxed in existence, raise solid pillars of integrity, expand our vision and elevate our mind into a new way of seeing things. Once we can see things more clearly for what they are, our reactional patterns subside and greater insight prevails. Our freedom of choice triumphs and there is no longer any question of doing what is right and wrong, but rather to act in harmony with a balanced mind, that is steady, and remains consistent and clear.
In my encounter with the prisoners I realized quite quickly that what I had planned to teach and what I thought would be best for them was actually not suitable at all. This led me to the conclusion that my perceived notion of ‘truth’ or what I thought would be the most suitable yoga for them was nothing but my own vikalpa (projection). If we cannot convey an integrated experience of yoga to the people we are teaching, we are actually doing it wrong. Our students are not to blame! Yoga is subtle and not necessarily so easy to understand, but unless we embody a strong practical experience of it as teachers we are not really doing justice to the subject.
My point is that unless we can make yoga practical, and by the grace of God, touch the heart of the people we meet, it is easy to create our own hypothetical perceived notion of truth, that only we ourselves will be able to defend and appreciate. That has very little to do with yoga. When yoga is real it touches everybody, the sinner and the saint, the king and the pauper, it’s the very essence within us all. It’s just a matter of how we can perceive it.
Now I have no control over the future fate of the prisoners I came into contact with. However the purpose of yoga is to remove suffering. First and foremost within ourselves and become clear on what is the inmost support of our being. Once you catch a glimpse of that, temporarily distractions looses their grip and gradually a new centeredness of mind becomes manifest. That can never be bought with money, cleverness or deceitful ways. It settles within us once we find harmony, can remove distractions and find support within a center that is luminous and bright. It expands with good deeds and may shrink with wicked ones. Never the less, the support of it is the same within us all. It is our birthright and lucky is the man/woman that can experience it, because the prison-walls of our own limited existence loosen their grip and we become free. Free to live, breath and feel the miracle of life rather than just death that is certainly approaching.
PS: For another great read on how yoga is working in prisons, please check out this: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/12/yoga-and-blame-lessons-from-prison-a-training-a-photograph-a-fundraiser/
And of course the sight of our Guru for Prison Yoga. James Fox, who came to Norway in Sept/Oct and inspired us, is our mentor and guide:
http://prisonyoga.com/