Yoga Education in Prisons Trust Charitable trust founded in 2009 25-30 affiliated teachers working in most NZ prisons, including 4 DTUs and other specialist units Teaching trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness practices Correspondence course Peer instructor course www.yogainprisonstrust.org

Prison: where mental distress collides with social harm and toxic shame Nearly all (91%) prisoners had a lifetime diagnosis of a mental health or substance use disorder and 62% had this diagnosis in the past 12-months. Female prisoners were significantly more likely to have a 12-month diagnosis of any mental disorder than male prisoners (75% compared to 61%). 52 percent of female prisoners, and 22 percent of male prisoners have a lifetime diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder The lifetime prevalence of generalised anxiety disorder was just over 1% in the 1999 prisoner mental health study which had increased to nearly 9% in 2015 Source: Comorbid substance use disorders and mental health disorders among New Zealand prisoners (Indig, Gear and Wilhelm, June 2016)

Why yoga in prison? Physical, emotional and spiritual benefits (sleep, calming anxiety, building positive affect, reducing pain) A potential role in healing trauma (Bessel Van Der Kolk, The Body Keeps Score) Can counter the toxic institutional environment and create a safe, sacred space (the class) in which participants re-establish a friendly relationship with the body (making it a safe sacred space) Natural, non-verbal, way of teaching skills of self-calming “Hurt people hurt people; healed people heal people”

Yoga in four easy steps Find the shape with your body Engage specific muscles (and disengage others) to stabilise the joints and the spine Breathe steadily (through the nostrils) Stay and play, and play with staying