The Prison Phoenix Trust encourages prisoners in their spiritual lives through meditation and yoga sensitively tailored to students’ needs. We support prisoners and prison staff through teaching, workshops, correspondence, books and newsletters. We assist qualified yoga teachers in establishing and maintaining weekly classes in prisons, secure hospitals and hostels throughout the UK and Ireland. We offer training and ongoing support in person

and over the phone.

Rooting for Ranby!From Selina Sasse, Sally Buxton and Victoria Green, Yoga Co-ordinators Spring 2020

Prison YogaTeachers’Newsletter

The Prison Phoenix TrustPO Box 328, Oxford OX2 7HF

t: 01865 512 521 all@theppt.org.ukwww.theppt.org.uk

Les Root gives an insight into his five years of teaching at HMP Ranby

Towards the end of my yoga teacher training in 2008, a discussion arose in the vein of what yogic opportunities does the future hold? Answers included

the Prison Phoenix Trust. “What’s that all about then?” I thought it sounded interesting and so in 2010 I attended the PPT five-day residential course ‘Teaching Yoga in Prison.’ That was an eye opener!

The following year I ended up at Morton Hall – an immigration detainee centre near me, teaching a weekly class. This petered out and finally we closed the class. Things went a bit quiet for a year or two.

Then, out of the blue a phone call from the PPT. Was I interested in taking on a class at HMP Ranby? They had been approached by the prison. So Sally and Jason came up to the wilds of the East Midlands and we set off for HMP Ranby, near Retford. After a couple of taster sessions, we had a meeting with the prison management, consulted diaries, arm wrestled some details and we got the job!

That meeting was five years ago almost to the day. Wheels have since turned, prison management faces have changed. We now hold the lessons in the old gym for inmates and in the well-being centre for the staff. These are better than the original venue, a large office area that had been the dining hall.

Why am I writing this? I have decided to hang up my yoga mat and cymbals and am slowly cutting down on my teaching.

But do not fear: we have a replacement teacher who can’t wait to start. She has stood in for me a couple of times over the last few months and has taught in HMP Moorland and Lindholme, so she doesn’t come unprepared! I wish Jenny well in her new berth.

So, has this period of my life lived up to expectations? It has. I have met some supportive gym staff and trustees who have made me welcome, not just now and again but every time I turn up. Mats and cushions appear on the right day (usually) and get collected after. An almost perfect system. The old gym has its

floor mopped before most sessions. All these little things mean a lot when you are never quite sure what you are walking into!

Class numbers are currently eight to twelve for prisoners – just right for the size of the room. The staff class has two to four students depending on shifts, leave etc. It’s difficult for staff to attend due to work pressures. Two male staff members have really taken to yoga and are now regular, daily practitioners. I wish them well

with their practice and new teacher.The existing culture of hand shaking between staff and

prisoners has spilled over to the yoga class and gives them a feeling of support and comfort. Most thank me after class. I shall miss the camaraderie.

Was it worth attending the PPT five-day course? I should say so! The course explained to us the numerous pitfalls of teaching in a prison environment; how to behave in particular circumstances; what to expect from the PPT and so much more. The course made the act of going into prison, drawing keys and travelling across the establishment without being escorted, a far easier journey than I could have hoped for. Remembering that first journey still sends shivers up my spine! Saying that, I have never felt threatened or intimidated by the location or any prisoner.

Have I been lucky in my time there? Just the occasional lock down to throw timings out of sync. But no real problems. Whilst writing this the words of a young lad come to mind. He was a bit gobby initially, then settled down and at the end said out loud, “I feel a lot better after that, now I can sit easier and breathe better than when I first came in.” He unknowingly had hit the nail on the head.

So, shall I miss it all? Yes. But I’m a firm believer in identifying when it is time to move on. Now is that time for me and HMP Ranby. But I’ll keep in touch via Tonglen practice.

(Ed.: Tonglen is an ancient Buddhist practice to awaken compassion.)

In a prison class recently, I was starkly reminded of the spiritual challenge many prisoners face. I’d asked if there were any injuries, and a student replied, “Only my soul.”

It seemed so obvious that a prisoner yoga student might feel this way, but something about his answer made me want to think it through so I could respond more sensitively to others in the future. Perhaps other teachers have had similar experiences.

As teachers we are keen to embrace the mind, body and soul aspect of yoga and the healing nature of our work as a spiritual practice. It is why many are drawn to prison teaching. But can yoga and meditation heal a broken or ‘injured soul’?

In the stillness of meditation and yoga, there is the space to feel what’s there, deep at the core – beyond the feeling of the physical body and awareness of the thinking mind – to an inner essence. This connection to something greater and positive is not based on external parameters and validation, or past experience or identity (a sense of who you are – or are not). It is rather an experience deep in being human, that can’t be extinguished; although sometimes in the pain of life, connecting in can feel too much to bear.

But what of the ‘injured soul’? Can it heal? If so, how?Awareness. Feeling damaged or injured deep at the core

shows a level of awareness that may not have previously been accessible. The body and mind’s coping mechanism for trauma and intense pain of life experience is to create an absence of feeling – emotional and physical. Or someone can be lost or stuck in the strong feeling, be it anger, terror or hurt. A yoga class may be the first time someone becomes aware of this sense of damage and is an important sign that they are on the path to healing and transformation.

Meditation or the practice of yoga asanas and breath work may be the first time someone has had the space and skill to stay present with awareness of difficult thoughts and feelings. As a teacher, we can hold this space for our students, allowing them the time, silence and safety of a supportive environment to be present with their own suffering.

Being present with our own suffering. When we as yoga teachers are in touch with our own sense of having an ‘injured soul’, or imperfection, we are more able to feel compassion for students’ sense of deep suffering and to respond sympathetically and confidently. Many teachers say how valuable it is that they themselves have experienced the healing power of yoga and meditation first hand.

Meditation has the knack of getting to the root of a problem or difficulty. The root of an injured soul may be that someone feels wronged and damaged deep at their core by life events. This may be from being on the receiving end of harm, often in childhood, or the result of their own actions. One prisoner described his offence to me recently as “a few minutes of madness in a lifetime of suffering.” Awareness of this and learning to acknowledge feeling damaged and imperfect is an important step towards healing.

Experiencing sadness is a path to compassion. This greater clarity around feelings can lead to a sense of having an injured soul and then a feeling of sadness about what has been inflicted on them or they have inflicted on others. Perhaps being able to feel sad about oneself goes hand in hand with cultivating a sense of compassion. This may be the first time many in prison have

felt able to feel compassion, that they are deserving of it – either from other people or from themselves. This can be life changing.

Soul searching can go hand in hand with meditation, when the purpose of your life, what has been buried and what’s important to you, has the space and quiet to rise up to the surface of awareness. This can lead to a new sense of purpose.

Remorse. This may in time lead to a feeling of remorse forming a very significant part of someone’s deeper healing process and transformation. When this starts to emerge, the challenge can be to question themselves where to go from here when deeply regretted wrongs can’t be undone?

Forgiveness. “How to have a happy soul… Learn to forgive people, no matter how hard it is.” writes Wafa Demashkiah, Baylor University. I think he may have hit the nail on the head, although it’s very important to remember that you need to forgive yourself first. This can feel insurmountable to those behind bars, but when feeling remorse, it is crucial to have forgiveness and commitment to avoid further hurt, no matter how hard that is.

Feeling whole again. Noticing what gives you energy – and what drains it – becomes much more apparent with meditation. Ongoing practice helps people learn to be much more aware of their own needs, what gives them a greater sense of peace and what knocks them off balance, so they start to keep their life in check with a new sense of valuing it as it is now. Prioritising their practice becomes a basic need.

Sense of hope. We are reminded every day at The Prison Phoenix Trust that many prisoners start to feel quite different when they take their meditation seriously through regular practice. They comment on having a renewed sense of hope, their thinking becomes clearer and they start to be able to feel more present with what may have felt unbearable, or blocked, or out of reach.

We are fortunate in our teaching to be able to empower people by giving them the space and silence which supports them in their spiritual healing journey. As teachers we are in touch with many prisoners and ex-prisoners who repeatedly stress how essential their ongoing practice is to finding and maintaining this new sense of value and hope about life. The next time you hear someone say their soul is injured, perhaps you will feel respect and inspired by their bravery to be on their path to healing.

Any Injuries? Only my SoulBy Selina

Paul Nicholson shares yoga teaching at HMP Berwyn in North Wales and is the main teacherat HMP Styal a women’s prison in Cheshire.

The Tiger who Came to Yoga

Tell us about your life outside yoga.You can find me on my mountain bike in the lovely Welsh countryside or having a laugh with my Nordic Walking class. I love music and the arts, especially live performances and our local theatre in Mold.

Tell us about yourself as a yoga teacher.I learnt a variety of yoga styles and became passionate about Ashtanga and Vipassana meditation, attending many ten to 15 day silent retreats. I run British Wheel of Yoga foundation courses, workshops and seminars and teach classes in pranayama and meditation.

What was your motivation for teaching yoga in prison?I was a body builder – always stressed, always ready to fight and had an ego the size of a twenty story block of flats. I was becoming more disconnected from reality and ill at ease both physically and mentally. My life was a mess. Yoga changed my life for the better, and it just keeps getting better. I used to be in the air force, so I was already comfortable with barbed wire and bureaucratic systems

Do you have any concerns about teaching yoga?I feared standing up in front of people and teaching. I vividly remember thinking I can’t do this. As I reached the door to my first class, I turned back, but amazingly the door swung open on its own. I never judge who is in front of me, where they have come from or their background. I believe in having a relaxed and jovial atmosphere, making it fun and available to all levels. My main concern now is that the classes may stop due to lack of funding.

Does anyone share or cover your class? How did you find that person? How do you benefit from having cover and how does the prison benefit?Philippa Wade does and she’s how I started teaching yoga in prison, as her regular cover teacher. When Wrexham prison opened we set up a class there and now share it. Jules Welsh, an ex-probation officer, also covers for me. I wouldn’t want to be without cover as the classes will go ahead whatever and it is essential to keep the impetus going within the class and the establishment. It is good for the students as they get the benefit of a different teacher. It takes a while for the prison to sort out the paperwork for a new person to come in, so it’s reassuring that when I need a break there is someone in place already.

What’s the funniest thing to happen in your class?A young male inmate asked a more experienced one how yoga would help him. “It will help you to fight,” the older man said with a smile, looking at me. “No, yoga will help you to

understand that you don’t need to fight,” I said.

What’s the most challenging thing you’ve overcome in your class?Some of the inmates can be a little disruptive, like naughty teenagers showing off to impress their friends, but the other inmates discourage them, so they quieten down or politely leave the class without any problem. The other challenging issue is prisoners not being let out of their accommodation in time to make the class, often due to prison staff shortages or availability – or when no one showed for my women’s class because Avon were on site, peddling their cosmetics.

What’s the most rewarding thing to happen?People thanking me for yoga having such a positive effect on their time in prison and lives in general. One particularly memorable prisoner said that it was the best thing they’d ever done and it would enormously help their brother in prison too. And an officer who attended the yoga class at Styal said loudly afterwards to the gym staff that the yoga class was ‘the best bl**dy thing that has happened in this gym!’

What do you do to keep your class popular?Being honest and friendly and not overly critical. Also letting my own enthusiasm show, as yoga has totally changed my life. There’s often laughter. This helps foster a relaxed atmosphere, whilst I make sure that all are safe. Prison officers ask why yoga sounds so much fun.

Anything else you’d like to say?The PPT’s training is brilliant, including the five-day course.

Paul: comfortable in difficult situations...

“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”- Lao Tzu

Training for TeachersRace and Prison - For Prison yoga teachersSummertown Church Hall, Oxford, Sunday 29th March, 2020 - £10This day is for yoga and meditation teachers and cover teachers already working in prisons, secure hospitals, IRCs and bail hostels, or those about to begin. What is it about our society and criminal justice systems that means a disproportionate number of people of colour wind up in prison? What is life inside like for them? What kinds of issues around ethnicity do we need to be aware of so we are most effective in our teaching?

Part of this day aims to explore those questions and deepen our understanding of race and prison, with the help of Dr Coretta Phillips, Associate Professor of Social Policy at LSE. Her research interests are in the field of race, ethnicity, crime, criminal justice and social policy. She is involved in a study with minority ethnic young people, including those involved in crime but not detected by the police, those deeply entrenched in the criminal justice system, and those uninvolved in crime. She is particularly interested in why some ethnic groups are easily caught up in the criminal justice system while others are not. Coretta’s previous research in the UK has included work on ethnicity and social relations in men’s prisons and institutional racism. Her book, The Multicultural Prison was shortlisted for the Radio 4 Thinking Allowed / British Sociological Association Award for Ethnography in 2014.

After Coretta’s presentation and discussion with us in the morning, we’ll have time to share the challenges of our classes and also what is working well. We’ll practise asana and seated meditation together and enjoy a bring-and-share lunch. There will be ample time to talk with others engaged in this unique work. The cost is being kept low to minimise expenses for teachers travelling from a distance.

Autumn Meditation Retreat for Yoga Teachers and Letter WritersCarmelite Retreat Centre, Boars Hill, Oxford, 16th - 18th October, 2020 - cost tbcThis retreat, held mostly in silence, offers a chance to develop your meditation practice so you feel more confident in offering it as part of your teaching. Talks on the practice as well as one-to-one meetings with the facilitators provide the support you need for the extended periods of practice over the weekend. Meditation retreats are an excellent way to establish a regular practice or to revive or strengthen it, so we welcome teachers who have attended in previous years, as well as those who have not yet been. First priority is given to teachers working in prisons, IRCs, secure hospitals or bail hostels, and to volunteer letter writers. We hope you can join us.

An Introduction to Teaching Yoga in Prison - For those not yet working in PrisonSunday 15th November, 2020, Wytham Village Hall, Oxford - £35Is it possible to give unconditional support, affirmation and encouragement through yoga and meditation in a highly regulated, stressful setting like prison? Come find out more on this day, when we will explore the challenges and rich rewards of sharing yoga and meditation with prisoners, ex-prisoners and staff. Open to teachers interested in finding out about prison yoga teaching.

For more information or to book your place on any of these courses, please get in touch with Sally, Selina or Victoria.

t: 01865 512521 e: all@theppt.org.uk

You may have caught ‘The Choir’on BBC 2 recently, in which choirmaster Gareth Malone tries to form a singing group in one of the country’s toughest young offender institutions. It’s a shame it’s not still on iPlayer: it was truly moving. And it offered at least two great lessons for prison yoga teachers.

First, it is often unbelievably frustrating and difficult making even simple things happen, even when everyone – Governor, officers, choir master (yoga teacher!) – is pulling in the same direction. This is especially true in young offender institutions and prisons where gang or political affiliation means groups have to be continually kept separate. So if your prison classes are starting and stopping, or you’re still waiting after several months for classes to actually begin, take heart: you’re not alone!

Second, authenticity goes a very long way. Gareth doesn’t try to pretend that he’s anything other than a professional musician and choirmaster. He’s not trying to be “down with the kids”. He is truly himself – comfortable in his skin – and that allows the prisoners he works with to be truly themselves.

When we are up against institutional inanities, when things seem impossible and we feel like chucking in the towel, it’s worth taking a breath and remembering not to take it personally: this is just how prisons are much of the time. When you hit barriers, keep talking to staff members. Be patient. But keep looking for opportunities and trying different avenues. Keep in touch with us at the PPT who are only too happy to listen and think things through with you.

And whether things are going smoothly or not, make the most of who you are. Don’t think that because you may come from a different place than your students that you shouldn’t be there or don’t have something useful to offer. Be happy with who you are. This frees other people up to be happy with who they are.

Lessons from ‘The Choir’ at HMYOI AylesburyBy Sam