Swedish yoga instructor in Mumbai to train those interested in working with prisoners

Prisoners practising yoga at San Quentin State Prison California in USA Pic courtesyRobert SturmanLast April Rajesh Tulli a 30yearold certified Ashtanga yoga teacher from Nashik was among 20 social workers therapists and yoga practitioners from Mumbai Delhi Bengaluru Switzerland Holland and Brazil who were a part of a unique workshop held at Yoga 101 a studio and coworking space in VersovaEquipped with the skills learnt at the workshop Tulli ended up teaching yoga for a day in Nashik Central Jail I conducted a class with 50 prisoners on basic asanas and pranayam breathing exercises since most of them suffered from short temper shares Tulli who plans to return to Mumbai for the second edition of the twoday intensive workshop to be held on March 11 and 12 at the same studio Priced at Rs 2000 it offers certificate training for all those interested in working with atrisk population including the incarceratedJosefin Wikstrom teaches yoga in the highsecurity Hinsebergs prison for women in Sweden Pic courtesyHenrik WittYoga behind barsThe workshop is part of the Mumbai chapter of the Prison Yoga Project PYP a nonprofit founded by James Fox at San Quentin Prison in the USA back in 2002 The project was launched with the belief that yoga when taught specifically as a mindfulness traumainformed practice is effective in releasing unresolved trauma allowing one to address the resultant behavioural issues With communities in USA Canada Mexico Norway Sweden Germany and India too PYP has produced over 1500 trained teachers replicating its methodology in prisonsParticipants practise Shavasana at the earlier edition of workshop held in MumbaiJosefin Wikstrom a 44yearold Swedish yoga practitioner who is one of PYPs international ambassadors living parttime in India for the last 25 years will conduct the upcoming workshop Most prisoners suffer from chronic interpersonal trauma experienced early in life This includes abandonment hunger sexual abuse drug and alcohol abuse and witnessing crime mdash including murder We use the yoga practice to increase sensitivity toward oneself empathy for others leading to compassionMany prisoners may have committed horrible crimes but at the end of the day we would want healed persons who take responsibility for their own actions and feel remorse to be released back in society shares Wikstroumlm who has taught yoga in highsecurity prisons for women in Sweden and has developed new traumainformed yoga manuals for the Swedish prison system with PYP colleagues in collaboration with Fox Currently she is working closely with Sumeet Nagdev Dance Arts and their Ahsas project with the aim to share dance as a healing activity with underprivileged childrenWhats the contentYoga for prisoners differs from regular yoga workshops We use evidencebased methods and a set structure to reinstall a sense of control freedom and safety among prisoners We use different pranayama techniques to activate the relaxation response The asanas address muscle groups that tense due to chronic stress such as the psoas muscle connect the spine to legs the deep hip flexor and the area around the ribcage The classes end with alternatenostril breath to balance the nervous system before entering the stressful prison environment after guided relaxation shares WikstromPYP has also developed special practices that cater to spacecrunched Indian prisons I will teach practices that prisoners can do while sitting and some Dharanafocus practices along with breath awareness We have also developed a small Kriya sequence to keep the immune system strong in a polluted environment These include Jala Neti nose flushing a form of Dhauti gum or tongue massagingscraping she addsDance therapyThe course content also covers movement and dance therapy for women and children in Indian prisons These have been developed in collaboration with Tripura Kashyap a wellknown dance therapist from Bengaluru The idea is to implement these methods not only in prisons but also for victims of crime and other populations that are suffering from the negative effects post a trauma she sums up