Research & Articles

There is a wealth of evidence to support the idea that yoga and meditation in a prison setting is helpful.

The Prison Phoenix Trust in the U.K have collaborated with Oxford University on two pieces of research around yoga and meditation in a prison setting. The first showed that a ten-week programme of yoga and meditation in a prison setting will reduce emotional distress and improve impulse control. The second showed that these effects are progressive, and the more the person practices, the stronger the effects will be.

 

JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH;

• 10-week course of yoga improves behavioral control and decreases psychological distress in a prison population.
• Preliminary Evidence That Yoga Practice Progressively Improves Mood and Decreases Stress in a Sample of UK Prisoners.

U.S NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

• YOGA PRACTICE REDUCES THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS LEVELS OF PRISON INMATES

OTHER ARTICLES

• DO YOUR STRETCH; YOGA AS A REHABILITATIVE INTERVENTION
  Dr John Sinclair, Yoga Education in Prisons Trust, Churchill Fellow 2017
• BBC NEWS ARTICLE – How Yoga is helping prisoners stay calm. 26 Sept 2013.
• FREEDOM INSIDE: A STUDY OF YOGA IN PRISONS 
  Rose Parkes, Senior Lecturer in Community & Criminal Justice,De Montfort University
• IS YOGA BENEFICIAL TO THE HEALTH OF LONG SENTENCE PRISONERS?
  Jayatma Saraswati
• YOGA FOR PEOPLE IN PRISON
  Agnimudra
• TEACHING YOGA AND MEDITATION IN PRISONS IN THE U.S
  Madhuramurti

We also receive a huge amount of anecdotal evidence from people in prisons that yoga and meditation are working for them – helping them control their impulses, reduce stress and pain and develop an identity separate to their history of offending.