YOGA @ SRCI and the Oregon Accountability Model

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YOGA _at_ SRCI and the Oregon Accountability Model
Home for Good in Oregon

• SRCI Volunteer John Close
• Activities Yoga Volunteer _at_ SRCI
• Willow Tree Holistic Health Center
• 1509 North Whitley Dr 5
• Fruitland, Idaho 83619
• www.willtree.com,
• 208-452-5716,
• Fax-452-5718
• October 2006

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CONTENTS

• Introduction Training
• Oregon Accountability Model, Part 1
  
  
• OAM, Part 2
• OAM, Part 3
• OAM, Part 4
• OAM, Part 5
• OAM, Part 6
• RESEARCH
• Home Good Oregon Introduction
• HGO Principles 1 2
• HGO Principles 3 4
• PROPOSAL

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Introduction Training SRCI Volunteer John
Close

• I am a volunteer at Snake River Correctional
  Institution (SRCI). My name is John Close. I was
  inspired by the Volunteer Newsletter, Issue XIII,
  First Quarter 2005 and by the article on the Home
  for Good in Oregon (HGO) published in Corrections
  Today. The articles presented me with a more
  complete picture of an inmates journey from
  incarceration to release. I believe that I could
  be of help to the inmates. I have been heading
  the Yoga Program at SRCI through Activities since
  1997. I believe Yoga can fit nicely into the
  goals of the six-part model of the Oregon
  Accountability Model (OAM).
• The fostering of OAM by Religious Services is to
  be commended. The continued development of an
  inmates spirituality beyond incarceration is
  vital to re-entry and to decreased recidivism. I
  can help as a Yoga instructor, as a Registered
  Nurse, as an Anthropologist and as a man of
  faith.

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Introduction Training Continued SRCI Volunteer
John Close

• I teach Amrit Yoga and Primordial Sound
  Meditation at SRCI. Both modalities of Yoga have
  a strong spiritual foundation yet they are both
  non-denominational. The science of yoga can work
  with all faith groups without interfering or
  detracting from a particular denominations
  belief system. Yoga can also incorporate people
  who do not belong to any religious group. Yogas
  concepts can fit into the model of chaplaincy in
  the prison and into your proposed model being
  developed in release communities. There is
  adequate research to back this up (see research)

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Introduction Training Continued SRCI Volunteer
John Close

• My Religious Life
• I was raised a Catholic.
• I attended Catholic school from 1st through 12th
  grade.
• I was an Alter Boy through the 12th grade.
• I started practicing yoga in 1970.
• While practicing Catholicism I also practiced the
  Sioux folk religion as a Pipe Carrier, Sun Dancer
  Sweat Lodge participant for 7 years from 1987
  through 1995. In 1995 I maintained the Sweat
  Lodge for a Lakota Medicine Man for most of the
  year. This time included his annual Sun Dance
  ceremony.
• Presently my yoga practice maintains my
  connection to the Divine Trinity consisting of
  God the Father, God the Son the Holy Spirit.

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Part 1 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices

• Yoga can be a positive program for the
  development of a correctional plan for any inmate
  entering Oregon's prison system.
• Yoga when properly presented creates a unique
  opportunity to establish a group environment
  where inmates can discover their own relationship
  to community functioning. In this environment
  everyone involved has the opportunity to develop
  an attitude of co-operation which often instills
  a sense of self worth. The science of yoga with
  focus on its foundation of pro social
  interrelationships fosters the growth of
  emotional and mental health.

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Part 1 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices
Continued

• The heart of a sound yoga practice which follows
  such observances and disciplines as non-violence,
  non-judgment and truth leads to a shift in
  values. The purpose of yoga is to get out of the
  unconsciously driven dimension of the ego mind
  and get into exploring, expanding and
  experiencing the depth of ones being. Spiritual
  unfoldment becomes the natural outcome for an
  individual as the practice of yoga leads to
  positive behavioral modifications and an
  interactive lifestyle. The nourishment of a
  consistent monitored practice of yoga is a
  process of tapping into the divine potential that
  creates people empowered and charged by the
  benefits of responsibility to themselves and
  others.

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Part 1 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices
Continued

• The Amrit Yoga training program at SRCI appears
  to be producing such a community. Three inmates
  in Complex 1 are committed to become yoga
  teachers. They are assisting new inmates when
  they enter any yoga class. These three men appear
  to have transformed their lives and their
  personal social conditioning. Such personal
  transformation can very well result in enhanced
  community functioning upon release as well as a
  positive approach to marital and family life.

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Part 2 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices

• Yoga can enhance anyones motivation for change.
  It presents the individual with an opportunity to
  role-model pro-social behaviors.
• Yoga means union or oneness. The very word yoga
  implies that the practice of yoga is a science
  which allows the practitioner to merge with his
  environment.
• The foundation of yoga is about unity and the
  sacredness of life. The sacredness of life goes
  beyond religious doctrine yet it satisfies ones
  spiritual hunger and can enhance the
  participants particular beliefs.
• Amrit Yoga is a complete approach to integrating
  body, mind, spirit with environment. The practice
  of yoga helps to shape positive behaviors. These
  behaviors can enhance pro social staff
  interaction and thus help to maintain an inmates
  accountability for his daily actions.

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Part 3 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices

• Yoga can function as a system of evidence based
  work and can also function as a treatment program
  to allow the inmates incarceration experience to
  be both meaningful and corrective.
• Yoga has ample research to show the benefits of a
  continuous practice. The research I have
  presented is specific to meditation. I teach both
  Primordial Sound Meditation and a form of
  Meditation in Motion called Amrit Yoga. Amrit
  Yoga comes from the source of yoga which is
  called ashtanga. Ashtanga translates to mean
  eight limbed. In yoga all eight limbs need to
  function like the limbs of the human body. Just
  like the human body all eight limbs of Ashtanga
  Yoga must function in co creation of the body,
  mind, heart and soul.

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Part 3 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices
Continued

• Ashtanga Yoga is composed of the yamas and
  niyamas, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana,
  dhyana and samadhi. The yamas and niyamas are the
  observances and the disciplines that protect one
  from internal and external disturbances and
  assure the successful practice of ashtanga yoga.
  Asana (posture) and pranayama (breathing)
  represent the discipline of the body (Hatha
  Yoga). Pratyahara (attention) and dharana
  (concentration) represent the discipline of the
  mind. Dhyana (meditation) turns the entire
  practice of ashtanga yoga into a spiritual
  discipline (Raja Yoga). The meditative aspect of
  yoga is integral to the fulfillment of the intent
  of yogic practice which is the integration of all
  aspects of ones being.

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Part 3 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices
Continued

• The benefits of meditation are many. The research
  studies I show have been done on Transcendental
  Meditation (TM). I teach Primordial Sound
  Meditation at SRCI which is the same type of
  Meditation as TM. Deepak Chopra M.D., who
  developed Primordial Sound Meditation worked for
  several years with the Maharishi who founded TM.
  Therefore the research studies on TM are valid
  for Primordial Sound Meditation as well.
• Research findings are documented by the following
  reports Decreased Prison Rule Violations,
  Greater Number of Clean Parole Records, Reduced
  Recidivism, Increased Orderliness, Decreased
  Urban Crime, Decreased Hostility, Decreased Drug
  Abuse, decreased City Crime Rate, and Decreased
  National Crime Rate. Please review the enclosed
  Research section titled Effective Rehabilitation
  and Ideal Government.

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Part 4 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices

• A yoga program can extend into the release
  community where children and families of inmates
  can be included. This may well serve to break the
  intergenerational cycle of crime.
• The foundation of yoga is the development of
  unity. Unity is contagious and spreads into the
  community as well as the family. The core group
  which is created around the practice of yoga can
  positively affect everyone involved. Yoga is
  about a shift in values.
• Yoga uses the body as an entry point to explore,
  experience and release psychosomatic blocks that
  prevent one from tapping into the source of ones
  potential. It is a process of self discovery.
• For the body to be the temple of the divine, the
  yoga practice must harness and harmonize the
  conflicting forces and disturbances that arise
  from the body, emotions and mind. These
  unconscious forces keep one divided and
  fragmented in thinking feeling and doing.

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Part 4 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices
Continued

• Amrit Yoga, the yoga I teach at SRCI, is a
  metaphor for life. The skill of mindful
  attention and meditative awareness one develops
  on the yoga mat can extend to the challenges one
  encounters in life. Painful transition periods,
  relationships and crises often become
  opportunities for personal transformation.
• The practice of yoga done with sincerity
  positively affects the practitioner and can well
  go on to include family and friends. It is well
  known in Sociological (Medical) Research that any
  intergenerational cycle can be broken when family
  members are shown pro- social modeling behaviors
  from caring individuals. This modeling can come
  from within the family or from the community at
  large.
• As the inmates involved in these yoga programs
  begin to be released into their perspective
  communities these men may very well be the ones
  who model pro-social behavior for the community
  and for their family members

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Part 5 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices

• Yoga can be utilized from the first day of
  incarceration. This can serve to allow inmates an
  immediate way to prepare for re-entry and
  planning from the first day of incarceration.
• Since the purpose of the practice of yoga is to
  enter the integrated state of being it can be
  positively utilized from the first day of
  incarceration. In the practice of yoga the body
  is used as a vehicle through which one recognizes
  the blockages that prevent one from experiencing
  ones true nature.

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Part 5 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices
Continued

• The first stage of Amrit Yoga is the willful
  practice where one learns to face psychosomatic
  tensions. It can expose old memories, fears,
  shame and anger. In the practice of Amrit Yoga
  one learns to encounter these blockages with
  meditative attention and to release them. These
  layers of tension live in the form of unconscious
  habits and preprogrammed attitudes. The
  possibility of releasing and integrating these
  tensions comes from experiencing physiological
  release of stressors in yoga postures.

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Part 5 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices
Continued

• One can use yoga postures to transcend both
  physical as well as more subtle layers of tension
  and limitation. The science of yoga teaches one
  to use inward focus and meditative awareness as a
  way to allow one to recognize personal
  limitations. The posture then becomes
  therapeutic and allows personal boundaries to be
  transcended.
• Many inmates who are involved in yoga recognize
  this therapeutic change in their lives and
  acquire the desire to continue the process after
  their release. These men upon reentry to the
  community could be utilized to strengthen reentry
  facilities for those who are interested in
  continuing their yoga practice or initiating a
  yoga practice.

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Part 5 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices
Continued

• The desire to continue a yoga practice is often
  the norm for those who have noticed the benefits
  in their lives. A good example was recently
  brought to my attention in June, 2005. An inmate
  was transferred from SRCI to Powder River
  Correctional Facility. Chaplin Haefer, at the
  inmates request, requested further studies of
  the Amrit Yoga Institutes material. The inmate
  had a personal desire to continue his yoga
  practice. The inmate already had the Amrit Yoga
  Instructional Hand Out (HO) given to all Yoga
  Program members at SRCI. I immediately sent the
  companion instructional video to go along with
  the HO. I also sent an unopened commercially
  available CD. The CD was an audio yoga program.
  The inmate was then able to continue his yoga
  practice as requested.

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Part 6 of OAMs Best Correctional Practices

• Yoga can be utilized to assist the seamless
  transition of inmates to the DOCs community
  corrections partners in each of Oregon's 36
  counties. This could serve to allow offenders to
  continue working on their correctional plans and
  be successful in the community.
• The establishment of a yoga practice from
  incarceration to post-prison supervision can be
  an effective tool for the DOC. A working
  partnership can be developed with each county to
  utilize yoga as an effective practice and a sound
  program for offenders and their families in their
  perspective communities. Please review the HGO
  for more information on this topic.

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RESEARCH

• The research studies which follow have been done
  on Transcendental Meditation (TM). the research
  studies on TM are valid for Primordial Sound
  Meditation and Amrit Yoga.
• Please contact me with questions (John Close)
• www.willtree.com,
• 208-452-5716,
• Fax-452-5718
• October 19,2006

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Home for Good in Oregon SRCI Volunteer John
Close

• A Community, Faith State Re-entry Partnership
  to Increase Restorative Justice
• The HGO re-entry project provides a new focus on
  the re-entry component of OAM. Yoga can also
  fulfill the need to help inmates develop their
  spirituality beyond incarceration.

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Home for Good in Oregon Cont. SRCI Volunteer
John Close

• What behaviors will todays children internalize
  over the next 10 years? How will their lives be
  affected? These are the questions we should be
  asking ourselves. We want to build the social and
  spiritual capacity of local communities to
  welcome, accept and reintegrate these returnees
  and their families into the formal and informal
  structures of their perspective communities. We
  also want to utilize education, public policy and
  personal example in our attempt to establish
  asset-based community development. We can work
  to develop the networking, community, resource
  knowledge and strengths that churches (by any
  name) and community organizations bring to the
  task of helping ex-inmates and their families
  reintegrate themselves back into the communities.
  While creating a more positive atmosphere for
  their children.

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Home for Good in Oregon Cont. SRCI Volunteer
John Close

• Professional chaplains are trained to work with
  all faith groups and non-denominational people
  who do not belong to any religious group. Yoga
  could fit into this model. All that is needed is
  the space to gather with people who could choose
  to continue their yoga practice with friends and
  family members. All this could serve to help
  ex-inmates maintain their spiritual growth and
  resist the temptation to commit crime which would
  provide a safer environment for the public.

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Home for Good in Oregon Cont. SRCI Volunteer
John Close

• To develop the structured partnership with the
  justice system Home for Good in Oregon (HGO) has
  developed four principles
• Please review HGO 1 and 2.
• 1) Focus on the Community, Not the Offender,
• 2) Use Asset-Based Community Development,
• Please review HGO 3 and 4.
• 3) Know the Community, and
• 4) Use Evidence-Based Approaches to Preventing
  Recidivism.

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HGO Principle 1 SRCI Volunteer John Close

• To assist the structured partnership with the
  justice system 4 principles are used
• 1) Focus on the Community, Not the Offender
• Focusing on the Community fits perfectly into
  Yogas philosophy. It is the community which is
  strengthened as the individual practices yoga.
  Nevertheless for yoga to merge into a community
  benefit, it must begin with the individual.

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HGO Principle 1, Cont. SRCI Volunteer John Close

• These are the practices that carry a profound
  transformative potential. The true practice of
  yoga becomes an extension of a personal spiritual
  discipline, intended to enrich the individuals
  life just as the individual helps others to
  enrich their lives.
• It is the practice which plants the seed.
  Initially the practice allows the individual to
  begin to transcend survival level demands. These
  survival level demands keep people preoccupied
  with survival, sensuality and the pursuit of
  power.

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HGO Principle 1, Cont. SRCI Volunteer John Close

• When a person is incarcerated it produces an
  evolutionary crisis. The individuals profession
  is stopped, a marriage and family life are put on
  hold and most likely self-destructive habits are
  creating health and emotional problems.
• For those who choose to practice yoga new avenues
  of expression that are engaging and fulfilling
  begin to be explored. As inmates gather to
  practice yoga they begin to form a core group
  which supports and creates an ideal environment
  where people can discover their own true nature.

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HGO Principle 1, Cont. SRCI Volunteer John Close

• A heart-centered core group usually emerges from
  the practice of yoga. It is a community of like
  minded individuals which merges from individual
  to community focus. This allows a wide range of
  possibilities and services to be developed in a
  spirit of co-operation.
• The co-operation established within each
  community creates an avenue to increase the
  capacity of Oregons justice system to function
  safely and effectively as offenders reintegrate
  into their perspective neighborhoods.

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HGO Principle 2 SRCI Volunteer John Close

• 2) Use Asset-Based Community Development
• Each local community has a unique capacity to
  utilize its social and spiritual community
  development and its relationship to HGO to
  enhance community cohesiveness. This could be a
  win win situation. Using the Asset-Based Model
  can only strengthen both the community and HGO.
  Once the assets of the community are recognized
  and developed, community organizations and
  churches (by any name) will see the strength in
  developing a Community relationship with HGO.

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HGO Principle 2, Cont. SRCI Volunteer John Close

• I believe that this could strengthen the formal
  and informal structures of each community as
  returnees and their families utilize various
  options. After all, informal structures of each
  community need effective role models. It is well
  known that yoga practitioners generally exhibit
  behaviors that are calm and orderly. They can be
  effective role models.

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HGO Principle 3 SRCI Volunteer John Close

• 3. Know the Community
• As indicated in the HGO article each community
  has a unique social and cultural fabric.
  Therefore information is needed to develop and
  utilize the strengths and needs of each
  neighborhood release location.
• To achieve the desired results it may be a good
  idea to do, if it has not been done, a Needs
  Assessment Research Project. The Needs Assessment
  could focus on a Community Process approach. The
  Community Process would provide both the
  scientific knowledge and the political support
  necessary for the identification and management
  of potential coercive mobility (the constant
  flux of removing and returning people to the
  community because of incarceration).

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HGO Principle 3 Cont. SRCI Volunteer John
Close

• The ODC may already have statistics gathered from
  many counties. Additional statistics are
  available through the Oregon Department of Human
  Resources. This information could be utilized to
  determine the basic needs of each community
  (Community Process). Once the information was
  gathered it would serve to strengthen the
  partnership between a local release population
  and its community, in addressing the communitys
  major public justice problems and building a
  healthier community. It could serve to guide the
  HGO team, which would identify problems needing
  attention and then set goals and objectives.

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HGO Principle 3 Cont. SRCI Volunteer John
Close

• It is community justice which would be
  strengthened with a commitment to an effective
  community process. The stake holders in the
  community process need to be identified and
  utilized. We volunteers as community committee
  members are key to improving assessment
  effectiveness. Special interest groups, local
  business organizations, community organization,
  religious organizations, citizens of different
  races and ethnic groups, the medical community,
  mental health organizations, schools, social
  service organizations, substance abuse clinics,
  law enforcement agencies, voluntary agencies,
  clergy, Chamber of Commerce, economic development
  agencies, senior citizens and other key community
  organizations can be crucial to the successful
  implementation of a community process which has
  justice and community safety as its strongest
  goal.

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HGO Principle 4 SRCI Volunteer John Close

• 4. Use Evidence-Based Approaches to Preventing
  recidivism
• Utilization of the science of yoga which allows
  pro-social communities to not only develop but to
  thrive from the time of initial incarceration to
  release can provide the foundation for
  preventing recidivism.

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Proposal from John Close SRCI Volunteer

• Yoga can be introduced into all DOC Facilities
  and into each re-entry community. This
  presentation is intended to explain the potential
  depth of yoga. Yoga can flourish anywhere as long
  as there is someone who will nourish its
  evolution. I am that someone at SRCI. There are
  other certified educators of Amrit Yoga and
  Primordial Sound Meditation in the state of
  Oregon who can assist in the formulation of this
  program.
• Yoga crosses many boundaries. It can fit into
  Activities to provide space and time for the
  practice. It can fit into Religious Services to
  provide an inmates right to practice a
  non-denominational spiritual practice. It can fit
  into Education to foster an inmates mental
  clarity. It can fit into Counseling to develop an
  inmates mental/emotional health.

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Proposal from John Close SRCI Volunteer, Continued

• It would be beneficial to do a Needs Assessment
  within each institution and re-entry community to
  facilitate utilization of yoga. Just as each
  re-entry community has different assets to
  enhance cohesiveness each DOC Institution has a
  different focus which can be utilized to access
  inmate compliance. This compliance can serve to
  strengthen an inmates correction plan throughout
  his incarceration and re-entry into the
  community.
• I would therefore suggest doing a simple Needs
  Assessment within each DOC Institution to
  determine the proper setting for yoga to thrive.
  Religious Services could well be the formal
  setting for Amrit Yoga because of yogas
  spiritual capacity. Educators and Councilors
  could encourage men to utilize the science of
  yoga for social development. Activities could
  provide extra space and supervision for the
  practice.

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Proposal from John Close SRCI Volunteer, Continued

• Both Amrit Yoga and Primordial Sound Meditation
  can easily be utilized by any Correctional
  Institution for the implementation of a Yoga
  Program. Both practices require minimal
  supervision and place most of the responsibility
  for the practice in the hands of the inmates
  themselves. As long as the institution monitors
  the programs and provides consistent access to
  materials along with space to practice, these
  programs can thrive.

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Proposal from SRCI Volunteer John Close, Continued

• The usual entry point to a yoga practice is
  called Hatha Yoga and utilizes postures as the
  beginning of a meditation practice. Amrit Yoga
  is a form of Hatha Yoga which has worked well at
  SRCI. It works because once the postures are
  learned the practice can be continued using a
  commercially available audio CD from the Amrit
  yoga Institute. This eliminates the need to have
  a teacher on the premises for each yoga session.

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Proposal from SRCI Volunteer John Close, Continued

• I have three methods available at SRCI to teach
  the Amrit Yoga Posture Sequence. The first
  method is a demonstration by a Registered Yoga
  Teacher (RYT). The second method is the same
  demonstration via DVD or videotape. The third
  method is the Amrit Yoga Introductory Handout
  Booklet. To utilize these methods effectively it
  is best to practice consistently by using the
  Amrit Yoga Audio CD. These CDs could also be
  made available for purchase by the inmates for
  personal practice. It is the daily practice of
  yoga which produces the best results for a
  persons development. This can be adapted to
  extend into the community.

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Proposal from SRCI Volunteer John Close, Continued

• Primordial Sound Meditation is easily learned. To
  learn this meditation practice requires a
  certified teacher to teach 4 sessions. Each
  session lasts 2-3 hours. A gymnasium can be
  utilized for maximum exposure. I have taught 100
  inmates at a time at SRCI in 1998 and 1999. Since
  then I usually teach in groups of 30. Once the
  practice is learned an inmate can meditate
  according to his own schedule. It is also best to
  provide at least one weekly group meditation to
  nurture group cohesiveness.

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YOGA _at_ SRCI and the Oregon Accountability Model
Home for Good in Oregon

• SRCI Volunteer John Close
• Activities Yoga Volunteer _at_ SRCI
• Willow Tree Holistic Health Center
• 1509 North Whitley Dr 5
• Fruitland, Idaho 83619
• www.willtree.com,
• 208-452-5716,
• Fax-452-5718
• October 2006