YOGA @ SRCI and the Oregon Accountability Model & Home for Good in Oregon

1. YOGA @ SRCI and the Oregon Accountability Model & Home for Good in Oregon • SRCI Volunteer John Close • Activities Yoga Volunteer @ 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

2. 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

3. 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 inmate’s 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 inmate’s 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.

4. 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. Yoga’s 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)

5. 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.

6. Part 1 of OAM’s 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 it’s foundation of pro social interrelationships fosters the growth of emotional and mental health.

7. Part 1 of OAM’s 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 one’s 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.

8. Part 1 of OAM’s 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.

9. Part 2 of OAM’s Best Correctional Practices • Yoga can enhance anyone’s 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 participant’s 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 inmate’s accountability for his daily actions.

10. Part 3 of OAM’s 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.

11. Part 3 of OAM’s 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.

12. Part 3 of OAM’s 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.

13. Part 4 of OAM’s 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.

14. Part 4 of OAM’s 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

15. Part 5 of OAM’s 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.

16. Part 5 of OAM’s 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.

17. Part 5 of OAM’s 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.

18. Part 5 of OAM’s 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 inmate’s request, requested further studies of the Amrit Yoga Institute’s 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.

19. Part 6 of OAM’s Best Correctional Practices • Yoga can be utilized to assist the seamless transition of inmates to the DOC’s 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.

20. 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

27. 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.

28. Home for Good in Oregon Cont. SRCI Volunteer John Close • What behaviors will today’s 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.

29. 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.

30. 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.

31. 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 Yoga’s 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.

32. 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 individual’s 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.

33. HGO Principle 1, Cont. SRCI Volunteer John Close • When a person is incarcerated it produces an evolutionary crisis. The individual’s 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.

34. 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 Oregon’s justice system to function safely and effectively as offenders reintegrate into their perspective neighborhoods.

35. 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.

36. 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.

37. 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).

38. 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 community’s 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.

39. 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 it’s strongest goal.

40. 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.

41. 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 inmate’s mental clarity. It can fit into Counseling to develop an inmate’s mental/emotional health.

42. 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 inmate’s 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 yoga’s 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.

43. 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.

44. 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.

45. 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 CD’s 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.

46. 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.

47. YOGA @ SRCI and the Oregon Accountability Model & Home for Good in Oregon • SRCI Volunteer John Close • Activities Yoga Volunteer @ 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