(from Offender Programs Report, July/August 2004,
the second of a three-part series on the Free Inside program at
Maui Community Correctional Center in Hawaii)
Free Inside: the Workings of this Prison Program
In a recent article for this publication I introduced the theoretical underpinnings of my Free Inside program, which is now nearing its first year of implementation at Maui Community Correctional Center in Hawaii. The goals of this twelve week program are simple, and interlinked: self healing (physical recovery and wellness), inner peace (mental and emotional balance), and compassion (that more elusive, potentially spiritual, empathic feeling for and action toward others). Crown jewel of Free Inside, compassion is that quality which, as I argued in the previous writing, is at once: a. crucial to any lasting inmate rehabilitation; b. unlikely to be learned intellectually or in isolation from experiential self healing and inner peace; and c. ultimately accessible, though probably dormant, in every human being. The means by which self healing, inner peace, and compassion are elicited in inmate participants are empirical, global, ancient, and non-denominational. I guide classes using practices from yoga, meditation, and chi gung.
Here in this writing I would like to paint for you a more practical picture of the day-to-day workings, class content, and human challenges in facilitation of Free Inside programming. I have chosen to structure this article upon an outline of the twelve week, twenty four class cycle which I have used twice thus far with male inmates, and once with female inmates. Upon this spare outline framework I will overlay detail of some of the tools and techniques taught in class, and finally offer excerpts from a regular journal I have kept to document insights and challenges throughout this process. My intention here is to humanize, and therefore better communicate, some of the processes of program design, implementation and facilitation, for all of you to whom not only this program, but potentially these teaching tools, are new and foreign. It is necessary, then, to begin with a glimpse at my background and the practical origin of Free Inside. I begin with words from a journal entry dated September 2003:
" My passion to teach what I do through Free Inside comes from having healed myself most dramatically and unexpectedly from sexual assault as a late teen, lifelong asthma, and the depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and eating disorder (bulimia) which followed and were interwoven with my life's difficulties. It was and still is the inroads to inner exploration and an outer sense of connectedness to all things, elicited by tools from ancient practices such as those I now teach, that made me whole (ie, healed me). What gratitude I felt for having experienced this shift from anger and apathy to recognition of life's beauty! It became vital to pass this knowledge on, so I taught it, beginning fifteen years ago. …"
"An invitation to teach a prison workshop back in my onetime Maine home led me to feel special passion for bringing these tools to this scorned inmate community. … I subsequently moved to Maui, began teaching my program at its homeless shelter, and introduced my ideas to its prison warden. He showed interest. Dialogue with the warden was regular, and two-way, and the future program evolved to include specific needs voiced by him as well as those foreseen by me. For instance, job turnover among staff was a costly problem for the warden and this he attributed to burnout from cumulative, unaddressed, stress. He in fact had poor health which he felt resulted from constant job intensity. Staff participation in classes, therefore, was vital. I had proposed guard inclusion from the start so that the progression to self healing, then to inner peace, and most importantly then to awakened compassion for other people would be experienced (and ultimately modeled or emulated) by the guards to the inmates. Inclusion of administrators, nurses, cafeteria workers, everyone in this community, sounded like a logical and exciting extension of this model of interaction and interconnectedness. What's more, it was satisfying to feel the potential ability of this program to fill so many existing needs. …"
"Hadn't my beloved ancient guides, the Taoists in particular, taught me that nothing is secure, that everything continually changes? The plans that appeared finalized in June 2003, nearly disappeared over the course of two weeks' travel I took that summer. I returned from mainland family visits to local news headlines claiming the arrest of Maui's warden on scandal charges. Talk with friends inside the prison revealed that this warden was "finished" professionally, and that new administrators, "from the old school" of corrections, would be highly unlikely to even consider such alternative programming as Free Inside. I was advised to "just forget about" the project.
Back at ground zero, meetings with new prison administrators ensued, and these proved lengthy and peppered with both curiosity and skepticism. It obviously would have been far easier for the acting warden and existing programming director to drop this new and complex program/research study, especially in light of the scrutiny they were surely undergoing at state level following the scandal; yet they continued to listen to and talk with me. They came to the classes I taught at the homeless shelter and observed in entirety, and with great respect. I felt honored by their kind attention and interest. Finally, they gave me word of their support. I felt tremendous relief and blessing that day."
Once launched, Free Inside classes took the following form, continuing now in cycle three to follow this sequence:
Week one , essentially a program overview, provides an explanation of the centuries-old power, and resilience, of teachings from just about every culture around the globe. These classes note the common link between body, mind, and spirit, in each of these traditions. Inmates are assured of the non-denominational nature of each practice, and yet also of their unifying affirmation of spirit, of unseen "life force." Emphasized from the start is non-violence which begins with careful observation and treatment of one's own body; the guidance of subtle instinct is encouraged to prevent injury. Inmates quickly learn that their own experiences provide far more depth than do my words. Our human link to all of nature is emphasized immediately through experiential work. Several yoga postures, for example, embody this interconnectedness and are taught like this:
a. Tadasana (mountain): Stand with your feet hip width and parallel, spreading toes and foot bottoms. Follow your breath, belly deep. From here in your belly send energy to the earth, down long legs. From here rise skyward with a long spine and neck, arms relaxed at your sides. Feel the equal and opposite draw of below and above.
b. Virabhadrasana II (warrior): Stand with feet wider than a leg's length; turn both feet right. Stretch arms wide, palms down, and consciously, gently, bend right knee until it rests above that ankle. Look beyond right fingertips. This is one posture of the warrior series, preparing for ancient Indian battle or modern day Western challenge alike. Gather power from the earth beneath your feet. Breathe. Practice on the other side.
c. Virabhadrasana I: Come into Vira II facing right. Swing left arm from behind you forward, to meet your right, palm to palm. Swing palms, together, up, and let your eyes follow; legs stay the same. Again, gather and feel power as a warrior would. Draw energy from the sky, moon, sun. Breathe. Other side.
My first class cycle began with a good dose of resistance amidst general inmate cooperation. Two challenges came early for me; journal entries relay them:
"10.17.03 … I got a surprising phone call from the warden just now. Sounding embarrassed, even apologetic, the warden told me he had received a complaint from an inmate’s wife who, saying she represented other wives, objected to the “sensuality” of the teaching. What!? Neither the warden nor I were quite sure what was meant, other than the fact that class was in fact lead by a female. I assured him that I would now substitute thick cotton very baggy sweat pants for the baggy silk pants I have worn. As I have worn black or brown clothing, see-through could not have been an issue.
Class content certainly contains no encouragement of/reference to sensuality. I asked the warden how he would like to see me handle this situation, offering to speak with anyone who was uncomfortable with Free Inside to explain its content and goals thoroughly. He suggested that if he received another complaint he would ask them to put their concern in writing, pass this to me, and have me write them in return. I hope I have a chance to make these spouses comfortable, as one intention of class is to benefit family relationships. Of course, once my parolee class is established in the community it will be open to family of inmates who may then share techniques and awareness and avoid misunderstanding of just this sort. "
"10.22.03 … This has been a very difficult week for me emotionally . Not surprisingly, nothing is turning out as planned. In class yesterday the ostensible leader/ bully of the dorm, a very large man, cut into my talk about family unity with a fierce complaint about the money lost to families ($8. week) due to his community workline duties swapped twice weekly for my class. (Male inmates are randomly assigned mandatory Free Inside programming.) He said he had a hatred in his heart because of this. He said that administration was purposely punishing this group with their program assignment, that they were greedy to save the money not paid out for work, and were crooks. He was on something of a rampage. He said that if people out in the community don't see him out there working now, they will never hire him later. This was something I felt I could address, as several other inmates spoke of how they too felt employer's outside were not going to hire them upon release. I suggested here that once familiar with Free Inside's goals, employers might in fact trust and believe in participants more than non-participants. I offered to try to bring community media attention to the program (to increase Maui understanding of it), and to craft nice completion certificates for participants at the end, something which they could show to employers, a conversation piece at the least and a vote of confidence in this parolees self-understanding, non-reactivity, non-aggression, and awareness of empathy, at the most."
Weeks two through five of the Free Inside classes, focused on self healing, move into acute awareness of one's physical body . This is encouraged by a concentration in each class on a different internal organ, then the outer, visible, manifestations of that organ's condition, the non-invasive (ie, without drugs or surgery) means of accessing it, its season for vulnerability and rejuvenation, its corresponding emotion, and the yoga postures, chi gung self massage, or meditative visualization particular to its healing. Emphasis here is on the empowerment and increased comfort brought by self healing efforts, and the necessity of this foundation both for subsequent exploration of one's mind, and then feeling true empathy for other people. In this time I encourage the sharing of personal ailments which I address (maintaining anonymity) at the start of each class. Here the perception of self generated inner movement dissolving stagnation and disease is practiced. A group of chi gung self massage practices, for example, illustrate this well and are introduced this way:
a. Clicking Teeth: Our teeth are linked to our inner organs. Click them 9, 18, or 27 times. Chinese tradition values the number 9 and its multiples as embodiments of change and regeneration.
b. Stir Tongue: Slide your tongue around between teeth and lips, in circles one way (9x), then the other (9x). Our tongue and heart are linked; energy is sent to our heart in this way.
c. Wash Face: Rub your palms in wide circles over your cheeks. Our cheeks are linked to our lungs.
d. Move Eyes: Look straight up with both eyes, as if, when facing a huge clock dial, you were focusing on the number 12. Now move both eyes slightly to the right and focus, as if on the number 1. Now focus on the number 2. And so on, moving eventually around the entire dial. Our eyes are linked to our liver.
e. Beat The Heavenly Drum: Hold palms over ears, fingers on back of neck, and snap middle finger over fore finger onto neck, producing internal drumming sound. Feel and hear this inner vibration. The ears are a path to the kidneys. In Chinese medicine our kidneys hold our life force or chi, and are at the center of our health. After 18 beats stay still, and listen.
Several journal entries in this period reveal program growth, and my learning:
"10.26.03 … Thursday's class went so very well that brewing fears and insecurities I was feeling last week have dissipated. Perhaps because I had allowed a 'hashing out' or venting of grievances in prior classes, and had addressed each one last session, everyone seemed ready to simply do the work of class this time. Also in our favor was a move inside to a clean dining hall space with an airy feel because of windows all around. The grass we'd been working on, though rich with nature content, continued to be wet and muddy after a night's dowsing by automatic sprinkler which was proving tricky to turn off for the inmate who had volunteered to do so. Our move inside also cut noise in half: the television, radios, and roaring delivery trucks heard outside were nearly inaudible. I felt immediately better able to contact, and hold in contact, each class member."
"2.10.04 (Here now in cycle two, with twenty two different inmates.)… Again, today, class was quiet and united. I continue to be blown away by the ease of our interactions this time around. When someone in the back pokes fun, and this is occasional, I joke back. No aggression, no mistrust, no rebellion, no apathy. I glance up now and then from the posture I am demonstrating to see a roomful of men's arms reaching skyward as mine do. I peek amidst the inner travel I am guiding verbally to see all eyes closed like mine just were, and to hear peaceful breathing and even one snore.
One by one these men are coming to me with ailments they hope to appease through class. Each session I devote a few practice techniques to specifics like a crushed fifth lumbar vertebrae, two heels shattered by a jump from the roof of a building, an inoperable bullet lodged in a rib, gout, hep C, or rheumatoid arthritis. Though particular yoga postures do address and move the different limbs and organs needing relief, it is the energy work which I intuit may be most powerful in most instances. We regularly practice sending movement into stuck places in our body via heat (rubbing skin), vibration (slapping and tapping), sound, visualization, and image. For instance we imagine energy flow, moving as does a stream, passing over and through hurting places, maybe blockages, dissipating them. Or we imagine taking the sensation of vibration felt in a body part just active , for example a hand warmed by repeated fist clenching, and moving it mentally to another, still, body part, for example to the other hand which has remained unused. I am excited to see the focus and faith in so many men here grow. The focus and faith, of course, on and in their own inner resources as means to achieve great things. Here, our first great thing will be healing of physical hurt and illness."
Weeks five through nine have an inner peace emphasis, turning one's concentration to feeling balance, or peace, in the body, in the breath, in focus. The energetic qualities of each group of yoga postures are explained (for example, the invigorating standing postures, the soothing forward bends, the nourishing twists, etc.). In this way postures can be chosen to suit personal mood or energy-level needs. Mind-stilling, restorative, yoga postures are practiced, and meditations are increased in variety and length of time maintained. The fact that Free Inside practices stimulate neurochemical production, (that of the seratonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine so responsible for feeling good), in human brains which genetics or drug damage seemingly rendered incapable of doing so, is exciting for inmates to learn. Inner work takes on increasing emphasis here, and awareness and control of one's breath provides perfect opportunity to tangibly feel movement (of air, of energy) inside us, and to comprehend the link between outer and inner worlds.
The invariable step now taken from physical to mental well being is exemplified by two breaths from pranayama tradition, thus described: