By Elizabeth Herman | Posted: December 19, 2019

What can we do for people involved in the jails & prison system? The way we treat incarcerated citizens impacts the potential for harmony and safety in our culture. Techniques such as meditation and breathing not only benefit those outside of prison; these special techniques can create amazing transformations in those who need rehabilitation, to change their lives and help them contribute positively to the outside world. 

Recently, the Prison Program of the Art of Living Foundation and the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) held a hugely successful Flagship Symposium on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., entitled “Real Prison Reform: Changing the Culture of Corrections from the Inside Out.” The event was standing room only, with addresses from Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio and Congressman Danny K. Davis of Illinois, both of whom are involved in sponsoring prison reform legislation including the First STEP Act, the Smarter Sentencing Act, the Sentencing Reform Act, and the Second Chance Act. 

Ms. Gabriella Savelli, the International Director of the IAHV Prison Program, hosted  the assembly and introduced the guest speakers, including a live video message from Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation and IAHV. The meeting was the first in a series to raise awareness about the need for evidence-based transformational programs. 

Gurudev’s message

During the program Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar welcomed the participants and, to encourage more correctional facilities to make use of the proven techniques taught by the Prison Program, said: 

“Let me take this opportunity to congratulate all the Congressmen and women of the United States of America for taking initiative on prison reform. It’s in America that recently, a few decades back, the name ‘prison’ has been changed to ‘correctional homes,’ and that’s exactly what they are. Correctional facilities are meant to correct the mindsets of people, help them to come out of their trauma, their violent tendencies, rehabilitate them, and make them better citizens when they come out of those correctional homes. 

In this direction, the Art of Living Foundation and IAHV have been working for the past 35 years, and teaching the wisdom of living free from stress, violence, hatred, and all of those negative trends of life. Inmates are taught techniques and given the tools to feel peaceful and embrace basic human qualities like non-violence, friendliness, creativity, and other positive tendencies. 

Art of Living and IAHV have been working in 155 countries. We have instructed more than 800,000 inmates. Their experiences are heartwarming. Each one of their stories could become a novel. Such is the transformation. With all your help, we can make this world free from violence and stress. Let’s dream of it. Let’s give a better society to the coming generation. 

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate our team of volunteers headed by Gabriella Savelli and several others, and all our team members who have been putting their heart and soul into bringing peace and solace to those behind bars. It’s creating a wave of freedom behind bars.”  

Prison reform law

On the topic of current laws impacting the U.S. prison system, the flyer for the event asserted, “On the first anniversary of the signing of the FIRST STEP Act, it's time to bring real solutions that will not just affect sentencing, but will also transform the culture in corrections. 

Both the Second Chance Act and the FIRST STEP Act include goals to provide programs that transform individuals and prepare people for release. Bipartisan efforts on prison reform need to include these essential goals. With your help, we have an opportunity to shift the perpetuation of negativity in institutions, to support wellness for the field of corrections, and to give incarcerated individuals tools for transforming trauma and cycles of abuse. These programs will become an integral part of prison reform with the objective to enhance rehabilitation and community safety.”

An address from the director

Gabriella Savelli, the International Director for the IAHV Prison Program, gave an address to the participants at the meeting on Capitol Hill. She said the following: “I’m just one of our hundreds of committed and skilled teachers who have trained over a half-million  people in corrections with our evidence-based breathing and meditation system. Yes, we’re the premier program for holistic stress management in corrections. Later, we will do a short demo of the meditation we offer in prisons.”

She continued to tell the story of this amazing program, saying, “We have worked in literally hundreds of different jails and prisons in the U.S. and there’s one common theme. The environment is toxic. It’s been shown that corrections staff have as much PTSD as veterans of war. And over 3⁄4 of those who serve time reoffend within 3 years. So our ‘correctional’ system isn’t working.”

The purpose of this event

The IAHV Prison Program is hosting this series to catalyze action towards reforming the institutions themselves so that they’re rehabilitative and redemptive, to make our system healing for crime survivors, staff, ex-offenders, and communities.

This type of prison reform from the inside out takes a whole continuum of people from top legislators all the way down through the community. And right now we need to work together. This inaugural event on evidence-based transformational programs highlights the Second Chance Act and the FIRST STEP Act goals, providing programs that transform individuals and prepare them for release. These goals should be an integral part of prison reform.

In his address, Congressman Tim Ryan asked, “Is there some approach we can take as we try to heal them (prison inmates)? Not fix them, but heal them. We need to get these types of contemplative practices into our schools and correctional institutions. They give us the result that we want and don’t cost a lot of money. We need to talk about it in a way that makes sense. How do we create programs that work?”

And Congressman Danny K. Davis said, “The United States of America is the most incarcerated nation on the face of the earth. Nobody in the world has as many of its people locked up. Inmates need a second chance, an opportunity, another way of expressing themselves.”

A wider view of reform

We can’t just focus on sentencing and criminal justice reform. Although they're important, they don’t give people the tools to transform their lives. We’re missing a chance to reduce recidivism and make communities safer if we don’t focus on programming for both staff and inmates that reduces stress and allows them to have second chances and take better steps. 

We need to teach tools to better handle negative patterns, emotions, and stress. When both convicted individuals and corrections staff practice these techniques, the whole system will be reformed.

With your help, we have an opportunity to shift the perpetuation of negativity in institutions, to support wellness, and to give incarcerated individuals tools for transforming trauma and cycles of abuse.

Support for the IAHV and the activities of the Prison Program will help even more people and communities around the world. We hope you will find out more about them and get involved in creating a better world! Email prisonprogram@iahv.org, or donate at www.prisonprogram.org. FOLLOW ON TWITTER @iahvPrisonPrgm

Elizabeth Herman writes, offers writing support to clients, teaches, and volunteers for a better world. She has a PhD in Rhetoric, Composition and Literature. Find her on Facebook or Twitter.