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Prisoners to practise yoga
John Howard Society to implement Freeing the Human Spirit at the North Slave Correctional Facility in the new year

Kelsie Pagacz
Northern News Services
Published Friday, January 9, 2015

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Inmates of the North Slave Correctional Centre will have the opportunity to practice warrior, tree and mountain yoga poses this year.

NNSL photo/graphic

Freeing the Human Spirit program is being implemented by the John Howard Society at the North Slave Correctional Centre. The program promotes physical, mental and spiritual development to inmates through practising yoga and meditation. - Walter Strong/NNSL photo illustration

The John Howard Society of Yellowknife is working with the North Slave Correctional Centre to implement a yoga-based program called Freeing the Human Spirit in February.

The program is a Canada-wide initiative that promotes physical, mental and spiritual development of correctional facility inmates through the practise of yoga and meditation. Freeing the Human Spirit was originally founded by Toronto nun Sister Elaine MacInnes, and upon her 2013 retirement at the age of 90, she entrusted the program to continue under the umbrella of the John Howard Society of Canada.

Lydia Bardak, executive director of the local chapter of the John Howard Society, believes that introducing yoga to Yellowknife's inmates will help connect them to their communities in the North, by providing a link with which they can learn effective and appropriate ways to practise mindfulness, calming strategies and anger management.

"(Yoga) is a skill that they can carry with them, so when they get out they can continue to practise the mindfulness and awareness."

The John Howard Society is set to begin recruiting certified yoga instructors early this month.

Bardak explained that while practising yoga will be the base the of the program, the format is currently open-ended, depending on how many instructors volunteer.

"We definitely want to make sure that it is happening twice a week. The program itself is designed so the guys can do a lot of it on their own as well. There will be handouts that they can use outside of class, so they can practise in their own cell," she said.

The pros of practising yoga are numerous, said Bardak. Not only it is a healthy activity, it is a lifelong program that can be done as a group or independently, and it is not expensive to implement – just a small space and mat are all that is required, she said.

"Often times in court you will hear someone being sentenced to programming as directed by their probation officer to include alcohol and or anger management. We can keep saying to people, 'you need anger management,' but maybe if we helped them with their mindfulness and their ability to calm themselves they can succeed," said Bardak.

"Yoga is something that they can carry with them when they leave the facility."

According to the Freeing the Human Spirit website, nearly one in three inmates released from Correctional Services Canada will re-offend within two years.

The program works to provide a support system that helps inmates associate positively with the outside world upon discharge, according to the website.

"A powerful ego combined with poor self-image often leads to offending behaviour. Meditation and yoga help to lessen the power of ego and enhance self-image. It is our belief that these two safe and therapeutic disciplines can assist in the rehabilitation of inmates," the website states.

No representative from the Department of Justice could be reached for comment by press time.

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