yoga 55 magazine_yoga mag 38 final 05/12/2017 15:25 Page 17
Yoga SCOTLAND
A sense of freedom by Dawn Findlay I have now been teaching in a prison for 2 years and I have to say it has been the most utterly amazing and challenging thing I have ever done. The benefits are often clear to see even if some don't say it out loud. You are sometimes met with resistance of someone who genuinely doesn't want to be there, who "only came to get out of the halls". But very often you can see their opinion changing once they feel the benefits. I know for a fact that yoga, has the ability to change lives and sometimes save lives. However, I am, definitely not naïve enough to think it is the answer to everyone's problems and would never suggest so. I often get asked what makes me want to do this work in the first place and this question was what was outlined in the suggestions for me to write about in this article. I suppose the above statement answers that to a degree. I know first hand that yoga and meditation has the capacity to change lives and really help people, I have a deep trust in the practice. Speaking for myself there is a very intense compassion in me now that wasn't always so deep before, not particularly for others and definitely not for myself.
“I believe that nobody is born evil.” It's hard to say exactly where the story begins on my journey to teaching yoga in a prison. But perhaps a good place to start would be to rewind back to June 2011 in a rustic retreat centre called Lalitas. I was on my 200 hour teacher training and my teacher told us that yoga was being taught in some prisons. This little voice in my head just went - I want to do that, I am going to do that. Back then I was in no way ready to try to share some of my medicine with others as there was still a lot of work to be done on myself. However about 3 years ago I was back living in Edinburgh and knew it was time to really focus on getting into at least one prison to teach.
“...teaching in prison is the most utterly amazing and challenging thing I have ever done.” I approached The Prison Phoenix Trust and to this day they have been such a guiding support for me, keeping me positive when funding was lost and looked like the whole project was about to fall through.
I sometimes joke about this with my own students when I am talking about my own yoga and meditation journey saying, "despite my best efforts I started becoming a better person." Also relating to why I want to do this kind of work is a belief that I have that nobody is born evil. Now I am no psychologist but diving deeper into the study of this kind of work and various trainings with The Prison Phoenix Trust it has given me a bit more insight into why people do the things that they do. In the classes everyone gets treated the same from me. I try to remember people’s names and different injuries they have as the fact that you acknowledge them as another human can often mean more than anything. In terms of how the classes are structured it can vary dramatically depending on the energy levels I am met with. However, it all leads towards the main part of meditation and final relaxation. I see it as a HUGE honour to be able to teach in prison and pass on yoga. Some people think I am crazy to want to do it but its honestly my favourite class of the week. I actually look upon this as a 'duty', something I have been called to do. The Yogis might call it Dharma. www.riseofdawnyoga.com
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