Sages of the past have compared the human experience to being a prisoner locked in a cell. Various types of yoga have been taught to help liberate one from this prison. How might these practices help in an actual, physical prison? Often violent stressful places, how would a practice that often encourages concepts like non-violence and compassion be received by inmates, some of which are serving life long sentences for violent crimes.
Our guest, Mike Huggins, founder and Executive Director of the Transformation Yoga Project, knows first hand about how yoga can help those in prison. In 2009, he was incarcerated for a strict liability misdemeanor offense as CEO of a medical device company. He practiced yoga as a means of processing his experience and managing the stress of incarceration. When others expressed interest in what he was doing, he began to teach them what he knew. This idea continued to grow, even after Mike served his sentence and it eventually led to the Transformation Yoga Project. A project that now serves at-risk and under served populations, as well as offering trauma sensitive yoga teacher trainings inside prisons.
In this episode we will explore Mike's journey and how yoga was impacted him, and the countless people he has come into contact with since his incarceration. We'll look at the similarities of many yogic narratives and the actual prison experience. How does yoga effect inmates? How is it possible to have a yoga teacher training inside prison? Who pays for the services? We'll explore these questions and more!
Special Guest: Mike Huggins
www.transformationyogaproject.org
Host: Ashton Szabo
Sound Engineer: Zach Cooper
Producer: Benn Mendelson
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