Prison Mindfulness

Ep.24 Yoga for Supporting the Healing of Trauma with Bill Brown

In this episode, Bill Brown talks with Vita Pires, about his work with the Prison Yoga Project.
The harm punitive incarceration causes for the incarcerated, staff, and families.
Working with the body to discharge unresolved trauma
Yoga as a tool for tapping into embodied wisdom
BILL BROWN, C-IAYT, Bill is the Executive Director of Prison Yoga Project, a non-profit organization that seeks to create a cultural shift toward a healing-centered approach to addressing crime, addiction, and mental illness through trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness. Bill began working with PYP in 2013 and has served in Federal, State, and County facilities. In 2016 he began offering training with PYP in trauma-informed yoga for incarcerated people and assumed the Executive Director’s role in 2018. He is a contributing editor to the Yoga Service Council/Omega Institute’s book Best Practices for Yoga in the Criminal Justice System. In his downtime, Bill enjoys the creative outlets of photography and cooking and is an avid reader of science fiction.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org
 

Ep. 23 Creating Safety for Traumatized Youth with Micah Davis Anderson

In this episode, Micah Anderson speaks with Fleet Maull about his experiences working with incarcerated youth through the Mind Body Awareness Project. 
3 steps for creating safety while facilitating training/workshops
Barriers to using a curriculum with traumatized youth
Importance of partnerships for sustainable support for youth parolees
MICAH DAVIS ANDERSON Born in Connecticut, Micah spent several of his teen years in and out of placements due to struggles with drugs, crime, and anger. Around this time, he was introduced to 12-step fellowship, and after extensive travel overseas, began a personal meditation practice in the early 1990s. He is now the Clinical Director of the Mind Body Awareness Project, which transforms at-risk communities—and those who serve them—with mindfulness-based mental health tools that support equity, healing, and empowerment. Micah is a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist, focusing on both trauma-informed approaches and mindfulness-based interventions. He has led retreats and trainings on mindfulness, emotional literacy, and mental wellness in multiple countries, and has served thousands of incarcerated people in the San Francisco Bay Area. He lives in Oakland, CA with his wife and two children, and received his Masters in Psychology from Sofia University in Palo Alto, CA.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.22 Death-Row, a Contemplative Journey through Another’s Eyes with Liz Richardson

In this episode, Liz Richardson talks with Fleet Maull about her new play, Unconfined.
Her play, based on a real-life story of an incarcerated prisoner’s contemplative journey while in prison and on death row
Drawing parallels between this prisoner’s experience and her voluntary, 3-year confinement at Gampo Abbey retreat
Contemplating beliefs of whether people who are incarcerated really can change
LIZ RICHARDSON – PLAYWRIGHT / ACTRESS Liz has had a lifelong career as an actress and writer. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), she has performed in major theatre, film, television and radio productions in England, Canada and the US. She has played leading parts in London’s West End, the Bristol Old Vic, the Neptune Theatre in Halifax, the Shaw Festival in Ontario and Canadian Stage in Toronto. As well, she has been involved in script development for many new plays in Britain and Canada. Liz’s first solo show, Going On, which she wrote and performed, began with readings in California in 2012 and went on to successful runs in Mexico, Vancouver, Connecticut and Halifax, where it was presented in 2015 by KAZAN Co-Op as part of the show Stacey and Liz at the Waiting Room. Contact: lizrich108@gmail.com elizabeth-richardson.com
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.21 Shadow Sides of Working in Prisons with Lama Justin von Bujdoss

In this episode, Lama Justin von Bujdoss talks with Vita Pires about his experiences working as a chaplain for the New York City Department of Corrections. 
Shadow sides of working in prisons
Limitations of mindfulness work for highly traumatized populations (the incarcerated and correctional staff)
How to do this work in a culturally sensitive and authentic manner
JUSTIN VON BUJDOSS Lama Justin von Bujdoss is an American vajrayana Buddhist teacher, writer, and the is a co-founder of Bhumisparsha an experimental Buddhist sangha along with Lama Rod Owens. He is the author of Modern Tantric Buddhism: Authenticity and Embodiment in Dharma Practice published by North Atlantic Books, and a contributor to Buddhism and Whiteness: Critical Reflections published by Lexington Books. From 2016 until December 2021 Justin served as the Executive Director of Chaplaincy and Staff Wellness for the NYC Department of Correction where he also served as Head Chaplain supervising over 30 chaplains and guiding wellness programming for staff. Justin was ordained as a repa, a lay tantric yogin in the tradition of Milarepa, by His Eminence Gyaltsab Rinpoche, and has presented on Buddhist practice at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, University of Chicago, Wellesley, Columbia University, and has been a visiting instructor at Union Theological Seminary.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.20 Creating Positive Systemic Change Together with Gabriella Savelli

In this episode, Gabriella Savelli talks with Fleet Maull about her work with the International Association for Human Values. 
The International Association of Human Values (IAHV) program-reducing offender recidivism
The impact of secular breath-work on prisoners and prison staff
Actualizing networks of programs with different modalities for positive systemic change
GABRIELLA SAVELLI Ms Savelli became Director of the IAHV Prison Program (Stress Management & Rehabilitation Training) in 2009. She is a prison silence course pioneer, and has taught IAHV courses to thousands nationwide, as well as internationally. In 2016, she won the Washington DC DOC “Making a Difference” George Strawn Award, and in 2018 Gabriella became the International Coordinator. She served on the Board of SELA Red Cross, and is a graduate of the Office of Victim’s Assistance Leadership Program. Prior to working with IAHV, Gabriella graduated Magna Cum Laude from Edinboro University, and served as a Public Welfare caseworker for 10 years.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org
 

Ep.19 Way of Council on the Inside with Jared Seide

In this episode, Jared Seide talks with John MacAdams about his work as the Executive Director for the Center for Council. 
What Council looks like inside prisons
How Council embodies mindfulness and supports compassion
Benefits of learning presence, resisting distraction, and speaking/listening from the heart
JARED SEIDE Jared Seide is author of the book, “Where Compassion Begins: Foundational Practices to Enhance Mindfulness, Attention and Listening from the Heart.” He is the founder and Executive Director of Center for Council, a nonprofit organization that trains groups and individuals to promote wellness and resiliency, to foster compassion and to build community. Jared has developed and shepherded Council for Insight, Compassion & Resilience, an award-winning transformational insight and accountability-oriented rehabilitation program for incarcerated populations, as well as programs to promote health, relationality and compassion amongst law enforcement officers; to address burnout and dysregulation amongst physicians and nurses; to help build positive organizational culture within public and private companies; as well as other mindfulness and council-based programs to support and resource impacted communities and emerging leaders. He has led trainings and retreats focusing on compassion, reconciliation and community-building throughout the U.S., as well as in Poland, Rwanda, France, Colombia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Ep.18 Training “Inside” Apprentices with Rebecca J Foster

In this episode, Rebecca Foster talks with Vita Pires, about her experiences bringing PMI's Path of Freedom training into prisons. 
Training “Inside” apprentices (facilitator training for incarcerated men & women)
Integrating laughter, movement & play into the classroom
The transformative power of social meditation “Inside”
REBECCA J FOSTER Rebecca Foster is a meditation teacher, conscious dance facilitator, and Hatha (traditional) & hasya (laughter) yoga instructor. She presently serves as a lead facilitator and mentor for the Prison Mindfulness Institute and offers courses in Mindfulness-Based Emotional Intelligence in the Men’s & Women’s Medium Security Correctional Facilities in Rhode Island. Over the last 15 years, Rebecca has taught a unique blend of mindfulness, movement, laughter, and play in diverse settings ranging from yoga studios to hospitals, prisons to universities, and pre-schools to nursing homes. She has also lived and worked in Africa, Asia and Latin America and currently resides in Providence.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org
 

Ep.17 Building Self-Worth During Transition with Kalen McAllister

In this episode, Kalen McAllister speaks with Fleet Maull about Laughing Bear Bakery, and the resources and opportunities it gives those who are formerly incarcerated. 
Starting “The Laughing Bear Bakery” business focused on employing ex-prisoners on parole (https://laughingbearbakery.org/)
The barriers and rewards to starting a business of this nature
Active ways to build self-worth and dignity of parolees in transition
KALEN MCALLISTER Kalen McAllister is a Soto Zen Buddhist Priest, Dharma Transmitted 2012, former Prison Chaplain and volunteer, founder of Laughing Bear Bakery - a bakery that only hires ex-offenders
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org