Prison Mindfulness

Ep.16 Dharma in Hell with Fleet Maull

In this episode, Roshi Fleet Maull talks with John MacAdams about his time incarcerated and the creation of the Prison Mindfulness Institute (Prison Dharma Network).
Origins of Prison Dharma Network
The only real choice; "Practice like my hair was on fire"
Unending opportunities to serve the world on the outside
FLEET MAULL Fleet Maull, PhD is an author, meditation teacher, mindset coach, social entrepreneur and peacemaker who works at the intersection of personal and social transformation. He founded Prison Mindfulness Institute and National Prison Hospice Association, catalyzing two national movements, while serving a 14-year mandatory-minimum federal drug sentence, 1985 to 1999. He also founded the transformational education platform Heart Mind Institute and co-founded the Engaged Mindfulness Institute where he trains trauma-informed mindfulness teachers who work with individuals and communities impacted by trauma and marginalization. He has served on the leadership team for the annual Auschwitz-Birkenau Bearing Witness Retreat for more than 20 years. He co-founded the Rwanda Bearing Witness Retreat and has trained genocide survivors as volunteer trauma para-counselors working in villages throughout Rwanda. He is a Roshi (Zen master/senior teacher) in the Zen Peacemaker Community, a senior Dharma teacher in the Shambhala-Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and leads meditation retreats worldwide. He developed Neuro-Somatic Mindfulness or NSM, a deeply embodied, neuroscience and trauma-informed approach to mindfulness & awareness meditation practice that facilitates self-healing, self-regulation, and awakening. He founded both the Global Resilience Summit and the Global First Responder Resilience Summit and co-founded The Best Year of Your Life, SummitPalooza, Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Global Summit, and The Self-Care Summit. Dr. Maull is the author of Radical Responsibility: How to Move Beyond Blame, Live Your Highest Purpose and Become an Unstoppable Force for Good; Dharma in Hell: The Prison Writings of Fleet Maull, and the Resilient C.O.: Mindfulness-Based Wellness & Resiliency for Corrections Professionals.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org
 

Ep.15 Transforming Trauma through Buddhist Psychology with Venerable De Hong

In this episode, Venerable De Hong talks with Vita Pires about his work with the Engaged Buddhist Alliance, providing programs in facilities and through correspondence courses. 
How Buddhist Psychology supports Insight Development & Trauma Healing
Working with those serving life (or LWOP) sentences
Developing correspondence curriculums
VENERABLE DE HONG Ven. De Hong has taught Buddhist Psychology and Mindfulness Meditation in several state prisons in Southern California since 2013. He has also corresponded with incarcerated individuals in other California state prisons and other states offering correspondence courses on Buddhist teachings and meditation. He has been ordained in the Chinese and Vietnamese Traditions since 2006 and the Theravada Tradition since 2014. He taught Buddhist Psychology and Buddhist Counseling at the University of the West since 2016 and has retired this year to focus on his practice and prison ministry.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.14 Detaching From the Shame of Addiction with Marshall Lane

In this episode, Marshall Lane talks with Fleet Maull on his experiences with addiction and incarceration and his life post-incarceration, focusing on his work with Tiffany's Recovery Inc. 
The complexities of recovering from addiction in prison and the role meditation can play
Taking responsibility and shifting self-blame/shame from the past to create a better future for self and all human beings
TRI Recovery- helping to coordinate recovering addicts with community outreach services
MARSHALL LANE: A former drug addict and prisoner who, through education, Buddhism, and recovery, has achieved personal success in life, as well as helping others find similar success.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.13 Finding Freedom on the Inside (and Outside) with Carmen Alonso

In this episode, Carmen Alonso talks with John MacAdams about her experiences facilitating PMI's Path of Freedom program. 
Connecting incarcerated folks with the outside community through each group taking PMI’s Path of Freedom course and writing to each other
Working in supermax and maximum security environments
Cultivating humility and patience as qualities necessary for effective service
CARMEN ALONSO Carmen Alonso is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 20 years of experience. She is dedicated to serving adults in both individual psychotherapy and group settings. Carmen has taught mindfulness-based interventions to alleviate stress and decrease suffering to a wide variety of groups, such as: • Patients with clinical depression and anxiety • Veterans with and without PTSD • Spanish-speaking populations •Medical residents • School personnel • Athletes • Police officers • Residents in maximum and medium security facilities (including men in the segregation unit in the most secure correctional facility in Wisconsin)Some of the mindfulness-based interventions Carmen has offered throughout the years are Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Path of Freedom, and Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training. She has also combined her mindfulness teachings with Tae Kwon Do, a martial art she has practiced for over 30 years, including nearly 25 years as the head instructor of the Choi Tae Kwon Do School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.12 Sound Immersion as Somatic Healing with Gail Jackson

In this episode, Gail Jackson speaks with  Sandy Inkster about her experiences working as a probation and parole officer, and her work with drumming and sound immersion. 
Mindfulness Inside: Point of view of a parole/probation officer/certified mindfulness teacher
Drumming, gongs and sound immersion: how it helps ground both prisoners and those working in prisons
Creating immersive environments for those traumatized by racial violence
GAIL JACKSON Gail Jackson comes to us from the unceded land of the Dena’ina People in Anchorage, Alaska where she is the owner and founder of CreativeRhythms. She is a graduate of the Engaged Mindfulness Institute's 500-hour Mindfulness Teacher Training. Gail facilitates mindfulness practices in marginalized communities as well as community and corporate drumming circles for well-being. She is also a performing artist and is one of 40 luminaries in the new documentary “ We All Just Need To Gong,” and recently finished recording a CD due out in September featuring her sound artistry using the gongs. This CD also works well as a sound meditation. Gail is a social justice activist bringing awareness to her community of the killings of black and brown people. During Juneteenth she facilitates “Say Their Name,” a Celebration community coming together to acknowledge those that have been killed through drumming for healing.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org
 

Ep.11 Secular Dharma in Prisons with David M. Smith

In this episode, Dave Smith talks with Vita Pires, about his work in prisons and recovery groups. 
What is the Secular Path of Dharma?
Prison work as service work.
Training in mindfulness-based emotional intelligence in prisons and recovery groups.
DAVID M SMITH Dave Smith is an internationally recognized Buddhist meditation teacher, addiction treatment specialist, and published author. His background is rooted in the Insight Meditation tradition, and he was empowered to teach through the Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. He has extensive experience bringing meditative interventions into jails, prisons, youth detention centers, and addiction treatment facilities. Dave teaches residential meditation retreats and classes, provides training and consulting in secular and Buddhist contexts, and works with students through his meditation mentoring program. He recently founded the Secular Dharma Foundation and lives in Paonia, Colorado.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org
 

Ep.10 Neurodecolonization with Indigenous Incarcerated Youth with Michael Yellow Bird

In this episode, Michael Yellow Bird speaks with Fleet Maull about his experiences working with indigenous youth, and his research focused on "Neurodecolonization". 
The systemic impacts of Colonization and abolishing indigenous sacred meditative practices
“Neurodecolonization” The conceptual mindfulness framework and healing trauma in incarcerated, indigenous groups
Building cognitive resilience in indigenous youth
MICHAEL YELLOW BIRD Michael Yellow Bird, IMTA CMT-P, MSW, PhD, is Dean of the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba. He is a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation in North Dakota, USA. He is a member of the International Mindfulness Teachers Association and is a certified mindfulness facilitator/teacher – professional. He has been involved in meditation and Indigenous contemplative practices for more than 45 years. His research focuses on mindful decolonization and neurodecolonization. He has implemented meditation programs and conducted mindfulness research in Indigenous communities in the US. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and the co-editor and co-author of several books that focus on decolonization, social work, mindfulness, and Indigenous Peoples. He is the creator of Siíŝu' tooxuuciitu'ooxIt (Mind beautiful all calm): An Arikara Mindfulness Curriculum for Youth. His mindfulness and neurodecolonization works are featured on several mindfulness podcasts. His most recent press article can be found at: https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/meaningful-mindfulness-576071502.html
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.9 Youth in Prisons with Leslie Booker

In this episode, Leslie Booker speaks with cohost Julie Paquette about her time working with incarcerated youth.
“What do we do about it?” The inspiration to truly see the unseen
The process of developing trust
“The function of freedom is to free someone else"
LESLIE BOOKER Booker is a Buddhist Meditation Teacher, Writer and Lover of Liberation. She shared the practices of yoga and mindfulness with children who had been incarcerated in juvenile facilities and Rikers Island, and other vulnerable populations in NYC for over a decade. The gifts from this work have allowed Booker to show up with a fierce heart to cultivate a space of belonging. She is a co-author of ‘Best Practices for Yoga in a Criminal Justice Setting’, a contributor to Georgetown Law's report on ‘Gender & Trauma and contributed to Sharon Salzberg's book ‘Happiness at Work’. She is a co-founder of the Yoga Service Council at Omega Institute and the Meditation Working Group of Occupy Wall Street. In 2020 she was invited to be a Sojourner Truth Leadership Fellow through Auburn Seminary, graduated from Spirit Rock’s 4 year Retreat Teacher Training, and was voted by her peers as one of the 12 Powerful Women in the Mindfulness Movement.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org