Prison Mindfulness

Ep.8 Teaching Mindfulness in Israeli Prisons & Rehab Centers with Michal Warshavsky

In this episode, Michal Warshavsky speaks with Vita Pires, about her work bringing mindfulness practices to Israeli prisons and rehab centers through "The Quiet Within".
Working within a deeply divided society with Israeli/Palestinian prisoners
Developing paths for more prisoners to be actively involved in class presentations
The power of a bi-lingual meditation book to be an anchor for change
MICHAL WARSHAVSKY I’m Michal Warshavsky, a social activist, living in Tel Aviv. I have worked with single mothers on public housing issues, and with Beduins fighting for land rights. However, my work’s focus is in prisons. 16 years ago, I founded “The Quiet Within”, that offers meditation for current and former inmates. The project was motivated by my strong desire to effect change in the world, rather than just practice compassion on the meditation cushion. We offer inmates tools to create their own quiet within, by leading 29 weekly meditation groups for Jewish and Arab current and former inmates, who live in difficult conditions. Very few successfully rehabilitate oneself. • Volunteers perform all the organization’s activities. After 6 years of working, last year we published a meditation book for prisoners in Hebrew and in Arabic. The book is given as a gift to every group participant.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.7 Leaving Prison Before You Get Out with Kim Grose Moore

In this episode, Kim Grose Moore speaks with John MacAdams about her work as executive director of the GRIP Training Institute. 
Leaving prison before you get out: A year of deep transformation
The power of accountability and forgiveness for those sentenced to custody (and for all of us)
Maintaining program integrity, consistency and impact while scaling-up mindfulness-based programs in prison
KIM GROSE MOORE Kim Grose Moore has contributed for more than 20 years to making the San Francisco Bay Area a more just and equitable community. She is now the Executive Director of the GRIP Training Institute, whose mission is to create the personal and systemic change to turn violence and suffering into opportunities for learning and healing. Kim is endorsed as a Buddhist Chaplain through the Insight Meditation Center of Redwood City, CA. She is a strong believer of the community organizing principle, “the first revolution is internal." The Guiding Rage Into Power (GRIP) program currently takes incarcerated people in California state prisons through an intensive yearlong, mindfulness-based journey of trauma healing and accountability. In the last 10 years, more than 1200 students have graduated from the program, 528 have been released and the recidivism rate is less than 1%. Kim lives with her family in San Jose, CA.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.6 Shifting Authoritarian Prison Norms with Sam Himelstein, Ph.D.

In this episode, Dr. Sam Himelstein speaks with Fleet Maull about his work with the Center for Adolescent Studies and his experiences with incarcerated youth.
The impact of having positive and supportive role models for incarcerated youth
The pros and cons of tech programs and apps for mindfulness
Authenticity and predictability as a foundation for trauma-informed mindfulness
Teaching from a space of presence, strength, and confidence (rather than ego/authoritarianism)
SAM HIMELSTEIN Sam Himelstein, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and the founder of both Family Spring, a mental health company that leverages technology to serve teens, young adults, and their families who’ve been impacted by substance use disorder and related mental health challenges; and the Center for Adolescent Studies, an interdisciplinary training institute focused on trauma-informed care, mindfulness, substance use disorder, resilience, and related training for professionals. For over 15 years, Dr. Himelstein has worked with incarcerated, trauma-impacted, and substance-using populations and has had the mission to help adolescents and young adults thrive by becoming aware of the power of self-awareness and transformation. A formerly incarcerated youth himself, Dr. Himelstein was privileged to change his life from a path of drugs, violence, crime, and self-destruction to that of healing and transformation. Learn more about his philosophy, work, and approach through his books: Trauma-Informed Mindfulness With Teens: A Guide for Mental Health Clinicians (Norton, forthcoming 2019), Mindfulness-Based Substance Abuse Treatment for Adolescents: A 12-Session Curriculum(Routledge, 2015), and A Mindfulness-Based Approach to Working with High-Risk Adolescents (Routledge, 2013), his professional training institute: https://centerforadolescentstudies.com, and his clinical work: https://myfamilyspring.com
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.5 Liberation from the Inner Prison with Robina Courtin

In this episode, Robina Courtin speaks with Vita Pires, about her correspondence work with prisoners and her experiences with the Liberation Prison Project.
Knowing the nature of the mind: the path of dharma inside
The power of learning dharma through the mail with a prison pen pal
“You could sit through a month of fiction films and not come across a character half as interesting as Robina Courtin”- Jake Wilson, Urban Cinefile
ROBINA COURTIN Since being ordained as a Buddhist nun in the late 1970s at Kopan Monastery in the Kathmandu valley, Ven. Robina Courtin has worked full-time for her teachers Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche and their worldwide network of Buddhist activities, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition. Over the years she has served as editorial director of Wisdom Publications, editor of Mandala Magazine, executive director of Liberation Prison Project, and as a touring teacher of Buddhism. Her life, including her work with prisoners, has been featured in the documentary films Chasing Buddha and Key to Freedom.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.4 Trauma-Informed Engagement with Rev. Dr. Michael Christie

In this episode, Rev. Dr. Michael Christie speaks with John MacAdams about his experiences starting as a volunteer and then as an employed chaplain and supervisor working for the Connecticut Department of Corrections. 
Moving from volunteer to full-time professional in prison
How each volunteer’s self-awareness is essential to being impactful in prison
The power of mindfulness to heal and the boundaries we need to hold
MICHAEL CHRISTIE Dr. Michael Christie is the Chaplain Supervisor with the CT DOC. He offers Faith and spiritual coaching to the men and teaches trauma informed mindfulness, Nonviolent Communication, Path of Freedom and inner healing work. To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.3 Dharma in Prison - Learning More Than Teaching with Venerable Thubten Chodron

In this episode, Venerable Thubten Chodron speaks with Fleet Maull about her work with Sravasti Abbey and her experiences providing resources and support for incarcerated individuals.
The transformative nature of compassion when working with incarcerated individuals
The importance of diversity in the Buddhist teaching groups offered to prisoners.
Offering incarcerated individuals tools/skills before release to ease the transition
VEN. THUBTEN CHODRON Ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun in 1977, Venerable Thubten Chodron is an author, teacher, and the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey. Sravasti Abbey is one of the first Tibetan Buddhist training monasteries for Westerners in the U.S. She holds gender equality, social engagement, and care for the environment among her core values. Venerable Chodron teaches worldwide and is known for her practical and humorous explanations of how to apply Buddhist teachings in daily life. She is also involved in prison outreach and interfaith dialogue. She has published many books on Buddhist philosophy and meditation. She is currently assisting His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the writing and publication of The Library of Wisdom and Compassion, a multi-volume series of teachings on the Buddhist path. Visit thubtenchodron.org for a media library of her teachings, and sravasti.org to learn more about the Abbey.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.2 The Power of Kindness with Sita Lozoff and Erin Parish

In this episode, Sita Lozoff and Erin Parish talk with Vita Pires, about the past, present, and future of the Human Kindness Foundation. 
How the Human Kindness Project began in 1973
Nurturing the creative spirit “inside”
Offering opportunities for prisoners and former prisoners ways to share their wisdom
ERIN PARISH Erin Parish is the Executive Director of Human Kindness Foundation. She has twenty years of experience helping individuals and communities build resilience after war and incarceration. Erin has worked with victims and combatants of violence in Colombia and Northern Ireland. In North Carolina, she’s designed peer support reentry programs and transitional jobs programs for people coming out of prison, and driver’s license restoration programs to help people avoid incarceration. In all of her work, she seeks to create conditions that allow others to realize their full power. She has a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology and a Masters in History from Duke University and an MPhil in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation Studies from Trinity College Dublin. In her free time, she loves cooking and throwing dinner parties, discovering new music, and playing outside with her family. SITA LOZOFF Sita Lozoff is the co-founder of the Prison-Ashram Project with her late husband, Bo Lozoff and Ram Dass in 1973. She's presently the spiritual director of this project which is still thriving almost for close to fifty years. She taught mindfulness on North Carolina's death row for years and we continue to send out hundreds of free books to people inside.
To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org

Ep.1 Radically Shifting Belief Systems with Bernard Moss

In this episode, Bernard Moss speaks with Fleet Maull about his experiences with incarceration, learning alternatives to violence, and his work with the GRIP program.
The rationale behind engaging in violence and a gangster lifestyle
Shifting value systems - from violence to peace-making
Creating safety for transformation through the GRIP program
BERNARD MOSS is a GRIP Senior Facilitator, and Peacemaker, and an expert in violence Prevention, mindfulness, and emotional Intelligence. He currently resides in Pittsburg, California. Bernard was one of the first to go through and graduate the GRIP program at San Quentin. After he graduated he went on to facilitate three GRIP groups. He was granted parole after 28 years and currently facilitates GRIP at San Quentin state Prison and Mule Creek State Prison.To Learn More About the Prison Mindfulness Institute, please visit www.prisonmindfulness.org