- This topic has 7 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated August 10, 2005 at 10:23 pm by Anonymous.
-
AuthorPosts
-
August 3, 2005 at 10:10 pm #1036664
although the yoga group was surprised, I am not – these are prisoners after all, and those who have violent tendencies may well be in prison because they could not control their emotions….
A useful bit of info/advice to those who may decide to take up yoga or any other form of spiritual activty to “calm down” and wonder why the opposite is happening! Many Eastern “spiritual arts” were used by warriors and fighters, as much as by peaceful guru types……..
Yoga classes ‘provoke’ prisoners
A prison in Norway has stopped holding yoga classes after it found that instead of calming inmates, they were actually making some more aggressive. High-security Ringerike jail near Oslo offered the classes to eight inmates on a trial basis earlier this year.Prison warden Sigbjoern Hagen said some of the inmates became more irritable and agitated and had trouble sleeping.
He said the prison did not have the resources to treat emotions unleashed by the deep breathing exercises.
The yoga group expressed surprise at the prison’s findings. It said the project had been tested successfully on some 100,000 prisoners in around 15 countries, the AFP news agency reported.
“The reactions we received from the prisoners who participated in the classes were very varied, ranging from completely positive to completely negative,” Mr Hagen reportedly wrote in a letter to the group.
On the negative side, the yoga had provoked “strong reactions: agitation, aggression, irritability, trouble sleeping and mental confusion”, he said.
The deep breathing exercises are an essential element of Yoga, which originated in India more than 5,000 years ago and aims to harmonise mind, body and spirit.
But such exercises could make inmates more dangerous by unblocking their psychological barriers, Mr Hagen was quoted as saying.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/4743741.stmPublished: 2005/08/03 19:15:24 GMT
© BBC MMV
August 8, 2005 at 3:32 pm #1066622Anonymous
Yeah I could believe that. Afterall, that Dhalsim fella in Street Fighter was no pushover you know.
August 9, 2005 at 4:33 pm #1066619Ive been doing some Yoga for a few sessions at my house. Its actually really knackering but seems to be about finding the happy medium between relaxation and effort. I certainly feel more energised afterwards.
I find it hard to imagine how Yoga could make people aggressive unless there is something deeper inside that needs addressing.
August 9, 2005 at 8:03 pm #1066616Quote:I find it hard to imagine how Yoga could make people aggressive unless there is something deeper inside that needs addressing.that is probably the exact reason why this had happened….
still, I think it was a good experiment, and now the prison psychiatrists should examine the inmates who showed negative responses and report back to that nations health service, it would be interesting to see how yoga does affect the mind and body in different people…
August 9, 2005 at 8:10 pm #1066620yea, i dont think the joga made them more agressive per se, just awakened feelings that they were in the wrong place to deal with. if the prison could have provided a more supportive and progressive environment for them to come to terms with their new perspectives, im sure the would have found a different result.
as someone who has had problems controlling their anger, i have found tai chi and yoga the two most useful calming techniques im aware of.
August 9, 2005 at 8:27 pm #1066617USE wrote:yea, i dont think the joga made them more agressive per se, just awakened feelings that they were in the wrong place to deal with. if the prison could have provided a more supportive and progressive environment for them to come to terms with their new perspectives, im sure the would have found a different result.The report did also mention the experiment worked well in other countries, so it suprised me though this would happen in Norway, ISTR seeing some documentary which showed that Scandinavian countries were quite good at rehabilitating their prison populations compared to many other places.
Its normally somewhere like Britain where vindictive screws try to fuck up positive rehab efforts – a friend of mine went in HMP; not for violence but non-payment of fines – some screws kept trying to disrupt his education by transferring him to different prisons / losing files etc… (but he persevered and learnt how to read better and to use a computer!)
August 10, 2005 at 6:47 pm #1066621General Lighting wrote:The report did also mention the experiment worked well in other countries, so it suprised me though this would happen in Norway, ISTR seeing some documentary which showed that Scandinavian countries were quite good at rehabilitating their prison populations compared to many other places.Its normally somewhere like Britain where vindictive screws try to fuck up positive rehab efforts – a friend of mine went in HMP; not for violence but non-payment of fines – some screws kept trying to disrupt his education by transferring him to different prisons / losing files etc… (but he persevered and learnt how to read better and to use a computer!)
i do get the impression that the scandinavians have rehabilitation better sorted- was it sweden that allowed mdma to be used as a thereputic drug in counselling? quality idea, if u ask me.
in britain we do seem to be more heavy on the punishment side of things, even tho they are less effective and more expensive on the whole than rehab techniques.
hats off to your prison bound mate. prison is real make or break time for most people, you either sort yourself out, or sink lower. the system is not very helpful. anyone who can motivate themselves in prison deserves respect.
August 10, 2005 at 10:23 pm #1066618USE wrote:i have found tai chi and yoga the two most useful calming techniques im aware of.chi-kung is also worth getting to know IME
it is like tai-chi, but simpler; only 16 exercises
i had a few classes years ago and found it worked for all sorts of things from quitting smoking to bringing me down from a hectic trip :group_hug
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.