From 2015 to 2020, when the pandemic put on hold a lot of Department of Correction programs, I went inside New York City jails to teach yoga to inmates through Liberation Prison Yoga, a not-for-profit organization founded and led by Anneke Lucas. Starting in 2022, I joined Woosaa Wellness, led by Liam Pfeiffer, and started going inside again and added working with young adults and teenagers in juvenile and re-entry to my regular movement and meditation classes on Rikers Island.

I've also been teaching groups working through substance use disorders at Odyssey House and Freedom Institute.

I am currently working on a research grant on Embodiment and Addiction through the University of Nebraska Rural Drug Addiction Research Center.

There is no other place where my biases and unchosen belief systems are exposed as much as in jail, with the people who choose to share moments with me. there is no day I come out and not feel incredibly tender and inspired.

gratitude

July 7, 2024

I’m grateful I went inside today.

I’m feeling the sadness and the desperation, mental health struggles, heart breaks… I’m feeling all the things we’ve collectively lived through, and the resilience it took.
One person told me it was the best meditation they've ever had. They had never focused on the body and on resurfacing memories of safety in the body before. They forgot they had ever been safe.
I’m grateful for resources and resilience and for the privileged capacity to take over some of their pain, sometime.
I’m grateful to them all for showing me all the ways in which we are the same, and responsible for each other.