The men filed into the chapel, pulled chairs into circles, and sat.
Then this corner of New Jersey's Bayside State Prison got quiet.
A short meditation opens each weekly session of
Heart-to-Heart, a mindfulness and nonviolence program run at three east
coast prisons. Silence, said founder Stephen Michael Tumolo, helps bring
"present moment awareness."
That's where he believes transformation starts.
"One thing we have choice in is where our mind
is," said Tumolo. "Present moment awareness can radically alter one's
experience in the moment. And then it can radically reshape the next
steps we take."
Gossip, drugs, love—most of the outside world
seeps through prison walls. In recent years, the nation's growing
interest turning inward has crept in, too. Though there's no official
tally, mindfulness programs now stretch from yoga at New York City's
Rikers Island jail to Transcendental Meditation at an Oregon state
prison.
They represent a growing shift from tough-on-crime policies of the
1990s. Most seek to offer some daily calm inside and provide tools to
keep prisoners from coming back. Research is scant, but small studies
indicate they may help prisoners address anxiety, substance abuse issues
and violence. There's indication they could also help those released
from prison from coming back.
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