| John C. Kimbrough
Sereisophan, Cambodia
Teaching Yoga in a Cambodian prison – Part 1
“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much: it is whether we provide enough for those who have little” – Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States
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When we look at the words of President Roosevelt, we once again see that an individual does not have to be a Christian, Moslem, Buddhist, or Yoga practitioner to exercise great wisdom and understanding of the human experience or show compassion for others.
Perhaps it is not a matter of whether one learns and practices these religions and spiritual disciplines or not, but whether or not they have a degree of balance in their own mind and mind.
What Yoga and Buddhism promise those who learn and practice them is that through them they can achieve greater balance in both their mind and life.
We often wonder if we really need such a thing, or if it can be achieved. We often see our lives, our views and our desires as being the reality of life, and seldom reflect on the idea of being more balanced.
Certainly those individuals who through their own ignorance, conditioning and circumstances have become lost or unbalanced need our compassion and assistance. Perhaps that is what President Roosevelt was reminding of us when he made the statement above.
Yoga is widely acknowledged as being a path, practice and discipline which can assist those in need of direction and greater mental and physical health in their life.
Those individuals who are serving time in prison or are who undergoing some kind of rehabilitation or detention because of their activities as regards the use of drugs can benefit from the mental and physical focus and direction that Yoga offers them.
For most of us, our concept and understanding of prison has been brought about through movies such as “The Longest Yard”, “Lock Up” and “Papillon”. These movies show men bonding with each other and growing in some manner because of their prison experience or generally becoming depressed, and abusive to themselves and others.
The practice of penology in western countries is quite enlightened with men being housed in penitentiaries where they are provided with the opportunity to work, study, learn new skills, entertain themselves and be entertained, and in some cases even earn a small salary.
Such an approach to penology is not one that happens in developing countries though.
In Cambodian prisons, men have little or nothing to do all day. They sit in cramped “rooms” that house twelve to twenty men at a time. They eat two small meals a day. There are no opportunities for them to learn or improve themselves and facilities for their self - development are at a minimum.
It was for these reasons that a very decent and enlightened prison director of one prison in Cambodia has allowed this writer to start teaching Yoga at the prison that he is in charge of.
This teaching of Yoga is not solely focused on postures and breathing techniques. Instead it is focused on a complete Yoga education, meaning that men are taught about the moral and ethics of Yoga and how they lead to better living, and meditation.
Classes are held in a small prison courtyard on woven grass mats that can be bought in the local market. These mats cost about 1 dollar each.
The students are marched out into the yard and ordered to take their place on the mats. They wear blue pajamas that identify them as being prisoners. Many look depressed which is understandable, but they are interested in and enthusiastic about learning.
This writer’s teachings seem to make an impression on the men, showing a degree of understanding for them and their situation, while a the same time encouraging them that they can all cultivate their own being to something greater.
During their practice of the “easy posture”, he comments that he does not see 25 prisoners, but instead 25 Buddhas. When men are asked to relax but keep their spine straight in the meditation posture, the change in the in body is easily seen. This change in their posture also results in them being perceived in a different manner.
Our focus in having introductory classes for all of the 500 inmates and learners is to make them more mindful about the three great tools for living that we all possess, those being our mind, our breath and our body.
In doing this we also want the men to have some fun so it is a joy to see them smile and laugh when they are asked to do a posture that is difficult for them (the camel posture) or seems strange (the lion technique). But along the way, the men are becoming more mindful and healthy, thereby sharing the experience of Yoga that it provides for all individuals who come to its practice.
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John is a volunteer teaching Yoga and Buddhism and providing other health and educational resources for men and women in a local provincial prison in Cambodia. He has lived in Asia for twenty years.
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Teaching Yoga in a Cambodian p
