Prisoners find freedom of a kind with yoga, meditation
BEHIND the high walls of South African prisons, convicted criminals are taking time out for an hour of meditation and yoga.
Every Friday morning, inmates like Nolundi Yanta roll out their mats for a session under the watchful eye of prison guards at Pretoria’s Kgosi Mampuru II prison.
The 49-year-old mother of four is serving a life sentence for fraud and conspiracy to commit murder. From Idutywa, in the Eastern Cape, Yanta was convicted on more than 800 counts of pension cheque fraud amounting to R24-million. She was also convicted of orchestrating the murder of a government official.
She has been behind bars for 15 years.
‘‘I used to be deeply depressed. It was hard to concentrate. But since I started yo- ga this year, I’m a different person. I’m calmer and more relaxed,” she said.
Yanta is among the first crop of yogis in the Prison Freedom Project.
Founders and instructors Leela Codron and Brian Bergman teamed up to take their special project behind prison walls.
‘‘The idea is not new. Prisons in the US, UK and India have been doing it and it has helped repeat offenders,” said Codron.
Bergman started the classes at Pollsmoor’s juvenile section about 18 months ago and now inmates from Worcester to Malmesbury in the Western Cape have signed up.
There are more than 100 prisoners participating in the weekly classes. Some of them, hardened convicts and former members of prison gangs, have now learned to keep calm through their weekly yoga sessions.
The oldest yogi at Kgosi Mampuru is 67-year-old Baby Moloi, a grandmother doing 10 years after causing “the death of a child”.
‘‘I love yoga. I used to feel pain in my side but since I started it, the pain stopped.”
Prisoners can also complete a six-month correspondence course should they wish to teach yoga after being released.
Prisoners reported that the yoga had helped to eliminate headaches, ease insomnia and reduce stress.
Bergman said he did not know much about his students and preferred not to ask.
I used to feel pain in my side but since I started it, the pain stopped