Yoga helps Dubai inmates turn their lives around
Initiative aims to train 1,000 people in first year
Hundreds of prison inmates in Dubai have found fresh optimism to turn their lives around with yoga, helping them breathe in positivity and breathe out the trauma.
Aided by the Prison Stress Management and Rehabilitation Training (Prison Smart), an initiative of the International Association for Human Values (IAHV), supported by the Dubai Government’s Community Development Authority (CDA), many prisoners in Dubai have had life-changing experiences.
Applying healing methods such as yoga and breathing techniques to help prisoners improve their mental and physical health, the programmes aim to help people caught up in the criminal justice system.
Over the next year, IAHV aims to train at least 1,000 inmates in Dubai.
The programme has been a success with prisoners in Dubai who now sleep better, think more clearly and are beginning to take responsibility for their actions.
Sausan Mahmood, specialist social worker, CDA, said: “There is a significant change in inmate attitudes, especially those with longer sentences such as life imprisonment. There is a perceptible decrease in instances of violence and fighting, and they have become more organised and responsible. Yoga and other exercises help them get along,” said Mahmood.