The Prison Yogi
By Dan Milllstein

One of our ''Teachers of Peace" was practicing yoga in the exercise yard. The sun was hot and he was stretching into another pose. For the moment the razor wire, which is evident everywhere, seemed to disappear. "Hey you there, get your shoes on." broke his reverie as he looked up into the face of a young guard he had not seen before. "Sorry officer, where you speaking to me?" "Yeah, you are the only one around here with his shoes off." There is no known rule about exercising with your shoes off but anything is fair game in the power playing which goes on in prisons. Both guards and prisoners play the game. So much fear and darkness within the prison causes constant attacking and posturing, shaming and recoiling. There is little true communication between staff and prisoner.
Our yogi friend explained to the officer that this was a part of his religious practice and that he had been doing yoga for many years in this spot in the yard without any previous notification that he was breaking a rule. The fact was that the warden had stopped and spoken to a group of men who were practicing yoga together just days before.
At first the guard seemed unimpressed and insisted that he comply with the order to replace his shoes. Seeing the futility in pursuing the matter and having no particular need to be right (a trait of good yogis) our prisoner pulled on his shoes.
As he began to tie his shoelaces the guard said, "What kind of religion is stretching?" Before our yogi could formulate an answer the guard added, "Do you think that stuff could help my back?"
Suddenly an energy shift had occurred. The guard had become a student and the prisoner had become a teacher. No longer were they adversaries. For more than an hour our prisoner gave instruction in the form of a caring explanation of yoga and a detailed demonstration of some postures which might help the guard with his chronic back pain.
Now it is weeks later and our yogi is back practicing postures with his shoes off. In fact there are many prisoners practicing in concert in the yard. Our guard reports that his back is better. He says he is able to better handle the pain. He says his wife is happier and he is able to spend more quality time with his young son. What will this mean for the future? Only time will tell. We can only stretch our imagination into the lives that each of us touch every day. The prison yogi has given us all a gift from behind the razor wire and walls that we think keep us apart. His gift to this guard is a simple reminder that giving and receiving are the same.

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