Hope Circle and the Art of Living Prison Program
Hope Circle work in Prisons
Hope Circle’s support of people involved with the criminal justice system goes beyond our NDIS disability services with supported independent living and in-home & community support.
In fact, we have worked in conjunction with the Art of Living to support rehabilitation through the Prison Programme, which aims to transform the lives of people working in or incarcerated within the criminal justice system.
Over the past seven years, this has included delivery of programs to over 150 individuals at Adelaide Women’s Prison, Mobilong and Yatala Labour Prison.
Art of Living Prison Program
The Art of Living Prison Program is an internationally renowned stress management and rehabilitation program that teaches effective, evidence-based programs to the entire criminal justice community.
The program has been shown to reduces stress, heal trauma, and provides practical knowledge of how to handle negative emotions in order to contribute to society in a positive way.
The program utilises advanced breathing techniques, including Sudarshan Kriya (SKY), which removes stress from the physiology and has been shown to have numerous physical and mental health benefits. The patented techniques have been proven to be an effective treatment for PTSD, depression, and anxiety.
The program’s objective has been to make a life-transforming difference in the lives of all people within the criminal justice system, by teaching skills for reducing stress, healing trauma, and providing practical knowledge of how to handle one’s emotions, live to one’s highest potential and contribute to society. It aims to reduce offender recidivism and end the repeated cycle of violence and abuse.
The program is delivered by a trained instructor in approximately 10 hours, spread out over 5 days.
To date, this program has been delivered world-wide in over 65 countries with over 800,000 participants.
What participants have said about Art of Living Prison Program
Here are just a few examples of what participants in the Art of Living Prison Program in Adelaide have had to say about it:
“A very relaxing and inspirational experience which came at an important time in my life being held in gaol with nothing but stress and too much time to overthink everything. The course allows us to take an uninterrupted break in our lives amongst all the rushing around here. To allow us to gather our thoughts. Definitely recommend this to anyone in life to refocus ourselves again.”
Chris
“This course was very enlightening and taught me how to find my true self and create my own peace. I left this course feeling very grateful for all the great things in my life and have a much happier outlook on the future. I think the entire prison should do this course – we would all be so happier.”
Melissa
“I can’t thank you enough for your energy and care in providing this program to our guys who have given us such genuine and positive feedback. Word is already around to the prisoner group who are asking about the next one! I’ve read the feedback sheets and the brochure today and have just finished putting up a positive case note for all the guys who completed. I am absolutely keen to run the next one ASAP. “
Allison
Prison Manager
About the Art of Living
The Art of Living is more than an organisation or a program. It has become a positive movement around the world.
The Art of Living is a partner organisation with the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) which was created in Geneva in 1997 by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as a global platform for humanitarian initiatives that solve problems by uplifting human values.
Through its country organizations and partners, IAHV conducts service projects and raises funds for humanitarian and disaster relief initiatives throughout the world. This includes the Art of Living Prison Program.
For more information about the Art of Living and the prison program in Australia, head to their website.