Prison Mindfulness

Episode Highlights:

35 Years of Prison Dharma – Gary Allen shares his decades-long experience bringing Buddhist teachings to incarcerated individuals.

•Correspondence-Based Dharma – The power of personal letters and structured courses in reaching prisoners.

•Anger & Patience – Why teachings from Shantideva on patience and anger are essential in prison.

•Chall...

In this episode, Susan Shannon, a seasoned Buddhist practitioner, and chaplain, shares her journey of transformative prison ministry, including her work as a Buddhist chaplain on death row at San Quentin. She discusses her adaptable teaching approach, focusing on universal Buddhist principles like the Four Noble Truths and dependent arising, which foster deep transformation among incarcerated individuals. Susan highlights the impor...

From the Teaching Mindfulness Summit April 24. 

• Meditation, mindfulness, and self-compassion.
• Mindfulness and self-compassion teaching methods.
• Trust, intuition, and teaching wisdom.

Christopher Germer, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and lecturer on psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School. He co-developed the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program with Kristin Neff in 2010 and they wrote two books, The Mindful ...

In this episode, Chia-Ti Chiu talks with Vita Pires about her work with Lineage Project. 

• Embodying a trauma-conscious and resilience-based methodology
• Unpacking privilege, biases, and blind spots
• The evolution of the Lineage Project

CHIA-TI CHIU (she/her) Chia-Ti has been working with the Lineage Project since 2009. As a senior teacher, she shares embodied awareness practices with youth in detention centers, alternate-to...

In this episode, John MacAdams talks with Garth Smelser about his experiences working with both incarcerated individuals as a chaplain and as a mindfulness trainer for corrections professionals. 

• Stepping into the alien environment of custody
• Relating to inmates, relating to security staff
• What’s important about training corrections professionals

JOHN MACADAMS John MacAdams, CMT-P, is an IMTA certified professional mindfu...

In this episode, Martine Batchelor talks with Vita Pires about her experiences working with those in prisons and teaching Secular Buddhism.

• Developing the path of secular Buddhism
• Practices for fear and anxiety
• Working with those who have resistance to meditation and/or (seemingly) don't care about the consequences of actions

MARTINE BATCHELOR Martine Batchelor was a Buddhist nun in Korea for ten years. She studied Son Bu...

In this episode, Matthew Hahn talks with cohost John MacAdams about his experiences with mindfulness while incarcerated and his work post-incarceration as a facilitator for Mindful Prisons. 

• The value of creating safe spaces
• What happens after volunteers leave the facility
• Full circle, returning to Folsom Prison to teach the Dharma

MATTHEW HAHN Matthew is a member of the Boundless Freedom Project Sangha and a program faci...

In this episode, Richard Shankman talks with Vita Pires about his experiences teaching meditation in California prisons in the 1970s and how that has influenced his work to date.

• Early days (1970s) of contemplative programs in California Prisons
• Working with Youth (mindful schools)
• Importance of humility and ‘not knowing’ mindset when working with others with completely different life conditions

RICHARD SHANKMAN Richard S...

In this episode, Jonah M. David talks with John MacAdams about his experiences volunteering and facilitating creative arts workshops in men's and women's prisons. 

• Creative Arts programming; Giving a voice to the unseen
• The challenges of long-term artistic collaborations with inmates
• Personal growth from the wisdom found inside the walls

JONAH M. DAVID Jonah facilitates mediation and mindfulness workshops inside and outsi...

In this episode, Trime Persinger speaks with John MacAdams about her work as a prison chaplain with the Oregon Department of Corrections. 

• Seeing Yourself and Loving Well in prison work.
• Stable, Caring Presence: providing environments where practice can flourish behind bars.
• Mindful Communication: the program, how it started, and what happened when the pandemic hit.

TRIME PERSINGER Trime has practiced meditation for 35 ye...

In this episode, Bill Brown talks with Vita Pires, about his work with the Prison Yoga Project.

• The harm punitive incarceration causes for the incarcerated, staff, and families.
• Working with the body to discharge unresolved trauma
• Yoga as a tool for tapping into embodied wisdom

BILL BROWN, C-IAYT, Bill is the Executive Director of Prison Yoga Project, a non-profit organization that seeks to create a cultural shift toward ...

In this episode, Micah Anderson speaks with Fleet Maull about his experiences working with incarcerated youth through the Mind Body Awareness Project. 

• 3 steps for creating safety while facilitating training/workshops
• Barriers to using a curriculum with traumatized youth
• Importance of partnerships for sustainable support for youth parolees

MICAH DAVIS ANDERSON Born in Connecticut, Micah spent several of his teen years in ...

In this episode, Liz Richardson talks with Fleet Maull about her new play, Unconfined.

• Her play, based on a real-life story of an incarcerated prisoner’s contemplative journey while in prison and on death row
• Drawing parallels between this prisoner’s experience and her voluntary, 3-year confinement at Gampo Abbey retreat
• Contemplating beliefs of whether people who are incarcerated really can change

LIZ RICHARDSON – PLAYW...

In this episode, Lama Justin von Bujdoss talks with Vita Pires about his experiences working as a chaplain for the New York City Department of Corrections. 

• Shadow sides of working in prisons
• Limitations of mindfulness work for highly traumatized populations (the incarcerated and correctional staff)
• How to do this work in a culturally sensitive and authentic manner

JUSTIN VON BUJDOSS Lama Justin von Bujdoss is an American...

In this episode, Gabriella Savelli talks with Fleet Maull about her work with the International Association for Human Values. 

• The International Association of Human Values (IAHV) program-reducing offender recidivism
• The impact of secular breath-work on prisoners and prison staff
• Actualizing networks of programs with different modalities for positive systemic change

GABRIELLA SAVELLI Ms Savelli became Director of the IAH...

In this episode, Jared Seide talks with John MacAdams about his work as the Executive Director for the Center for Council. 

• What Council looks like inside prisons
• How Council embodies mindfulness and supports compassion
• Benefits of learning presence, resisting distraction, and speaking/listening from the heart

JARED SEIDE Jared Seide is author of the book, “Where Compassion Begins: Foundational Practices to Enhance Mindf...

In this episode, Rebecca Foster talks with Vita Pires, about her experiences bringing PMI's Path of Freedom training into prisons. 

• Training “Inside” apprentices (facilitator training for incarcerated men & women)
• Integrating laughter, movement & play into the classroom
• The transformative power of social meditation “Inside”

REBECCA J FOSTER Rebecca Foster is a meditation teacher, conscious dance facilitator, and Hatha (tr...

In this episode, Kalen McAllister speaks with Fleet Maull about Laughing Bear Bakery, and the resources and opportunities it gives those who are formerly incarcerated. 

• Starting “The Laughing Bear Bakery” business focused on employing ex-prisoners on parole (https://laughingbearbakery.org/)
• The barriers and rewards to starting a business of this nature
• Active ways to build self-worth and dignity of parolees in transition

...

In this episode, Roshi Fleet Maull talks with John MacAdams about his time incarcerated and the creation of the Prison Mindfulness Institute (Prison Dharma Network).

• Origins of Prison Dharma Network
• The only real choice; "Practice like my hair was on fire"
• Unending opportunities to serve the world on the outside

FLEET MAULL Fleet Maull, PhD is an author, meditation teacher, mindset coach, social entrepreneur and peacemak...