Yoga and meditation in Portuguese prisons | Inez Aires | TEDxPorto

Practicing yoga is a powerful tool to restore the relationship of prisoners with their bodies and recover the connection between body, mind, and spirit. It aids the complete development of the individual, so as to increase self-conscience and, consequently, empathy with others. The intention is to establish a national program to involve a group of teachers of yoga and meditation to give weekly classes in Portuguese prisons to aid social reinsertion and physical and brain transformation.

Inez Aires was born in Porto, got a degree in Environmental Engineering (MSc) and is a PADI Rescue Diver. Her path in the physical arts started when she was four years old, in classical ballet, horse riding and sports gymnastics.
She found yoga in 1999 as a response to the many sports she used to practice and the intellectual demands of her degree. She studied Ashtanga and traditional and transformational Hatha Yoga. Always curious, she gets involved in Tai Chi, Qi Gong and Contemporary Dance. She learned, practiced and taught in Portugal and other countries.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

What's the first thing
that comes to your mind

when you think about a prison,

or jail,

or any correctional facility?

And what's the first thing
that comes to your mind,

when you think
about a monastery or a convent?

The image you're seeing on the screen

is a drawing about a utopia.

In 2013, as an environmental engineer,

I was involved in
the conception of a building

that dealt with the rehabilitation
of an old oil platform

in the sea outside
of San Francisco, California.

The idea and the form how we restructured
this project was based on the poetry

of seeing prisons as places
for the transformation of the brain.

This prison was in the middle of the sea,
so it didn't need walls.

The ocean itself created enough isolation

that prisoners needed to have
to rethink their lives,

to increase their conscience, depending
on the acts they had committed.

But that was a utopia.

A project that was awarded prizes
but didn't go ahead

and this is the reality.

A few years ago I had an opportunity

to visit two prisons in the Americas.

On your left side, you can see the prison
Garcia Moreno, in Quito, Ecuador.

And on the right, Tepic, Mexico, Nayarit.

I visited the prison in Tepic

because two friends had been
unjustly incarcerated.

I remember when I arrived at the prison,

and looked at that enormous space,

prisoners walking about
and all the time they had in their hands.

I remember talking to my friends,

inspiring them, taking books to them
so they could practice yoga,

practice meditation and make the most
of the countless time they had,

while they waited to go to trial.

For 18 years, yoga has been in my life.

Yoga is a philosophy that integrates

the three large components
of what it means to be a human being:

our minds, our bodies and our spirits.

Yoga works as a philosophy
that covers the mental part.

It works as a physical exercise

and, as the science that goes
to the physical side, also our bodies.

It is also an art,

and helps us see the qualities
and essences of our spirit better.

So, the idea that we got this prize for,

is about creating a national program,

a platform that may gather
all yoga teachers

who may be interested,
so they feel inspired

to teach in a prison.

Certified yoga and meditation teachers

who are experienced and may bring

the benefits of these techniques
to prisons in Portugal.

So, we distributed teachers
across staggered time plans

so they can go there weekly
and so we may create a program

that will help social reinsertion,

to their physical transformation,
their mental and brain transformation.

It's true that most prisoners

suffer from some kind of trauma

that took place in their childhood
or their adolescence,

or even in their adulthood.

And many times these unprocessed traumas

lead them to commit criminal acts,

or that, at the very least,
are unlawful in their countries.

So, we want to teach yoga as a tool

that will help prisoners

to have a relationship with their bodies

and improve that relationship.

Reestablishing the connection
between body, mind and spirit,

so they may manage their emotions better.

So, we can look at the individual
as something complete, holistic.

This way, by increasing this sensitivity,

we are able to look at others
in another way,

to increase our empathy with others,

increase our compassion and reduce,
ideally, the cycle of violence.

Logically, it is also
about dealing with vice.

Yoga gives us techniques
that we can use on the mat

and also out of it.

We can use them in class, or outside class

and we can integrate
all the dots in our lives.

That's the idea and here's
the transformational value of yoga.

During class, one only listens
and practices what the teacher suggests.

But it is in our daily lives
that we can really see

that these tools will help us deal

with our emotions and stress

and how we deal with life.

I suppose you have an idea
about the many benefits.

Yoga helps relieve stress,
helps increase attention,

focus, concentration.

It gives us strength and physical health.

When we feel better
and stronger with our bodies

we will also feel stronger
with our self-esteem and our minds.

Our thoughts become clearer,
and so much more.

There are many case studies
of success worldwide.

I studied projects
in several states of the USA,

in China, in France,
and other countries of the EU.

The results are fantastic.

The idea was to bring yoga and meditation

as a practice to help
with social reinsertion,

to give a new perspective
on life to these people

who need to be in their
"compulsory retreat"

and help them realize
that they can change,

they can transform, and can do
something better with their lives.

Meditation helps us to see
things as they are

and yoga is, without a doubt,
the path to freedom

when we can see ourselves
as a whole being.

Thank you.

(Applause)