Best Of: Prison Mindfulness Institute

Best Of: Prison Mindfulness Institute





Our Mission is to provide prisoners, prison staff, and prison volunteers, with the most effective, evidence-based tools for rehabilitation, self-transformation, and personal & professional development. In particular, we provide and promote the use of proven effective mindfulness-based interventions (MBI’s). Our dual focus is on transforming individual lives as well as transforming the corrections system as a whole in order to mitigate its extremely destructive impact on families, communities, and the overall social capital of our society.

The Path of Freedom curriculum also focuses on increasing participants’ resiliency, self-reflective capacity, confidence, and positive life outlook through mindfulness-awareness meditation and contemplative/reflective practices. This direct contemplative experience encourages a shift away from fear-based, anti-social, or criminal strategies for meeting needs to pro-social strategies grounded in emerging confidence in their own innate goodness, the innate goodness of others, and a greater sense of possibility for their present lives and future.  The program is also grounded in a holistic or whole-person, bio-psycho-social-spiritual, integral view of human development.

Course Outline

1. Who Am I?
2. Change
3. Holding Your Seat
4. Transforming Pain
5. The Drama Triangle
6. Radical Responsibility
7. Empowerment
8. The Art of Communication
9. Transforming Conflict 
10. Forgiveness 

Learning Outcomes
  1. Practice basic mindfulness meditation and integrate mindfulness into your work with clients, in the form of increased capacity for presence, focus and listening, insight, and compassion.
  2. Develop more understanding about how mindfulness-based skills and practices support self regulation and stress management
  3. Identify negative habits and limiting core beliefs that hinder positive change
  4. Develop an understanding of emotional literacy, how to identify and avoid emotional triggers, and methods for emotional regulation
  5. Understand Karpman's Drama Triangle and strategies for staying off the Drama Triangle and preventing and managing negative drama
  6. Comprehend how mindfulness and somatic awareness can be used as a means for avoiding and /or diffusing conflict
  7. Understand the transformative power f listening in relationships and learn simple tools for skillful and empathic communication.
  8. Define obstacles to forgiveness- blame, grievance stories, unrealistic expectations and realize the value of letting go past grievances
  9. Comprehend strategies for integrating mindfulness into daily life activities