Breaking the Cycles of Violence -Prison SMART program
The Art of Living Prison SMART Program teaches innovative breathing practices that cleanse the body and mind. Stress is a common thread connecting everyone affected by the criminal justice system. The Art of Living Prison SMART Program serves the entire criminal justice community: adults, juveniles; ex-offenders; victims of violence and crime; correctional officers and administrators.
Participants learn how to use their breath to gain relief from the accumulated effects of stress and negative emotions. The Prison SMART program also teaches practical life skills that enable participants to accept responsibility for their past actions and handle future conflict and stressful situations successfully. The basic premise of the program is that no individual is really ‘bad’ but takes to crime because of stresses in their nervous system and that inside every culprit is a victim crying out for help. If you know how to heal the victim then you can eliminate crime from the planet.
The metamorphosis of a hardcore criminal into a sensitive and reformed individual is the outcome of this training that provides compassionate, effective solutions to break the cycles of violence, guilt and self blame. As they practice the Sudarshan Kriya, a breathing technique taught to them, aggression, anger and frustration are replaced with positive energy, enthusiasm and joy. The Prison SMART program has been known to reduce stress and anger.
Inside every culprit, there is a victim crying for help. That person is also a victim of ignorance, small-mindedness and lack of awareness. It's the stress, lack of broad vision about life, lack of understanding, and bad communication that leads to violence in society. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Course details
Trained instructors deliver the course in approximately 20 hours, spread out over 8-10 days.
For further details, you may visit the Prison SMART website
