Yoga’s impact on jailed youth

Yoga generally consists of low intensity flowing exercise with periods of mindfulness and meditation to help calm the yoga practitioner mentally as well as physically. Yoga originated in India, but contemporary Yoga practice draws from many schools of thought such as Jainism, Buddhism, and other assorted schools of Indian Philosophy (Ashok, 2016). Research suggests that yoga can be beneficial in a myriad of ways such as reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as in lowering stress (Chong et al., 2011; Riley et al., 2014). Research also suggests that prison environments are among the most stressful (Berzofsk & Bronson, 2017). In recent years there has been a movement to introduce yoga to prisons to help inmates cope with the stress and effects of incarceration in the form of the Prison Yoga Project.