How Meditation Is Helping People Get Out of Prison (Video)

Our prisons are overpopulated. Many of those who are released from prison get sent back soon after. How can we create a better system? That is a popular question and one that has many theories. It is also a question that has taken too long to answer and see changes made.

Most people who have gone to prison were never given the opportunity to take a step back and examine themselves and the world around them. They were taught the only way to solve problems and communicate with others was through crime or violence.

When we send a group of people with this same outlook to live together in prison, how can we expect this thought process to change when they are released?
 

About 45% of former federal prisoners and about 77% of former state prisoners will be arrested again within five years of their release.

 
What if we gave our incarcerated population the opportunity to step out of their current reality? How would it affect their view of the world if they knew there was more to it than hate and violence, and that they had options and tools to better succeed in life?

There is a solution that can help our prison system, and that is to help the prison population connect to themselves.
 
 

Watch This Inspiring Video About This Mindfulness Prison Initiative

To learn more about the Prison Mindfulness Institute and the positive impact its founder Fleet Maull is having on these individuals, check out this powerful video.

That is what Fleet Maull, Founder of Prison Mindfulness Institute (PMI) is trying to do. He is bringing meditation and mindfulness into prisons and inviting incarcerated individuals to explore who they really are underneath the physical and emotional scars.
 

“If we really want to reduce crime, if we really want a safer and healthier world, we have to be willing to look at the causes and conditions from which harmful behaviors arise in the first place – both at the individual and social level.” – Fleet Maull

 
Maull, who served 14 years in prison, knows exactly what these prisoners are experiencing and what will help them make positive changes. During his time behind bars, Maull had a meditation practice, and it inspired others to do the same.
 

 
 
The Prison Mindfulness Institute is continuing his work by providing individuals in prison with books on meditation and spiritual practices.

Maull believes that by equipping them with the tools of mindfulness and meditation, they will be able to grow as a person, handle situations more mindfully and positively, and find an inner sense of peace.
 

It’s time our society stops sweeping our prison system and population under the rug, and start acknowledging how badly these incarcerated individuals need help.

 
The more we prepare those in prison to live their lives outside of prison, the better chance they have of living with compassion and forgiveness.

Do we want to send these individuals back into the world angry and unable to cope in positive ways? Or should we send them into the world with a second chance, capable of being productive members of society?

Do you think a meditation practice can help individuals who are incarcerated? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below and continue this important discussion.