When I was in college during the 1990s, there were more Black men in prison than in college. The ratio of incarcerated Black people to Black people in general society was shocking. By the time I started graduate school in 2000, Black grad students were three percent of the university population. I remember thinking, “There are more Black men in prison than there are students at this school.”
During my undergraduate studies as a Criminal Justice major at Temple University, I took a class called “Rehabilitation of the Offender.” The professor had progressive views about the benefits of proper rehabilitation and methods for lowering recidivism rates. She led a reading program for people incarcerated in Philadelphia-area prisons. She even took us to prisons where we listened to the stories of the men who were incarcerated and shared our experiences as college students. Her dedication to this population sparked my interest in prisoner advocacy. When I moved to Washington, D.C. for grad school, I sought out jobs with prisoner advocacy groups, until I eventually put that aspiration aside.
Fast forward to 2015. I had been teaching yoga for two years and, along the way, I read about an organization called the Prison Yoga Project in Yoga Journal. I was immediately inspired by their work. PYP was based in California, but I began exploring ways to get involved in Maryland.
What unfolded was truly an act of Spirit.
I had been following New York-based yoga teacher Oneika Mays on Instagram. One day, she posted about her work teaching mindfulness and yoga to incarcerated populations at Rikers Island as part of an organization called Liberation Prison Yoga. She invited me to attend a trauma-informed training they were holding in New York City. There I met Oneika in person and was introduced to the Liberation Prison Yoga founder Anneke Lucas. She in turn connected me with Kat Meadows, the contact person for PYP in Maryland, and the creator of the first yoga teacher training for incarcerated women at Maryland Correctional Institute for Women (MCIW). Kat invited me to join a weekend-long trauma-informed training that PYP was hosting in Maryland, where I met PYP founder, James Fox. My work took off from there. I shadowed Kat during her classes at MCIW, and eventually began leading classes on my own. I taught yoga at the Patuxent Institute for Women (PIW) from 2017 until 2020, when COVID shut down all volunteer programs.
I am passionate about the healing a yoga practice can facilitate. To connect this with my long-held desire to advocate for prisoners was a true moment of purpose in my life. Teaching yoga in prisons became my way of promoting prisoner advocacy. It is work that I am most proud of.
Why Black People Should Teach Prison Yoga
During my time teaching yoga at Patuxent, I was one of a few Black teachers, possibly the only one. While I believe great yoga teachers come from all races, there is a special connection when Black students can see themselves reflected in the teacher. Yoga is still gaining acceptance in the Black community. (I still face the debate that yoga is “the devil’s work.”) When Black students see a Black teacher, it can help break the stereotype of who yoga is for.
I strongly believe in Black people showing up powerfully in spaces where we are minimized. We hold the medicine to help our community heal. Given the overrepresentation of Black populations in prisons, it is crucial to have positive Black figures in these spaces. As yoga teachers, we can demonstrate that there are alternative paths. We can remind them that past choices do not have to define you and—more importantly in a correctional facility—that you don’t have to be a prisoner of your mind.
When I teach yoga in prisons, I often remind students that the yoga mat symbolizes choice. I ask, “What do you choose?” In prisons, where individuals are told what to do from dawn to dusk, I believe it’s vital to create a space where people feel they have autonomy. Teaching yoga philosophy through an asana practice highlights the responsibility that comes with that autonomy. In this way, asana and yoga philosophy can promote better decision-making. Yoga promotes the unification of the mind, body, and spirit. It emphasizes the healing and empowering effect of managing our emotions, and how to down-regulate feelings of anger or despair. It builds strength from within. Teaching yoga to our brothers and sisters on the inside gives them tools to cope with life in a correctional facility and encourages reduced recidivism.
We are living in challenging socio-political times. The current administration has made it clear that it intends to undo any progress made in this country, especially progress related to the Black community. I believe that teaching Prison Yoga is one way to resist. While this administration may attempt to disenfranchise us, we can push back through our work in yoga. Teaching yoga is an opportunity to show that freedom can exist anywhere, as long as there is freedom in the mind.
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Rachel Voss is a wellness advocate, entrepreneur, and seasoned program management professional with a passion for service and social impact. Known for her ability to handle complex projects, grants, and events, both in person and virtually, Rachel is committed to creating spaces that foster healing, connection, and growth. Her work as a yoga teacher highlights her belief in the power of representation and the importance of culturally relevant wellness practices. Recently becoming an empty nester, Rachel decided to enroll in the Master of Science in Yoga Therapy at Notre Dame University of Maryland. She currently lives in Atlanta, GA.
