"Healing is happening here on a very different level, beyond talking."
Bill Brown serves as the director of programming, publishing, and advocacy for the Prison Yoga Project, where he works closely with incarcerated individuals and program facilitators to create spaces for healing and connection. Driven by a belief in the intrinsic goodness of people, Bill is committed to fostering environments where individuals can rediscover their authentic selves beyond the labels and circumstances imposed upon them. His greatest inspiration comes from witnessing the resilience and compassion of those he serves and the transformative power of community rooted in empathy and trust.
The Prison Yoga Project (PYP) began with a simple idea: that healing and rehabilitation should be at the heart of justice. In 2002, James Fox was facilitating emotional intelligence classes at San Quentin State Prison when he noticed how profoundly disconnected his participants seemed from their bodies. Recognizing the trauma underlying much of the behavior leading to incarceration, he introduced trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness practices as a pathway toward self-awareness, emotional regulation, and accountability. Following the publication of his book, Yoga: A Path for Healing and Recovery (2010), James began leading trainings across the United States and internationally, inspiring a movement that has since grown into an organization with a global presence.
Today, PYP supports incarcerated individuals and people working within the criminal justice system worldwide, advocating for a shift from punitive systems to those rooted in compassion and rehabilitation. International research examining PYP and other related programs has demonstrated a host of benefits for justice-involved juveniles and adults.
How did the Prison Yoga Project (PYP) come to be?
Bill Brown: PYP was founded out of a recognition that our justice system is built on a punitive model rather than a healing one. For all people involved, the punitive model creates more harm than it prevents. Many of the people who end up incarcerated have experienced significant trauma, and traditional approaches don’t address the root causes of their behavior. We saw an opportunity to bring trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness into prisons as a tool for self-regulation, personal insight, victim impact awareness, healing, and rehabilitation.
What do you see as the greatest strength of bringing yoga to incarcerated communities? What makes this approach unique?
Bill Brown: Yoga creates a unique environment for healing—one that doesn’t rely on words or therapy sessions alone. One participant told us, “Healing is happening here on a very different level, beyond talking.” In a prison setting, where individuals are often armored up both physically and emotionally, the simple act of taking off your boots, lying down, and breathing together allows for vulnerability and connection. It’s a radical departure from the carceral environment and creates a space of community where deep healing can happen organically.
We strive to create optimal conditions for post-traumatic growth. Yoga is a tool for moving beyond the ways we have been shaped by our experiences through punishment and reward so that we can discover a more authentic expression of self. In the case of most incarcerated individuals, there is a deep disconnect between the mind and the body, and an elevated degree of stress that becomes embedded within the soma. It is challenging to address “mental health” from a cognitive perspective when one’s body is in a trauma response—so we start there. When someone is in crisis, we offer self-regulation tools to calm down one’s physiology. Beyond that, we work to create a supportive environment where individuals can learn how to repair relationships in a safe community setting.
What is the role of mindfulness and self-regulation in this work?
Bill Brown: Our approach integrates somatic practices—body-based interventions—to help individuals regulate their nervous systems in real time. Many incarcerated individuals are stuck in a state of chronic stress. Traditional cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) groups, which focus on thinking patterns, often don’t reach people who are physiologically dysregulated. We need to start with the body. By teaching simple movement and breathwork practices, we help individuals discharge built-up energy and cultivate resilience. When we start with this, other approaches to rehabilitation are more effective.
This also goes beyond the incarcerated people—everyone involved in incarceration is subject to a highly dysregulating environment. To facilitate a systems-wide change, we have trained mental health staff to facilitate these somatic micropractices, and also intend to expand this kind of training to other people working within the system, including correctional staff, parole and probation officers, public defenders, and others.
What does a typical yoga session look like in the prisons?
Bill Brown: Bringing together a group of people who have experienced high degrees of trauma requires a nuanced approach—these individuals exist in an environment of baseline distrust. We open our sessions by doing a simple practice together that emphasizes bringing mindfulness to the body and recognizing the state of one’s physiology. We transition between embodying postures that stimulate a stress response in the body, and then moving toward neutrality to bring about a relaxation response. Smoothly leaning in and out of activation/disengagement of stress responses in this way can create greater flexibility within the nervous system. By the end, we “lean out” of stress and our bodies naturally drop into a state of deeper relaxation. Our participants report being awake, calm, and present. When we do this as a group we create a profound field of coregulation—what may look like a group of 30-50 men lying in a circle with their eyes closed and boots off is actually the foundation for radical healing. Beyond movement, yoga is about connecting with people in a compassionate and empathetic way, taking personal responsibility, and recognizing that a history of harm can be transformed to a future of trust.
Incarcerated people practice yoga at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, where Bill Brown leads Prison Yoga Project programs. Photos by Flavio Scorsatto.
What role does yoga play in rehabilitation and reentry?
Bill Brown: Yoga helps individuals develop self-awareness, emotional regulation, and resilience—all of which are critical for successful reentry. Many participants have shared that yoga prevented them from taking their own lives, and some have even gone on to become yoga teachers or community leaders after release. The impact extends beyond personal transformation; it fosters accountability, empathy, and trust, which are key elements of successful reintegration into society.
What has changed programmatically at PYP over the last few years?
Bill Brown: We’ve developed a structured curriculum that goes beyond just offering trauma-informed yoga classes. We now have a Yoga and Mindfulness Immersion Program, with a workbook and study guides that we’re working to implement in different facilities. We’ve been developing content for digital platforms, such as Edovo, to make these resources more accessible for a greater number of prisons. We’ve expanded the services and training we offer to people working within the system. And we’ve been training an increasing number of peer-facilitators.
What challenges do you face in expanding your work?
Bill Brown: There is little funding devoted to providing rehabilitative programming for incarcerated people, despite rehabilitation being a part of the mission of most administrations. WIth 90% of people who are incarcerated returning to their community, rehabilitation should be the primary focus of incarceration. We know that community based organizations (CBO) are the most effective providers of rehabilitative programs. Yet in a state like California, where we spend more than $100,000 a year to incarcerate a person, just a few hundred dollars a year are allocated to providing programming through CBOs.
PYPs model is replicable and cost-effective with proven outcomes. We know there is a high demand for our programming based on the waitlists we see at almost all of our program locations. While we strive to be innovative to reduce the cost of how we provide solutions without more funding, we will not be able to scale to meet the tremendous demand we know exists.
We, as a society, need a cultural shift in how we approach crime, substance use, and mental health disorders. We need to let go of the idea that punishment alone will change a person’s behavior and we need to embrace an approach that favors healing over punishment. The punitive approach is not working; our terrible recidivism rate makes that clear. It’s time we fund restorative justice programs that emphasize healing and rehabilitation and measure the results of that approach. I am confident we’ll see better outcomes at a fraction of the cost.
How does the prison environment impact both incarcerated individuals and staff?
Bill Brown: Prisons are overwhelmingly stressful environments—not just for those incarcerated, but for the staff as well. The life expectancy of correctional officers is significantly lower than the general population due to chronic stress, leading to heart disease, diabetes, suicide, and substance abuse. I always notice the “suicide prevention” posters that are hung up around staff offices—what if we actually created an environment rooted in healing rather than waiting until a crisis to guide one toward emergency intervention? These environments consist of grey concrete and safety yellow—they are drab and desolate, lacking greenery, texture, or color.
The rigid, hierarchical structure of the systems exacerbates these issues, making it difficult to implement wellness initiatives. We continue to advocate for a shift in culture from a top-down, punitive approach to one that fosters healing. We strive to collapse hierarchies and address the deeply entrenched power dynamics within these systems.
Could you share some inspiring anecdotes that have emerged from your work?
Bill Brown: We’ve seen remarkable transformations. One participant who had spent years in solitary confinement told us that imagining a group practicing yoga together kept him sane. In solitary, he had acquired a copy of PYP Founder James Fox’s book, Yoga: A Path for Healing and Recovery. When he finally joined a class in person, he was overwhelmed with gratitude. Another one of my participants is clear that if he had not found our yoga program, he would have taken his life. He credits yoga for breaking the spell and building community, and is now one of PYP’s greatest champions. Others have taken what they learned inside and are now bringing the power of yoga and mindfulness to their communities.
What compelled you to immerse yourself in this work? How does what you witness in the prison system play out on a broader scale?
Bill Brown: The way we approach justice is a reflection of our society—when I look at the absurdity of what is happening in prisons, I can’t not want to do something about it. The punitive approach to behavioral control that exists throughout our culture tries to create conformity through punishment and coercion, or through extrinsic reward—the opposite of punishment. There is little that supports the development of intrinsic motivation for social good, yet this is what I believe people are when they are allowed and encouraged to be—intrinsically good. This suppression of the individual human spirit is immensely impactful—yoga is about uncovering this essential human spirit. It asks us, “Who am I outside of the ways that I have been shaped by family, community members, social/cultural expectations?”
The potential for transformation with PYP’s work is enormous—but in an environment where healing is not valued and punishment is the societal solution, it is challenging to convince the masses that real healing is the solution. In America, we incarcerate people at nearly seven times the rate of nations similar to ours. The horrors of the prison system provide a microcosm for how we treat one another in the free world. It really makes me wonder how, on a global scale, we could create a mutually supportive world.
What inspires you most about the experiences you have had working in prisons?
Bill Brown: Witnessing the deep commitment of incarcerated individuals to their own healing and the healing of others is incredibly moving. Many men in our programs express more compassion and dedication to their own well-being than people on the outside. I am consistently inspired by not only this commitment to their own well-being, but to that of their fellow men as well—this is just not how men typically relate. Being in community with them fills me up and provides a sense of deep purpose and direction in my life. I am able to see firsthand this enormous potential for transformation—not just for individuals, but for our society as a whole. If healing can happen in the most unlikely of places, imagine what’s possible if we prioritize healing over punishment on a larger scale.
Beyond the connections, what I witness and learn about in the prisons makes me question how I might be able to collapse power structures in my own life so that my relationships are more mutually supportive rather than hierarchical and power based. I am so moved by how those that are incarcerated are able to maintain openness in the face of so much struggle, how they turn toward the worst of it and transform pain into a genuine desire to help others when they are released. Seeing this resilience is profound—more than half have an eye toward community service when they emerge. That inspires me.
What’s next for PYP?
Bill Brown: We’re focused on expanding our reach through digital content, structured curricula, and new partnerships. We’re also working on a graphic novel and curriculum for youth that we’re really excited about. Ultimately, we want to create a system that values rehabilitation and healing over punishment, and we’re committed to finding innovative ways to make that vision a reality.
Incarcerated people practice yoga at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, where Bill Brown leads Prison Yoga Project programs. Photos by Flavio Scorsatto.
This interview is part of the Nova Institute for Health’s Insight Collaborative for Mental Well-Being project. The Insight Collaborative is supported by a generous seed grant from the Mental Insight Foundation.
Responses
@ari-mays thanks so much for sharing this remarkable interview!
Huge thanks to @arimays and @billbrown for sharing – such inspirational work!
amazing story – thank you for sharing this and for being dedicated to the PYP purpose