Adho mukha. Chaturanga. Uttanasana. These words are becoming part of the prison lingo in Argentina, thanks to a group of young yoga instructors who created the “Moksha – yoga in jail” project.
On a sunny day, you can hear phrases such as “hands to the center of the heart,” “open up your chests,” “now, cobra” and “exhale as you transition to crescent lunge” in the yard of the 48th Penitentiary Unit of the San Martín state prison in Buenos Aires. Following these instructions, 30 barefoot inmates with their eyes shut quietly try to imitate the poses that instructor Milagros Colombo gently demonstrates.
“During the two hours of class, you forget about your problems,” says Lucas Roldán, a 33-year-old inmate who has been in prison for the last eight years. “You feel free doing yoga; you leave the world.” Like him, 250 inmates participate in the yoga lessons that Moksha has organized since 2015 in two units of the San Martín prison, with the goal of transforming lives now and in the future. Thanks to yoga, Roldán feels calmer.
In general, levels of violence and unrest have decreased among the inmates who participate in the classes, markedly improving the atmosphere while promoting harmony and coexistence.
