The Parinaama Prison Project (Fundacion Parinaama) is a totally voluntary effort by yoga teachers of several different traditions (including Iyengar, Anusara, Vini Yoga, Ashtanga, Power Yoga and Kundalini) mostly from Mexico City, Cuautla, Cuernavaca and surrounding areas (in Morelos) which is dedicated to taking Hatha Yoga, Meditation, Pranayama, Body Mind and Stress Management tools behind Mexican prison bars.
It has survived now without financing of any kind other than the odd donation for the last ten years. It was started during Easter in 2003, by Ann Moxey, Anusara Certified Instructor with a training in Vini Yoga and original trainings with Iyengar teachers.
In 2011 Ann started a Yoga Teacher Training for the inmates in the Men’s prison, which continues to this day and was attended initially by two female yoga participants from the Women’s prison until they went free. Five ex inmates are currently working as yoga teachers, some of them in Juvenile Detention/Reform Centers.
The two prisons are situated in Atlacholoaya in the state of Morelos, about two hours from Mexico City, twenty minutes from the city of Cuernavaca. The total prison population is around 2500. Fundacion Parinaama estimates that over a thousand five hundred inmates have attended the classes its members have offered. In the Men’s prison attendance is between 60 to 30 inmates at once. The Women’s prison yoga attendance is currently at about 15. The prison was considered a “model” prison when it was inaugurated in the 90’s but its installations have seriously deteriorated since then.
The Parinaama Prison Project proposes a complete change of paradigm: replacing the present War against Drugs with Drug Prevention Programs . Parinaama Yoga is a registered school which runs a 200 hour Teacher Training in Stress Management and Yoga for Addictions / Prevention. It targets yoga teachers who already hold a Certification or Psychologists/Medical Professionals interested in learning yoga tools to complement the work they already do.
Parinaama has served as inspiration to teach behind bars in Queretaro, Puebla, Toluca, San Miguel Allende, Morelia, Chihuahua, as well as Mexico City and abroad, in Costa Rica’s San Jose prison, and Argentina’s prisons in Tucuman, La Plata, Mar del Plata, and Buenos Aires.
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