SPIRITUAL BALM: Yoga class at a correction centre, Pennsylvania

The 80 inmates-all lifers-of two facilities of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PDC), spent four days last month following a considerably different and new routine. Following the instructions of a swarthy man with a flowing grey beard, long hair and a modest headgear, the curious group went through the basic steps of the spiritual and physical exercise that marks sahaja sthiti yoga. Even as they went through the body-contorting yoga regimen, they were also taken through the paces of the spiritual aspects of the ancient Indian practice. At the end of those four days, many of the inmates stood transformed, some even churning out a passionate poem or two.

Their instructor Jaggi Vasudev was more than pleased: he had successfully implemented the pro-totype he had developed while working with the inmates in state prisons in Tamil Nadu since 1992. The experiment started with Coimbatore prisons and was then incorporated in all the jails throughout the state. Sahaja sthithi yoga, says Vasudev, is one that can be easily integrated into a daily routine. "It means attaining yoga through one's natural self. It is a programme that is structured and taught by a realised master to experience the unity of mind, body and energy," he said during a break from another programme he was conducting for the general populace at Princeton, New Jersey.

The initial experiment, held at the correction centres of the PDC, will now be repeated at the Luther Luckett Correctional complex in LaGrange, Kentucky. Officials at the Pennsylvania centre say that the authorities are looking to try it out in 24 other correction centres. "We have recommended it and it is now up to the superintendent and the inmates. The programme is entirely voluntary," says an official.

Prison life in USA is extremely challenging with two million of the 277 million US population behind bars. While in India, 13 out of every 100,000 people are imprisoned, the number is 420 in America. "The cause of an offence differs in India and the US. While in India crimes are often committed out of passion and anger sparked by say property disputes, it is entirely different in the US. Also, a lifer never gets parole. Hence the pressure on the inmates is enormous," says Vasudev.

The sahaja sthiti yoga programme focuses on the inner transformation of the person which would help the inmates develop emotional and mental balance. "The success of our programme rests on a scientifically proved fact: that emotional states have a biological-chemical basis-if a person transforms his inner chemistry, his behaviour will naturally change," explains Vasudev.

American prison officials are hoping to see these results. Betty Kassulke, a former warden of Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in La Grange who was instrumental in securing approval for the upcoming programme, says, "If I were still managing a prison and had the power to make choices about new programmes I would be excited about this one."

Curiously, Vasudev's success in spreading yoga in correction facilities in the US comes at a time when the rest of the country is already agog about the ancient Indian practice. In fact, institutes have sprouted across the country as Americans try to come to terms with the stress they face accruing from their fast-paced lifestyles. As Vasudev puts it: "There are all kinds of prisoners. Many of us are prisoners of our minds."

-Anil Padmanabhan in New Jersey