My name is Paul. When I was in jail, yoga and meditation with The Prison Phoenix Trust became my best friend. It got me through some real struggles and now I want to give something back. I'm training to do a 30-minute headstand at the Om Yoga Show to raise money for the charity that helps people in prison find real change through meditation and yoga. Please sponsor me to help The Prison Phoenix Trust in the brilliant work they do. I hope my story will inspire others.

My story

I knew I was going into prison for a long time and you never know if you’re going to make it through the system. I wrote to The Prison Phoenix Trust in desperation because I couldn’t speak to my family about how I was feeling because they were going through their own nightmare. I couldn’t speak to fellow prisoners because they look at showing any emotion as a weakness, so I reached out to the PPT.

The first thing was a letter from The PPT because it opened a door for me to express my inner fears and feelings. I cried in my writings. It brought me out and gave me an inner strength. I was doing it through the letters and then I received the books and CDs and I would religiously get up at 5 o clock in the morning, do my yoga sequence from the CD and meditation until knock up at 7am.

What yoga and meditation gave me was a best friend. I could go into my cell and sit there for hours and release everything through my breathing. It still does, to this day. It’s a major coping mechanism.

I ended up doing all my yoga qualifications and teaching prisoners and teaching prison staff. I watched people gain confidence in themselves. Kids that were worried about going into the gym I would go and do breathing techniques with them. I’ve watched people come off drugs, helped by yoga and meditation. By the time I was released I’d taught about 3,000 yoga lessons to prisoners throughout the jail.

Towards the end of my sentence I was allowed out to go to yoga studios. I would go three times a week, clean it from top to bottom. The studio owner taught me a lot and eventually I got to teach classes there.

When I was in jail someone asked me if I would continue to teach when I got out. I replied that if I never taught a session again it wouldn’t bother me because what it’s done for me in jail has given me enough. It’s become my best friend. In jail you need that. It’s something they can’t take away from you. They can’t take away that inner strength.

If I see someone that is hurting, or struggling, I like to reach out. I’ve struggled a real lot myself. This is my passion. It carried me and it’s still carrying me now.

It took a long time to adjust back into society. I’m now four years down the line. At age 66, I ask what do I want from life? The answer is, I want to wake up every morning with just my yoga mat and me. You can’t beat that peace. It’s a hard world. Yoga and meditation won’t change that, but it gives you an inner strength.