Join Prison Yoga Project founder and director, James Fox, in his class in San Quentin Prison!

This video of a Prison Yoga Project class at San Quentin Prison was filmed by a crew of prisoners trained in videography and contains a one-hour asana practice and seven-minute introduction to yoga. The video is intended to be a companion to the book Yoga: A Path for Healing and Recovery.

The asana practice in this video is introductory, focusing on the fundamentals of hatha yoga: mindful awareness, conscious breathing, and meditative flows. The primary objective of this particular sequence is simple: to calm the mind and relieve the body of stress under chaotic and trauma-inducing living conditions. Although designed for use in prison, it is suitable as an introduction to yoga for anyone.

"This video took nearly three years to complete, and there were times when I doubted it would ever see light of day, in part because key members of the production team were either transferred to other prisons without notice or paroled. All prisoners participated voluntarily and the crew’s level of dedication to the project never wavered in spite of disruptions or delays in shooting and editing.

The filming techniques of  the crew are not highly refined by Hollywood standards, but the work is completely authentic and in my estimation, fully serviceable. Illustrations and artwork used in the video also were created by former PYP San Quentin students."

- James Fox
Founder/Director, Prison Yoga Project