Yoga in Prison Project
History
The Santa Fe Community Yoga Center was founded by Michael Maitreya Hopp. By 2000, he partnered with Doug Booth to offer yoga classes via the Heart Mountain Prison Project. At its peak, the project operated in all eight of New Mexico’s state prisons, offering a combination of yoga and meditation classes. A highlight of their project was a two-day silent meditation led by the male inmates at Santa Rosa Correctional. Sadly, following Michael’s untimely passing in 2004, the project’s activities began to decline. Doug Booth continued efforts for a time, but eventually, the program ceased operations.
present day
Nearly 20 years after yoga was first introduced in New Mexico’s prisons, board member Phoenix Savage revitalized the Yoga In Prison Project in 2023. She initially secured a small contract through the Re-entry Division of the New Mexico Department of Corrections, delivering trauma-informed yoga, meditation, and mindfulness classes three times per week during two 8-week sessions at Springer Correctional Facility. However, this model proved unsustainable due to the facility’s distance—approximately 2.5 hours one way from Santa Fe.
In 2024, the project was restructured into a Peer-to-Peer training program. Under this new model, Savage conducted four training sessions ranging from six to nine weeks each. Female inmates received one-on-one weekly instruction in yoga, meditation, and mindfulness healing modalities. Later in the day, participants practiced together in a peer-led setting. High attrition typical within carceral environments—due to fluctuating schedules and competition for prison jobs—of the dozen women who began the trainings only five completed the training and have gone on to become Peer Instructors.
Presently there are several more in training that will conclude in June- bringing the total number of Peer instructors to eight with two being paroled later this year. By the end of Fiscal year 2025 Springer will have seven Peer Instructors actively leading classes for their fellow inmates, offering beginner yoga, chair yoga, and intermediate yoga sessions. Additionally, specialized meditation classes are provided for women in recovery. Upon parole, Peer Instructors have the opportunity to pursue full yoga teacher certification.
In 2024 alone, nearly 400 inmates at Springer Correctional Facility participated in peer-led yoga, meditation, and mindfulness classes. In January 2025, the Yoga In Prison Project expanded to the Central Correctional Facility in Las Lunas, New Mexico, where it now offers weekly guided meditation sessions for male inmates housed in the Geriatric and Convalescent ward.
call to action
Due to recent budget cuts, the Yoga In Prison Project is slated to close in June 2025.
It is not too late to SUPPORT the continuation of this transformative program.
https://givebutter.com/yogainprisons
inmate testamonials
“I have a sense of accomplishment every time my peers come to my class. To pass on the tools that can give anyone, especially in our situation, peace is a positive and worthwhile endeavor.”
“This program has helped me avoid confrontations multiple times, by either thinking about a meditation or being mindful of how I should approach a situation.”
“I sleep better, cut back on unhealthy behaviors, I treat myself kinder…the yoga program has invited me to see the world in a unique way and it’s been a very beautiful and lifechanging experience.”
“Meditation helps combat the waves of worry. And yoga helps our bodies heal from our past, enabling strength in our steps as we continue forward.”
media coverage
See our press page for media coverage about the Yoga in Prison Project.
contact
Project Manager
Phoenix Savage
