Since 1984, when the Brahma Kumaris began working in prisons, they have worked with prisoners in nearly 30 different establishments. The service offered has been either directly through workshops and courses, or indirectly through correspondence learning systems.

As the number of requests for materials has increased, the University has responded by updating the Raja Yoga Meditation course, which has been available for many years and further editing other materials into a distance learning format. Materials for a self – esteem course are currently being piloted with a small group of prisoners.

Other course materials that that are to be formatted for distance learning will include:

• Personal Values Development
• Positive Thinking

For information on the distance
learning packs, contact pris@uk.bkwsu.org

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The following quote is from Brian, HMP Kingston:

“I took the Correspondence Course in Practical Meditation. I was amazed about my feelings of what I was reading. It made so much sense. I began to learn how to allow my mind to clear, become calmer, less frustrated and to gradually accept who I was as a person. Many people that know me quite well began to tell me that I had changed, that my body language was much more at ease and I was less intense.

Over a period of years, with the help and knowledge given by Raja Yoga, I have been able to quite naturally adjust myself in a way I think and react. I have also learnt that the ability to do this lies within. What Raja Yoga Meditation has done is to offer me the tools and opportunity to look at myself in a balanced way, to respect myself and those around me.

I have learned that I need time to myself, without the pressure of my previous needs at a time when my life was out of balance. (Now that) I am far more balanced, my outlook is quite different. Nothing is intense. I allow myself the time to relax, to reflect upon the day and my reactions. Raja Yoga Meditation has allowed me to have a calm, cool and clear mind and an ability to step away from a situation and see it and others from a different perspective.

My views, thoughts and outlook have certainly changed in the last couple of years, an experience I put down to applying what I have learnt through meditation. It has been a form (of meditation) that I found/find acceptable without being overbearing.”