How much do yoga classes cost the prison?

The prison or secure establishment must fund the class. The rate is up to the prison and the teacher to negotiate. We suggest you pay your yoga teacher whatever you’d pay an external teacher coming in to do adult education classes. Contact us if you want to know about the sources we know of which other prisons use to fund their classes.

How do I know my prisoners will get anything out of classes?

We can come and do a free taster workshop for you so you can assess the response and see if this will fit into your regime. We offer this chance for your prisoners and staff to try out the benefits of yoga and meditation without further obligation. Get in touch and we can send you a workshop proposal document.

Can you still help if we don’t have budget for a class?

Yes we can. While a yoga class with a qualified teacher is the best way to experience yoga and meditation, we also send free books and CDs to prisoners and prison staff who request them. We have a programme on National Prison Radio three times a week, and a column in each month’s Inside Time. You can purchase a bulk quantity of books or CDs at cost price. If there are other ways you think we might be able to support your rehabilitative aims, we are happy to talk through those ideas with you.
We are happy to come and do a taster workshop, even if you do not have funding in place.

How can I build a case for funding?

There are published research papers on the effectiveness of yoga and meditation in prison, as well as other evidence, collected here. You can also contact us to discuss this – our staff have extensive experience of seeking funding within the prison system, so we can help you put together a business case if that is needed. Finally, we can point you to successful classes in nearby prisons.

Can you do a staff class as well?

You bet! We recognise the hard and demanding work prison officers and other staff do, and know that yoga and meditation are effective for stress management. So we are happy to offer staff classes as well. For prison managers a regular staff yoga session is a proactive and cost effective way of demonstrating the importance of staff wellbeing. If a yoga teacher is already on site for a prisoners’ class, staff classes can be very cost effective and easily integrated into the lunch period or other suitable time.

I’m from a secure hospital/IRC/approved premises, can you help there as well?

While we often use “prison” as shorthand, we also work in the secure settings listed above in the UK and Ireland. Contact us to talk about this if you’re not sure you fall within our remit.

Why should I work with the PPT rather than arranging a class on my own?

We will pick an appropriate teacher for your class, and offer them training on understanding the prison environment (eg security, boundaries and addiction). We offer ongoing support to the class, available to both the teacher and the prison, helping resolve any issues as they arise. As well as this, we provide free support to the prisoners who attend the classes through books and CDs and ongoing correspondence, even after they’re released.