I tried it with students back in the 80s. The fundamentalist community didn't like it.I used it with gifted students. My principal called me up on it and made me stop.
They used visualization with uOttawa's Terry Orlick and the Olympic athletes.
When I taught creative writing at the minimum security Beaver Creek institution, I used it with the inmates. No one interfered there!
They are now using it with inmates in medium security.
What is totally ironic, is the I took classes in it and while I can lead silent meditation, I cannot sit still long enough to relax! It's so sad!
Not very often does one mention yoga, zazen, the Catholic Church and the prison system in the same context. Unless, of course, you're talking about Sister Elaine MacInnes, Catholic nun, Zen Roshi and founder of Freeing the Human Spirit, an organization that brings yoga and meditation to inmates in prison.
This article is the first in a series entitled Doing Good, Doing Yoga that tracks the public service efforts of members of Toronto's yoga, meditation and wellness community, as they apply their practice for the benefit of others.
Sister Elaine MacInnes is a Catholic Nun and a Zen Roshi trained in Japan and fully accredited by the Sanbo Kyodan lineage of Kamakura.
Theresa Redmond, was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal on December 17. She joins Sister Elaine in this great honour! Theresa was nominated by Marnie Johnstone, Director General, Regional Operations. Theresa and Sister Elaine met during a raging snowstorm in Ottawa on a Saturday afternoon, and the rest is history. She has created an amazing group of volunteers.
• Since 2005 Theresa has helped run a local branch of "Freeing the Human Spirit" for female detainees at the Ottawa Regional Detention Centre. This organization offers woman tools to make their lives better through the teachings of meditation and yoga.
