I flew into Dubai to do a one on one interview with Dubai’s Prison warden about their new yoga training program. I managed to arrange the meeting in the lobby of one of the Luxury Hotels Dubai UAE has in order that the interview be comfortable and away from the Prison walls.

My interview was with the Managing Director of Central Jail. Apparently, Dubai Police are training prison inmates with yoga to help relieve the stress that build up from day to day and to aid them with a better outlook on their life and the world. Police authorities have organised several 10-day yoga training session for approximately 39 inmates on a volunteer basis. Most prisoners who have participated are drug addicts, inmates with chronic psychological disorders and some with insomnia were given special instructions and yoga techniques related to that disorder.

This project is the first of it’s kind being given to prison inmates in the Arab world. In India, most of the prisons there now have a 10-day Vipassana center where any inmate can volunteer to participate in. The studies show those inmates who have participated in a 10-day Vipassana do not have recidivism issues. I mention this to the Managing Director and he said that basically that is what their 10-day program is, it is Vipassana Meditation technique which is being taught. But, that the most interesting part about the program is that every prison guard, including himself had to first do the 10-day Vipassana. He then smiled and told me he was grateful to actually had the opportunity to participate, because he now knows what the true benefits are for all of his inmates. He told me it was a life-transforming experience and that he’s heard the same results from each prisoner who has gone through one 10-day session. Truly, this is whats needed in all prisons, not just in Dubai and in India.