With the COVID19 pandemic restricting people’s movement, Isha Foundation offered Yoga sessions for inmates in central prisons across Tamil Nadu through online mode.
The sessions were conducted in central prisons in Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy, Vellore, Salem, Cuddalore, Palayankottai and in special prisons for women in July, August and September. 8,165 men and 3,453 women inmates as well as 3,018 men and 953 women prison workers participated, taking the total attendance to 15,589.
The practices included ‘Simha Kriya’ to increase their lung capacity and overall immunity; and ‘Isha Kriya’ and ‘Yoga Namaskar’ for physical and mental wellbeing and to bring a sense of balance in their system.
As per the government’s guidelines, proper protocols were followed to ensure social distancing. The participants were split into groups for their sessions.
Isha Foundation has been offering Yoga, free of cost, to prisoners in the state of Tamil Nadu for the last 20 years.