Stories From The Hall11 October 2005
Anecdotes From The Hall:Some Stories From The MBA
Gathered from the MBA Project’s Monthly Instructors Meetings
By MBA Board Member, Shamus Roller
1.Maurice was locked up in the maximum security unit at the Alameda County Juvenile Hall over one year ago. A constant source of disruption during our class in this unit, Maurice would curse at the unit staff, throw things at other participants, and on one occasion make threatening gestures to the MBA instructors (Jonathan and Isaiah). Removed from class by the Unit staff, we did not see him for several weeks (though we could hear him locked in his room, at one point trying (and then succeeding) to break down the door to his cell and inciting others to do the same. Then one Monday night, we found Maurice in class again. When we opened the class up to comments and questions (as we do each night), Maurice told us that he had been practicing “the nose breathing thing” (he was referring to analoma valoma, the ancient yogic practice of alternate nostril breathing used to calm the mind and release strong emotions – which we had taught several months earlier). We listened, in a bit of shock, at how he was using this technique to deal with his anger only the night before. Though often a source of disruption in that class, Maurice is now allowed by the staff to attend our class, and does so consistently.
2.Our Thursday night class in the girls unit at the Alameda County Juvenile Hall has been a major success story. One of the first classes we offered, this class had inauspicious beginnings. Imagine us trying to teach meditation on one side of the common area to 15 teenage girls who have just consumed a high-sugar nighttime snack, while on the other side of the room some girls are getting their hair done, still others having arguments with the staff over disciplinary issues. Gaining the trust of the girls and the staff was a slow process, but as we continued to show up week after week, many of the obstacles we faced began to disappear – even the hairdresser was eventually moved to another night. As the staff began to see how relaxed the girls were after we left, they went from feelings of indifference toward our program to meditation becoming their favorite activity. The girls quickly followed suit. It is now considered a ‘sacred’ hour in the life of the girls residing in that unit and our teachers (time permitting) are able to extend that class for an extra 30 minutes.
3.When we started this work we were a bit naïve. While we each knew the benefits of meditation in our own lives, we underestimated the task of ‘translating’ the profundity of these practices into the lives of these teenagers. Often times, we could feel ourselves ‘selling’ to the kids – and they knew it too, a recipe for failure. We’ve become more savvy ourselves, meeting them where they are – and in their words. If they want to think of meditation as a way to a ‘natural high’ so be it (we are always fielding questions about how meditating compares to ‘being high’) – that they are meditating and learning about themselves is the important thing. What we’ve realized is that our classes don’t have to be ‘pretty’ to be effective.
