The S.B. Questionnaire: Ginny Kuhn
Talking Mindfulness and Healing with the Founder of Prison Yoga Santa Barbara
“My offering to them is to remember what it feels to be in their body,” says Ginny Kuhn, founder of Prison Yoga Santa Barbara (PYSB). “It’s a skill set that is useful to them while they’re in prison, being cognizant of their thoughts and feelings, and it’s something that is useful to them when they get out.”
PYSB is the only agency providing yoga and mindfulness training to incarcerated youth and adults in Santa Barbara County. “This population comes from trauma, and going [into jail] and doing something that over-stimulates the system is not healing,” Ginny explains. “They’re disassociated from their feelings and their bodies.”
Kuhn believes meditation and yoga is an inexpensive form of rehabilitation, an effective way to increase successful re-entry to the regular population and reduce relapse. The nonprofit PYSB works entirely as a volunteer organization and has established strong connections with its partner facilities, including the Santa Barbara County Jail and Los Prietos Boys Camp.
