Yoga returning to Clarenville Correctional Centre

The St. John's Women's Centre is bringing yoga back to women doing time at the Newfoundland and Labrador Correctional Centre for Women in Clarenville. 

The program was offered at the province's only facility for female prisoners last year, and the women asked if it could be offered again.

Co-ordinator Sheila Ryan said the women loved doing yoga — even if the setting isn't ideal. 

"It was fantastic! Was it the ideal yoga setup? Absolutely not. I mean, most times you go into yoga programs there's a nice quiet room and the lighting is low and all that. But you work with what you've got," Ryan said.

Ryan said yoga in prison can help the women rehabilitate, and prepare for putting their lives back together when they're released. 

She said women in the penal system with addiction issues or who have lost their children to the system are judged "quite harshly." 

"It's very, very hard to get out and pick up the pieces and start all over again when you've probably lost all the supports around you," she said.

Yoga instructor Lorrie McLachlan said women entering the correctional centre experience a loss of control in their life that they're struggling with.

"I believe that by having them on the mat and giving them control over their bodies and having them make choices is allowing them to cultivate their own sense of personal power." she said