Penal & Drug Rehabilitation

Norway's Prisons of the Future

You can contact us at billdouglas@worldtaichiday.org for more information on Tai Chi & Qigong as penal rehab.

Tai Chi & Qigong Teachers as Societal Resources

Judges write creative sentences

People convicted of domestic violence or fighting by Municipal Judge Frances Gallegos in Santa Fe are often sentenced to a twice-a-week... anger-management class held in the courthouse lobby... offenders experience tai chi, meditation ... as a means of controlling rage. Gallegos calls her methods "therapeutic jurisprudence" and says she turned to the novel approach when she became dismayed by the number of repeat offenders returning to her courtroom. Read USA Today article...

Penal Rehabilitation

WorldTaiChiDay.org's and World Tai Chi & Qigong Day's work in Penal Rehabilitation was cited by the National Institute of Corrections in 2011

Bev Abela

Bev Abela, of Perth Australia's Tai Chi @ The Beach (Tai Chi & Chi Kung Teacher at the Bandyup Women's Prison in the Perth area) stands at Bandyup facility. Bev communicated with World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day founders for years about their experiences teaching in prisons, which became her first step on a journey that has changed the lives of many forever. Tai Chi @ The Beach owner, Bev Abela, gained approval to begin a groundbreaking Tai Chi program for this Australian Women's Prison.

NIC

The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Institute is headed by a Director appointed by the U.S. Attorney General. A 16-member Advisory Board, also appointed by the Attorney General, was established by the enabling legislation (Public Law 93-415) to provide policy direction to the Institute. NIC provides training, technical assistance, information services, and policy/program development assistance to federal, state, and local corrections agencies. Through cooperative agreements, we award funds to support our program initiatives.
We also provide leadership to influence correctional policies, practices, and operations nationwide in areas of emerging interest and concern to correctional executives and practitioners as well as public policymakers.

World Tai Chi & Qigong Day founders, Bill & Angela Douglas, have pioneered integrating Tai Chi and Qigong Meditation into penal rehabilitions programs in Kansas City's Jackson County Court system, and have taught or presented at various prisons including: Folsom Maximum Security Prison in California and the Kansas Topeka Correctional Facility for women, and have suppled Tai Chi and Qigong related books and DVDs to inmates and prison programs across the United States. As always, Bill & Angie and WorldTaiChiDay.org share their experiences and tactics they evolved to make it easier for Tai Chi and Qigong teachers worldwide to replicate the results of their efforts ... to realize the fruits of their labor without having to reinvente the wheel, so to speak.

Here you will find useful tips for . . .

  • Penal or Drug Rehab Professionals, can learn the benefits of starting a Tai Chi or Qigong program at your drug rehabilitation, or penal institution . . . and find local teacher contacts
  • Tai Chi or Qigong teachers can get ideas on approaching penal or drug rehab programs and institutions, and use these resources, to show why your services could be helpful additions to their programs
  • Why Tai Chi and Qigong can help reduce the recidivism rate for prisoners, and ease the stress of drug rehabilitation for users
  • Ways to incorporate Tai Chi and Qigong into your facility
  • No prison is going to allow the teaching of combat-focused Tai Chi. Your program has to be meditation and stress-relief focused, with ZERO martial applications. The goal is to create more calm and balanced inmates, not more lethal ones.
Kansas Prison

Folsom Maximum Security Prison

The new super max prison, added to Folsom in the nineteen eighties, is one of the most secure and most violent prisons in the United States. Since 1998 this has been the proving grounds for non martial practices. Nearly seven thousand men have learned and practice both Tai Chi Chih and sitting Qi Gong.
A small preliminary study has shown that men who have learned these practices are successful upon parole ninety four percent of the time. Other prison activities--such as education, religious and self help programs-- have a recidivism rate (the rate inmates return to prison for new crimes or parole violations) of seventy to eighty percent.
One would think these numbers would deserve greater scrutiny. Perhaps a University of California sponsored study.
Excerpt from "An End to Crime, Qi Gong in Corrections" by James K. Hecker, Tai Chi Chih Teacher
Click here, to read entire article . . .
Click here to read an article by World Tai Chi & Qigong Day founder, about his Tai Chi experience at Folsom Prison, and what he learned there . . .
Tai Chi science video by Professor at the University of California at Irvine research center. Also, a video on a "Tai Chi as Medicine" lecture series by Harvard Medical School Researchers in celebration of World Tai Chi & Qigong Day.

Linda Bowers (Tai Chi & Chi Kung Teacher at the Kansas Correctional Facility for Women) stands with her mother Nan Bowers, who goaded Linda into attending the very first event that started World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day, 8 years ago. Linda and Nan's curiosity about the Tai Chi event was the first step on a journey that has changed the lives of many forever. Read Linda's story.