Changing from Inside (DVD)

Winner of a 2000 NCCD PASS Award of the American National Council on Crime and Delinquency. This is a compelling account of an intensive pilot meditation program for inmates at a minimum security jail near Seattle, Washington. Under the guidance of both community volunteers and facility staff members, seven women inmates undertake ten days of total silence. They practice an ancient meditation technique called Vipassana for ten hours each day, delving ever deeper into themselves to understand and ultimately master the nature of their behaviors and compulsions. In the end, they are transformed by their inward journey and come away with tools to maintain that transformation. Changing from Inside also chronicles the personal and professional journey of the articulate, determined facility director, Lucia Meijer, as she rallies her staff to this new and unconventional program. Candid interviews among prison staff reveal a range of reactions, from interest to skepticism. However, the results prove an inspiration, leaving the facility transformed, as well. DVD-NTSC 44 minutes Also available in VHS video tape with Spanish subtitles Vipassana meditation in prisons.