Pháp Luân Info

The power of meditation reaches troubled teens

Inside a juvenile detention center you might not expect to find teenagers doing yoga, meditating, or doing breathing exercises. But in an unlikely pairing, Buddhist monks are helping troubled teens overcome their anger issues.

Locked up in juvenile detention. There's nothing liberating about it. But these teenagers are learning to set themselves free.

"Breathe out and in"

With the power of meditation.

"This is a way of regaining your freedom in a space that doesn't feel very free."

These visitors.. Are unlike anything *these* kids have seen on the streets: soft-spoken... Barefoot... Bald.

"It was pretty interesting. I didn't really think people like that were real."

"When I saw them walk through the door I was like whoa who are they?"

They are Buddhist monks. Sent by the Lineage Project which teaches yoga and mindfulness in detention centers.

While they might seem like unlikely models for kids like these, who are in trouble for violence, struggling with anger and aggression. The literal steps they teach -- seemed to reach the young offenders.

"Just aware of contact your feet are making with the ground."

"It can be calming even when we're angry. At least I'm walking. At least I'm walking. At least I'm walking.

"It was really interesting they taught me a lot about breathing exercises."

"I'm one of the people who gets frustrated a lot. I'm one of the people who will usually bang on things. Now that they taught me to walk around in circles and calm down."

Learning to savor the moment. The feeling of a foot on the ground. The texture of an almond.

"You know their families are a mess. They're not working things out in school so this gives them something they can be master of their body and their mind."

Some of the teens say if they knew these tricks before, they might not have ended up here in the first place.

"I was pressured, to the money I was making, it was my actions. If I were to breathe in and out and think before I act and say no this is not the right thing to do. I had a lot of good opportunities."

"My frustration is always gonna bring me into a place like this so if I don't realize what I'm doing on the outside I'm always gonna end up in a place like this."

"You gotta be mindful of your movements think before you act."