Heart Mountain
Prison Project

Personal Stories

The story of Heart Mountain’s new audio tape of their booklet, "Doing Your Time with Peace of Mind: A Meditation Manual for Prisoners," as recounted by Amy Davis (please contact us if you would like to obtain tapes).

My name is Amy Davis. I am a teacher in a correctional center. I have been meditating for many years. I follow the meditation techniques taught by Paramahansa Yogananda, the founder of Self-Realization Fellowship and author of "Autobiography of a Yogi."

For many years I knew that meditation in prisons would be beneficial. I contacted Self-Realization Fellowship to ask if they had a prison meditation outreach program of some kind. The nun with whom I spoke said that they did not, but she directed me to the Human Kindness Foundation. She told me that the book by Bo Lozoff, "We’re All Doing Time," was a written for people in prison who were interested in a meditative practice.

After contacting the Foundation, I read their book. Great book! For many years, I would tell the men who expressed an interest in meditation to send for it. I still do.

Now the chain of events gets foggy. Somehow, I got a copy of Heart Mountain’s yellow booklet. The step-by-step methods are clear and concise. I very much liked the Centering Prayer style of meditation. The Kindness Meditation stood out as something that would be very useful.

I have sent this booklet to friends who are not in prison. They liked its step-by-step style. As Bo Lozoff’s book title states, "We are all doing time."

As a teacher in prison, I know that many men and women in the prison system cannot read. I was troubled by this. Even though a person cannot read does not mean she cannot benefit from meditating.

I had been in touch for a while via email with Doug Booth when I needed more booklets. In one message, I asked if he had considered putting it on audio tape. Now the coolest thing happened. Doug said that would be great and would I like to do it. The coolness of this is that I am a person who, if someone makes a suggestion, I ask them how they would like to help implement it. Most people want to make suggestions and let someone else carry them out. I am a firm believer in, "If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem."

So when Doug asked me, I said, "Yes!" How could I hesitate? I suggested and he put the ball back in my park. I loved it! Then I realized, now I had to do it. I had no idea what to do next.

To loosely paraphrase the quote by W.H. Murray of the Scottish Himalayan Expedition, when one commits to a venture, unforeseen events and material assistance come along to help.

I was telling a very good friend of mine, Dave, about the project. I said that I was going to look for some place to get this done. Dave said that he could do it. He said he had all the equipment to do the recording. I knew he was very hi-tech, but did not know he could do this!

Now this long story gets short. Dave volunteered his services, I read the book aloud, and now it is becoming a tape.

Many thanks to:
Doug Booth
Sarah Noss
David Fell, Producer Phase Shift www.phaseshift.com