Trauma-Sensitive Yoga at Tarrengower Prison

Enabled by generous donations to our Community Wellbeing Fund, our team piloted a 7-week Trauma-Sensitive Yoga program for women at Tarrengower Prison. We are currently seeking funds to continue this initiative.

“I have felt at a loss the last few days, like I have needed something but unsure what and don’t feel like a full on counselling session. Coming here has felt like it’s met what I was looking for. I feel a lot better.”

- Participant, Tarrengower Prison

Our Partner

Tarrengower Prison is a minimum-security prison for women in Victoria, located 136km north of Melbourne. Prior to Collective Being’s engagement, there were no trauma-informed movement or mindfulness offerings onsite.

The Program

  • We piloted a 7-week Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TSY) program, with the intention to support women incarcerated at Tarrengower with stress relief and rest.

    TSY is an evidence-informed, modified approach to yoga that supports people to reconnect with their bodies in a safe and empowering way. Collective Being’s TSY approach integrates somatics, yoga-based movements and mindfulness practices.

    In our planning, our team considered the complexity of delivering a program that promotes agency and choice-making in a carceral setting.

  • All incarcerated women at Tarrengower were welcome. The pilot program had capacity for 8 participants per session.

    • Collective Being Facilitator, Hannah, led delivery of the program, supported by fellow team member Harry, and mentored by our Facilitation Team Manager.

      Hannah is an experienced social worker and trauma-informed somatics practitioner, with significant experience in carceral settings, including a therapeutic role at Tarrengower Prison.

      The program was co-designed with the Prison, and adapted continuously to work around complex environmental, carceral, and psycho-social conditions onsite.

The Outcomes

Our Community Wellbeing Fund meant that 25 women joined the pilot.

Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive and constructive, and our delivery team were grateful for the reflections, honesty, and requests of women joining the program.

Hannah and Harry adapted and adjusted the TSY program each week, and at the close of the 7-week pilot, had accumulated a deeper understanding of how this offering could work as an ongoing program at the prison.

Due to the recognised value of the program, an additional program is being planned at Tarrengower Prison for 2025. We are seeking funds to support its continuation on an ongoing basis beyond the next 8-week iteration.

What Participants Say

  • “I can’t rest anywhere else here, this space is a break from everything here. I feel tired and have a sore body with a lot of pain. It feels nice to come to this space.”

  • “I have felt at a loss the last few days, like I have needed something but unsure what and don’t feel like a full on counselling session. Coming here has felt like it’s met what I was looking for. I feel a lot better.”

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