Lockdown at Old Folsom

From Judy Tretheway’s web log

A message from Chaplain West that there would be no programs greeted me at the gate. Using the time to check up on my Brown Card (my ID pass), I went to the personnel office. I called him and then went inside the prison to his chapel office to get the paperwork and use the down time to see who I might meet along the way.

Inside by the showers, I saw RR, one of the my students who had sat with Swami Rishi. He was still so grateful for his presence and spoke of how he was practicing a slowing–down-the-breath technique he had been taught. When speaking about the effects of the Tai Chi Chih, he said he feels like he is so relaxed, all he wants to do is sleep. I suggested that perhaps that was a stage that he would pass through, and that if it was his intention to learn how to be at ease and relaxed while remaining oriented to what was happening around him, the chi would teach him that as well. He expects to be transferred soon and promised to do what he could at his new prison.

Before I reached the Chapel, I stood with Coach, a recreational staff member who I have gotten to know over the years. He told me of the challenges ahead for the summer as we stood looking out over a yard filled only with the Blacks. Tomorrow just the Whites would be let out. There is a great deal of tension and all along my walk inside I hear talk which discourages me. He said that as of June 30, smoking will no longer be allowed anywhere in the prison, and while the guards and staff can get access to nicotine patches, the inmates will not, everyone is expecting a rough withdrawal time.

Speaking with Chaplain West, he shared with me the frustrations of the “lifers” and “long-termers” who are the foundation of the chapel programs. They, he said, are despairing over the ‘knuckleheadedness” of the newly arrived level 3 inmates and the upheaval on the yard as they struggle for authority over the yard. A new busload was being unloaded as I arrived.

The next week, on B Yard, I got in early, coming in with the changing of the guards … quite a different world to be in the middle of all their conversations. Interest in class was way down. Whether or not this is do to a break in the momentum, having missed last week, or the others had their curiosity satisfied and chose not to come.

Don’t quite know what was wrong with the locks on the chapel, but we tried three sets of keys, had the sergeant and guards helping and eventually gave up and they allowed me to use the education classroom. A cluttered room full of desks, but we pushed them back and made it work for the 45 minutes we had left.

There was nothing I could do about any of these things, except pull back and give space for a solution to arise, to pull back from judging the number of students. Pull back, sink into the chi and find how the flow was this day, in this place … And see if a bit of harmony might be cultivated within the situation.

J. and J. were eager and J. had been studying Justin Stone’s picture book and had a good idea about each of the moves. So I decided that we would experiment with practicing the whole set through one time, so that he could get a kinesthetic feel for what he had been studying in the book. I was amazed at how well they did. And they were amazed at how peaceful they felt when finished, even being the first time for most of the movements.

Amazing chi, amazing Tai Chi Chih, amazing journey.

* * *

Cleaning through my materials I take in and out of prison, I found this note that an inmate had anonymously left for me. —Judy Tretheway

The T’ai Chi Chih class is an unexpected island oasis
with enchanted mystical tropical rain drops
in a sea of sometimes negativity and conflict.

It is a joyous calming event
that reduces stress
and allows for peaceful centering
of positive life force energy.