Leanne Wood
Hundreds of women are singing, crying and dancing…others sit mesmerized at the band before them. The lead singer yells out, "Are you ready to go deep?" to a sea of "Yes!" and claps of approval….this petite woman then says, "Then everyone needs to get up!" As the crowd rises, a few people on the periphery begin to circle…This might be the most amazing concert you'll ever experience, but you can't buy a ticket to this particular show. In fact, what it took for these women to get a private concert is something most people don't ever want to think about…this captive audience is serving time in jail. Those people circling with wary gazes are all guards nervous about a bunch of inmates jumping up and moving around. This woman who has everyone entranced is Larisa Stow. She and her band Shakti Tribe regularly perform their powerful blend of kirtan (devotional call and response), chant and uplifting music on the chant music scene. Larisa is so fond of quoting Gandhi's expression "Be the change you wish to see in the world" that she realized the time had come to see how they could make a difference in bigger ways. They looked to the segments of society that might really need to hear their messages of unconditional love, peace and hope that might not otherwise have the opportunity. Those who could really be inspired and transformed through the tools of music, mantra and yoga practice. They looked to people who have made mistakes…to those whom society wants to throw away for being bad. The reality is that every person behind bars is serving time for committing a crime that might range from writing bad checks, drug possession to assault with a deadly weapon. An even bigger reality for those of us who spend their lives on the outside is that everyone in jail is getting out and 85% serving time in a prison are getting out at some point too. Ignoring this segment of society just isn't a good plan in the long run for our communities. Jails are harsh, violent, sad and often hopeless places. And yet these women weren't at all what I thought they would be like. They were friendly, open, eager, silly, and so hungry for whatever it was that band wanted to give them. Oh I had one guard tell me to get away from the women when I strolled out amongst them-they might "jump me" in an instant he said-but I didn't feel like we were in harm's way. If anything, I felt these women just embraced us and wanted us to feel safe. Well o.k. a lot of these women looked like they'd led hard lives, and it probably wasn't the 1st time they'd ended up serving time. Initially the whole jail thing seemed to make all of us a bit nervous, probably due to our own perceptions of what inmates would be like…and also the fact that the guards made us set up in front of the guard station marked off by a thin red line…our "safety zone" supposedly. Apparently the inmates know they can't cross that line so we should have been perfectly safe there. Comforting thought. It wasn't until our coordinator Sergeant Zempel told us to ignore the guards telling us to stay behind the line-our ability to interact with the inmates was our choice and about our own comfort level. He'd never experienced any inmate attempting to hurt a volunteer-quite the contrary. We all collectively relaxed at that point and "crossed the line" to talk to the women.
They were all given a sheet of Sanskrit mantras and kirtan with their meanings in English, and the large majority of them sang along with a lot of gusto. The sheets held a dual purpose-to sing during the concert but also to leave something behind for them to use as a tool if they wished. The concepts of mantra practice, meditation and focused intention were introduced to them, and all of the mantras chosen focused on transformation, abundance, higher guidance, and relaxation. Also included was a song written in English by Larisa called Bloom which is about completely surrendering to faith when times seem dark and holding to the belief that we are all "born to bloom." I watched many of the women carefully fold the paper and place it in their pockets. The song sheet was taken as a gift being given to them. One woman said that she appreciates everything now that it's all been taken away …
We are all deeply touched by these women. Their need for love and approval was so tangible it brought tears to all of our eyes. Their joy, hope, pain, and anger were all there jumbled together too. At one point, Larisa talked about the journey to become the butterfly. She offered the thought that their time in jail can be related to the time the caterpillar takes in its cocoon to transform and re-emerge as the magnificent miracle that is the butterfly…that while they've made mistakes, it doesn't define who they are …they are all miracles here to give a gift that only they can give…they can view jail as a time to go deep and find the special piece only they have to contribute to the world once released… like the butterfly who fights its way out of the cocoon and succeeds, finds a stronger life once free of the shell. The women sat very still…many eyes welled and spilt over. I saw several women offer a supportive hug or rub another's back in comfort. For too many of these women, the notion of being valuable was clearly a new thought.
Too soon this concert ended, the women shuffled back to their cells and watched us through their tiny cell windows as we packed up and left.
This story recounts Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe's 1st experience going into a facility. Since that concert in early 2007, they've gone into maximum security facilities, several men's jails and raised monies for orphanages in Thailand and Bali. In June 2007, the non-profit Shakti Tribe Foundation was established to help facilitate and expand more of this transformational work through donations and grants. The ability to open someone's heart, connect them to their self-worth, and instill a desire to be the very best they can be in this life can happen in a moment. The Shakti Tribe Foundation's goals in the coming months are to expand this work into more facilities where people are at a crossroads in their lives and to return to these facilities to anchor in this empowered way of being in the world by leading workshops on sound healing, mantra & yoga practice. You can find out more about Larisa, Shakti Tribe and their foundation by visiting www.shaktitribe.com.
Leanne Wood is Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe's manager, the co-director of their non-profit Shakti Tribe Foundation and the co-founder of Sacred Sounds Radio www.SacredSoundsRadio.com, a website and internet radio station dedicated to the "Yoga for your Ears" genre of music.