Donate to The Light Inside
Donations to our organization, made in partnership with Meaning Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN: 83-1707308), are tax-deductible in accordance with applicable tax laws.
Our 2025 goals
REACH HUNDREDS MORE INCARCERATED PEOPLE
Train 300 incarcerated people in New York and North Dakota, in-person, on site, in New York City, Bismarck, Mandan and Jamestown.
ONGOING SUPPORT
Provide regular online follow-up meditation meetings for new trainees and those who’ve trained previously.
BUILD MORE RESEARCH
Grow our evaluation assessing the distress-to-wellbeing trajectory of incarcerated people who learn meditation and expand our evaluation to internal correction facility measurements such as disciplinary infraction rates.
EXPAND OUR REACH
Share our evaluation outcomes with other corrections institutions with the aim of expanding our programs to other correctional facilities.
Help us reach our fundraising goal of
$58,000
THE PROJECT
Two million adults are currently incarcerated in America–a staggering number equivalent to the fifth-largest city in the United States.
Statistically, the incidence of trauma in their childhoods and early lives, before they ever set foot in a correctional facility, is so high that researchers have suggested the collateral stress caused by that trauma paves the way to a prison sentence.
What if one thing could spark change?
Founded in 2021, The Light Inside works from the inside out to end stress, violence and disharmony within the prison system, easing the burden on those inside the system and empowering its stakeholders to facilitate lasting change, and ultimately reducing re-incarceration.
The Light Inside imagines a world where corrections facilities are no longer needed.
We work every day to make this vision a living reality by providing life-changing meditation training scientifically shown to release accumulated stress and facilitate the healing of trauma to incarcerated individuals, corrections officers, and staff.
Our vision is to standardize meditation training in all US correctional facilities.
Our programs are underway in NYC’s Rikers Island jail complex and the North Dakota prison system. More than 250 incarcerated people have benefitted from The Light Inside’s comprehensive on-site training. Many course participants report less stress reactivity and a growing sense of inner calm.
“I’ve meditated every day, twice a day since I learned. Anger and sadness comes up, but I let it come out of me. I’m going to keep going. I want to process these emotions.”
–Gerson, 30, Rikers Island detainee
“Day by day, I’ll meditate the stress away.” –Nydrique, 30, Rikers Island detainee
“Day by day, I’ll meditate the stress away.” –Nydrique, 30, Rikers Island detainee
“I feel like now I have a better way to control myself.” –Geovany, 23, Rikers Island detainee
“I feel like now I have a better way to control myself.” –Geovany, 23, Rikers Island detainee
“I’ve meditated every day, twice a day since I learned. Anger and sadness comes up, but I let it come out of me. I’m going to keep going. I want to process these emotions.” –Gerson, 30, Rikers Island detainee
“I’ve meditated every day, twice a day since I learned. Anger and sadness comes up, but I let it come out of me. I’m going to keep going. I want to process these emotions.” –Gerson, 30, Rikers Island detainee
The Light Inside has expanded its services to incarcerated women, men and corrections staff in the Midwestern United States.
Without tools to release the trauma, stress, and change, incarcerated people face an 80% chance of re-incarceration.
This never-ending cycle of recidivism comes at an annual cost of $55 billion to governments, or five times what’s allocated for nation-wide K-12 education. The national average cost of incarceration for one inmate is $65k/year, or $556k/year at Rikers Island in 2021.
1 in 100 Americans are currently incarcerated—but 100 out of 100 are affected by this unsustainable cycle:
Research shows one thing can spark change.
Science shows meditation has the power to help heal trauma and release accumulated stress, which we believe can break the cycle of re-incarceration and greatly reduce the suffering of those inside the system.
A mind and body free of stress and fatigue creates fundamental change on the human level, creating a safer and more harmonious environment at the system level.
The people who have completed The Light Inside’s training report the following effects and benefits:
Donate to The Light Inside
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A mind and body free of stress and fatigue creates fundamental change on the human level,
creating a safer and more harmonious environment at the system level.