Meditation & Gratitude: Keys to Adjusting to Life After Prison

Helping Your Loved One Begin Their New Life

The process of readjusting to life after prison generally begins with finding housing, health services and employment. Just as important are reestablishing loving and supportive relationships with friends and family members.

Once the basic necessities are in place, we can support our loved one in beginning to navigate the mental-emotional challenges that are likely to arise. We can help them learn how to skillfully relate to difficult thoughts or emotions—and maintain a positive outlook.

We can share simple tools designed specifically to turn the mind into an ally. The first of these is something that may surprise you.

The Profound Benefits Of A Simple Smile

Most of us consider smiling to be something that expresses happiness. We smile when we're already happy. And this is true.

But did you know that smiling can also create happiness? A variety of scientific studies have established that the simple act of smiling actually catalyzes potent chemical reactions in the brain that can make us feel happier.

When we smile, hormones such as serotonin and dopamine are released—which reduces stress and increases feelings of happiness. Smiling also strengthens the immune system and lowers blood pressure.

In short, smiling can trick your brain into believing that you're happy—which then creates the chemical changes associated with actually feeling happy. It's a brilliant "fake it until you make it" strategy, which has been shown to actually work!

What's more, smiling (as you've probably noticed) tends to be contagious—and there's a scientific reason for this. The brain contains mirror neurons that mirror what is perceived externally. When you smile at someone, their mirror neurons reproduce the effects of a smile—which makes them feel better too. The good feelings of a smile share themselves naturally, enhancing relationships. 

Action step #1: Make smiling a habit. It doesn't have to be anything extreme: a simple, gentle smile—maintained for a minute or two, whenever you think of it—is perfect.

Practice Gratitude & Positive Thinking

Setting aside some time each day to contemplate the things that we are grateful for is a wonderful way of initiating an attitude adjustment: a shift in outlook that can provide an empowering emotional boost. 

An abundance of scientific studies have shown how gratitude improves physical, mental and emotional health. Feeling grateful supports healthy relationships. It improves both physical and psychological health. It enhances empathy and reduces aggression. It increases mental strength, improves self-esteem, and even helps you sleep better.

Encouraging your loved one to keep a gratitude journal, or to pause periodically throughout the day to find something that, in that moment, they're grateful for—is a powerful way of supporting their transition. It can also become a sweet nighttime practice: something they do right before bed.

Action step #2: Before going to sleep at night, think of ten things that you're grateful for, in your life right now. If you'd like, write them down in a journal, that you keep especially for this purpose. This will help you create the habit of seeing the glass as half-full rather than half-empty—and (like smiling) initiate the release of feel-good hormones that nourish and energize your body and mind. 

Connect With Inner Peace, Joy & Wisdom

The benefits of meditation are many, and extremely well-documented. Some of these scientifically verified physical, mental and emotional benefits of a regular meditation practice include:

• Enhanced vitality
• Relaxation and stress relief
• Deeper and more restful sleep
• Increased mental clarity and intelligence
• Improved powers of concentration
• Expanded insight and creativity
• Deepening equanimity and compassion

Most importantly, a meditation practice helps us connect with a source of inner peace, joy, wisdom and freedom—that is entirely independent of external circumstances. When we're rooted in this kind of indestructible peace and joy, our ability to skillfully navigate our lives is greatly enhanced.

So encouraging your loved one to make meditation a daily habit—is a great gift.

Action step #3: Cultivate a meditation practice. Commit to sitting quietly for 15-20 minutes every day (or every other day, to start). During this time simply allow your body and mind to rest—while remaining vibrantly awake and alert. This is the essence of meditation. If it helps you to settle, you can bring your attention to the movement of your breath: simply observing the inhalations and exhalations, and feeling the breath in your body. For additional support, check out the Unified Mindfulness Home Practice Program, which offers guided instruction via teleconference.

Supporting A Smooth Transition

Each of these practices—smiling, keeping a gratitude journal, and meditating—are simple yet profoundly powerful habits, that can help your loved one navigate the inevitable bumps and detours on their journey to creating a fulfilling new life. 

Questions or comments? Please feel free to contact us.