Anneke Lucas

Anneke Lucas (born 1963 in Belgium) is the Executive Director of Liberation Prison Yoga, a nonprofit in the state of New York. She founded the organization in 2014 to provide trauma-sensitive yoga and meditation instruction for male, female and young inmates of correctional institutions in the state, including Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women and Rikers Island. Her approach is influenced by what she learned practicing yoga and meditation that helped her heal from the physical and psychological effects of six years in the child sex trafficking trade. It is also based on scientific findings, early experiences as a yoga instructor, and having been director for the Prison Yoga Project.
Early life
Lucas was born in Belgium. Lucas studied screenwriting at the American Film Institute Conservatory from 1990 to 1992.
Practicing yoga and early career
In Los Angeles, Lucas began practicing yoga, and she began meditating with the Self-Realization Fellowship, an organization founded by Paramahansa Yogananda. Ashtanga yoga appealed to her as a means to release the trauma from her body and treat injuries she sustained as a young girl. Also, the prison system environment is not conducive to self-improvement.
To fill the gap, volunteer-led organizations offer services to inmates, such as yoga, which Lucas has found to be the best modality for healing. This is based upon her experience of recovery as a sex-trafficking survivor. Studies have shown that prisoners who practice yoga become more inclined to reflection, mindfulness and patience, and experience reduced stress.
Correctional facilities and residences
Beginning in 2010, Lucas taught meditation and yoga at Bayview Women’s Correctional Facility in Chelsea, Manhattan. In 2013, Lucas opened classes at the Rose M. Singer Center, the Woman’s Jail at Riker’s Island, and are put on medication. The programs include yoga and, sometimes, writing and discussion exercises designed to build personal empowerment.
, there are 30 weekly programs and also kicks-off and attends classes for new instructors during a transitional period. The program also offers pre-natal yoga for pregnant women at Riker's Island.
For Lucas, providing "service-yoga" to inmates facilitates healing, improves levels of happiness for both parties, and reduces recidivism. Lucas states that the practice is one where the instructor and receiver "share love and understanding", an experience she learned from practicing yoga. She leads groups of survivors of sex trafficking at the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers Island.

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