It’s an Inside Job: A Book, a New Beginning, and a Growing Movement in Sweden

We have some big news to share — and we’re taking a moment to celebrate.

Prison Yoga Project Scandinavia has officially launched our new website, and we now have formal nonprofit status in Sweden. This has been a long and sometimes challenging journey. Navigating the Swedish bureaucratic system as a grassroots organization working across justice, health, and social sectors has not been easy. But we made it — and we’re deeply grateful.

This moment marks more than an administrative milestone. It represents a new phase in our work: clearer structure, stronger foundations, and greater reach for the people and communities we serve.

And it couldn’t come at a more meaningful time.

A Book That Began on the Inside

At the heart of everything we do is our newly released book, It’s an Inside Job – Change from the Inside Out. This book did not begin as a publishing project. It began as a conversation.

Five years ago, inside Kumla Prison—one of Sweden’s highest-security facilities—men participating in trauma-informed yoga classes began asking questions:

What is yoga, really—and why does it work?
I can’t sleep. Is there something I can do with my body?
My stress reactions take over—how do I calm my nervous system?
What does yoga look like in other prisons, like San Quentin? What about Mexico?

Then someone said, “We should write a book. Gather all our questions in one place.” And that is exactly what happened.

It’s an Inside Job is co-created with incarcerated men, shaped by their questions, reflections, and lived experience. It brings together stories, accessible trauma theory, and simple body-based practices that can be used in everyday life—for anyone, regardless of age, gender, or background.

The book includes voices and experiences from prisons in Sweden, the United States (including San Quentin), and Mexico, and is enriched with rare, powerful images from inside prison yoga spaces—photographed by Robert Sturman, Baldur Bragason, Niklas Sandberg, André Alvez, and Linnea Viktoria Westerlund.

“We hope that you, who are reading this book, will receive as much help from these methods as we do here on the inside. And we hope to spread something positive into society—especially to children and young people, in a preventive way.”
— Participants, Kumla Prison

All proceeds from the book go directly back into our nonprofit work. It is currently being translated into English.

Why Prevention Matters to Us

Our primary focus in Scandinavia is prevention.

We believe that trauma-informed, body-based practices should be available before harm deepens, not only after crisis or incarceration. That’s why one of our main goals is to bring this book — and accompanying programs — to:

• Trauma-exposed youth across Scandinavia
• Prisons and youth detention facilities
• Reentry and post-release support programs

The book is designed to be readable, practical, and accessible — including for people who struggle with concentration, reading, or traditional therapy formats.

Programs on the Ground — and Growing

Alongside the book, our programs are actively growing.

We currently run a weekly trauma-informed yoga program for men in Norrköping, led by Fredrik Wretman, which has become a stable, trusted space for nervous system regulation, connection, and personal growth.

We also work with and train peer supporters — individuals with lived experience of criminality and incarceration — who now support others coming from similar backgrounds. This peer-led element is central to our approach: rehabilitation is more sustainable when it happens in relationship and recognition.

We are already seeing beautiful progress on the outside, with new programs and events in the works across Sweden, and plans to expand and collaborate with other countries over time.

What’s Next

This spring, we are embarking on a book release tour, sharing the story of It’s an Inside Job and the broader work of Prison Yoga Project Scandinavia with communities, institutions, and partners.

With our new nonprofit status and website in place, we are ready to deepen collaborations, expand access, and continue building trauma-informed pathways for prevention, recovery, and reentry.

Because real change doesn’t start with punishment or pressure.
It starts on the inside — in the body, in community, and in the belief that transformation is possible.