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There has been a decrease in riots at a Kenyan prison after an experiment in so-called mindfulness, the assistant commissioner in charge of Naivasha prison has told the BBC.
Matthew Mutisya told our colleague Mercy Juma that the the prison has become easier to manage.
"We have fewer riots and attempted escapes. I can walk inside the prison without being armed. Many of them are less aggressive," he said.
Mindfulness - focusing on the present while calmly accepting your feelings, thoughts and sensations - is said to change the way people deal with their experiences. Its proponents say it can reduce stress and anxiety, help people to let go of what cannot be changed, and better manage their emotions.
One of the exercises our reporter saw involved participants - prisoners and guards - write down the emotion they would like to release, then come forward to set alight their papers and throw them in a metal bowl.
Dr Inmaculada Adarves-Yorno, a lecturer in leadership studies at the University of Exeter, pioneered the Naivasha programme. She says acceptance is one of the most important and difficult challenges.
"Accepting one's circumstances is not the same as not wanting change. Individuals can still work towards change even as they settle into an acceptance of who and where they are".
Read the whole story on the BBC News website.
