PHOENIX — The Arizona Juvenile Department of Corrections has opened a first-of-its-kind holistic healing studio inside the Adobe Mountain Campus, a juvenile detention facility, aimed at reducing recidivism.

The program, called ‘Art of Our Soul,’ brings trauma-informed yoga, breathwork, sound healing, and acrylic-pouring artwork inside the facility.

Founder Brandon Lee, a former broadcast journalist, first brought the studio to adult prisons in Arizona, where the approach reduced self-harm and disciplinary violations among inmates by up to 70-80%.

Doug Sargent, director of the Arizona Juvenile Department of Corrections, said the program has potential beyond Arizona.

“The goal is reduced recidivism, the goal is a safer campus, the programs that kids and stuff will face here will allow that healing,” Sargent said.

According to the National Institutes of Health, access to regular yoga, painting, or breathwork can help rewire the brain’s neural pathways and calm the central nervous system, helping shift the brain out of survival mode and rebuild areas responsible for emotional regulation.

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Lee left his broadcast news career of more than 20 years and spent eight months focused on his own breathwork with a shaman in Alaska before deciding to redirect his purpose to help others cope with their trauma.

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“There was no joy going into a behavioral health clinic, there was no joy going to therapy, our whole goal is to bring joy to mental health,” Lee said.

Each Art of Our Soul instructor was once incarcerated, which helps them connect more easily with the youth serving their sentences.

The identities of the young people in the facility cannot be disclosed, but one teen who has been at the facility for years shared this after just one short yoga session.

“I’ve been here for a while, this is the first time I’ve felt calm and at home. I feel like this is not a great place to be at, if you’re in a place like this. I believe in second chances. Everything happens for a reason. You learn from experiences like this, you really do,” the teen said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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