Category: Self-Care in Prison

Managing Diabetes

by Julie Carney

From PHN Issue 33, Summer 2017

Diabetes is a group of diseases caused by too much sugar, or glucose, in the blood. Our bodies have a hormone, insulin, which is produced by our pancreas, that helps move glucose out of the blood and into our cells. In diabetes, less glucose enters into the cells, and instead it builds up in the blood, causing high blood sugar. In Type 1 diabetes, the body makes no insulin. In Type 2 diabetes, the body does not make enough insulin or can’t use it well. In Gestational diabetes, a person gets diabetes when they are pregnant, increasing their risk of Type 2 diabetes after the pregnancy. Continue reading “Managing Diabetes” →

Yoga for Beginners

by Alexandra S. Wimberly

From PHN Issue 33, Summer 2017

Have you ever tried yoga? Ever been curious about what yoga is or if it might be something that you would like to try? The following is a short introduction to yoga, along with a few yoga practices to try. One of the great things about yoga is that it can be practiced anywhere and needs no special equipment—just your mind, your body, and your attention. Continue reading “Yoga for Beginners” →

Safety and After-care for Prison Tattoos

By Tracey Hamilton

From PHN Issue 32, Spring 2017

The primary fear most people express about getting tattooed in prison is that they may contract the HIV virus, which may cause AIDS. HIV is only one of many viruses that can be transmitted. Syphilis, tuberculosis, strep, staph, and hepatitis are just a few of the other diseases to take into consideration. Continue reading “Safety and After-care for Prison Tattoos” →

Polluted Prisons: When the building you live in is bad for your health

by Suzy Subways

From PHN Issue 32, Spring 2017

Flint, Michigan residents and Native Americans at Standing Rock, North Dakota are demanding that their drinking water be protected from chemical poisons. The world has begun to hear their words: “Water is Life.” People in prison are speaking up too. Continue reading “Polluted Prisons: When the building you live in is bad for your health” →

Understanding and Taking Control of Your High Blood Pressure

By Priyanka Anand

From PHN Issue 31, Winter 2017

Most people have heard of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. Maybe the doctor has told you that you have high blood pressure. About 30 percent of adults in the United States have high blood pressure. Continue reading “Understanding and Taking Control of Your High Blood Pressure” →

Some of the World’s Greatest Minds Are in Prison

by Bobby Bostic

From PHN Issue 29, Summer 2016

Prison is a place where you can find scholars of every kind. The system can lock up a person’s body, but they can’t incarcerate our minds. Right here, we have some of the world’s greatest minds. We have scientists, mathematicians, and preachers. In fact, many of you have excelled in the most difficult of all politics—prison politics. These politics can get really messy. But people in here network to make things happen on scales great and small. We must continue to apply ourselves and not settle for a label that society has placed on us. Continue reading “Some of the World’s Greatest Minds Are in Prison” →

Writing to Heal

By Lucy Gleysteen

From PHN Issue 29, Summer 2016

Painful emotions can sometimes feel unmanageable. If you are feeling an emotional crisis and don’t have someone to reach out to, you may want to shift your emotional state to something that feels more tolerable. Writing can act as one of the building blocks towards creating a degree of emotional safety for yourself. Continue reading “Writing to Heal” →

Finding Solace

By Thomas Michael Simmons, IPE

From PHN Issue 29, Summer 2016

Grief is a normal and natural experience that often involves powerful feelings—a reaction to significant emotional loss. Traumas such as catastrophic illness, job loss, divorce, abuse, harassment, amputation, injury, rape, and death of a loved one can trigger a process that brings intense anguish. Despite its inevitability, most are unprepared for its roller coaster ride of shock, anxiety, isolation, numbness, confusion, depression, anger, sadness, irritability, and sense of emptiness. Concentration is lost, eating and sleeping patterns shot. A world once familiar is now foreign and hostile to us. Yet, tomorrow still comes. Continue reading “Finding Solace” →