Mindfulness and healing for life inside and out with Sounds True Foundation and Edovo

Some days it feels like too much.

Like you’re moving through fog, holding it together on the outside while something quietly unravels within. Your body is tired. Your mind won’t slow down. There’s a weight you can’t name—but it’s there, pressing on your chest when the world gets quiet.

Maybe it’s grief. Maybe it’s fear. Maybe it’s just the sheer effort of staying strong when no one sees the cost.

Some pain shouts—sudden and sharp. Other pain lingers—soft, quiet, and so familiar it feels like part of you.

But all of it is real. This could be your story. It could be your neighbor’s. It could be the story of someone you love.

Or it could belong to someone who is incarcerated—surrounded by people, yet aching with loneliness. Living in a place where trust feels risky, where softness is unsafe, where the lights never dim and silence is rare. Where privacy is a privilege, grief is swallowed, and every day asks you to shrink your feelings just to stay safe.

Trauma doesn’t always crash in like a wave.
Sometimes it settles in slowly, layer by layer, over years of bracing for what comes next.

And still…somewhere deep inside, beyond the noise, beyond the numbness…the capacity to heal remains. Quiet. Waiting. Possible.

And for the more than two million people incarcerated in the U.S., trauma isn’t just part of the past. It’s baked into the present.

But here’s the hope: healing is possible—even in prison.

Beyond the sentence: Reclaiming dignity through healing 

At Edovo, we believe every person deserves access to education, healing, and personal growth—no matter where they live, or what they’ve lived through. That’s why we’re honored to partner with the Sounds True Foundation, whose mission is to make transformational wisdom teachings widely accessible.

Together, we’re bringing powerful, trauma-informed content to correctional facilities across the U.S.—so that learners can access the tools of mindfulness, self-compassion, and spiritual growth right from a tablet, even inside a cell.

This partnership is more than a content drop. It’s a declaration:
You are worthy of healing. You are more than what happened to you.

Evidence-backed healing from today’s most trusted voices

This is more than a few mindfulness resources—it’s a sanctuary of wisdom. They’re trauma-informed, research-rooted experiences—delivered by leading voices in psychology, neuroscience, attachment theory, somatics, and contemplative practice.

Carefully selected for incarcerated people, these resources address the layered realities of trauma, grief, identity, and resilience. They're accessible, inclusive, and rigorously grounded in evidence.

Learners now have access to over 75 groundbreaking resources from leading authors such as:

• Dr. Richard Schwartz, founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS), offering grounded strategies to heal inner wounds and access the Self as a source of calm and strength
  
  
• Diane Poole Heller, expert in attachment trauma, illuminating how early relationships shape present-day patterns—and how to begin healing them
  
  
• Dr. Lisa Wimberger, founder of Neurosculpting®, combining neuroplasticity and meditation to help Learners rewire stress responses
  
  
• Ram Dass, spiritual teacher and Harvard psychologist, reflecting on aging, dying, and the deeper nature of self
  
  
• Dr. Catherine Shainberg, mind-body imagery expert, guiding pregnant and postpartum Learners through healing with DreamBirth®
  
  
• Damien Echols, spiritual teacher and author, drawing from his wrongful incarceration to share powerful practices in magick, mindfulness, and personal transformation rooted in Zen and ceremonial tradition

This is a multidisciplinary library grounded in:

• Neuroscience and neuroplasticity
  
• Polyvagal theory and nervous system regulation
  
• Internal Family Systems (IFS) and parts work
  
• Attachment and trauma research
  
• Somatic and contemplative therapies
  
• Depth psychology and archetypal meaning-making
  
• Mindfulness and meditation science
  
• Grief, loss, and end-of-life care
  
• Creative and imagery-based healing practices
  
• Relational psychology and communication repair
  
• Culturally inclusive, LGBTQ+, Indigenous, and intergenerational healing frameworks

For someone navigating incarceration—often with decades of unprocessed pain—this content isn’t just education. It’s a daily reminder:

You are still worthy. You are still whole. You still have the power to heal.

Why it matters

• 62% of people in jail and 49% of those in prison live with a diagnosed mental illness (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2022)

That’s not just a statistic—it’s a mirror reflecting thousands of people waking up each day to anxiety that never settles, depression that dulls every interaction, and trauma flashbacks that feel like war zones in the mind. And most are navigating this with little to no therapeutic support.

• The average incarcerated person has lived through four or more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) (CDC-Kaiser ACE Study)

That means childhoods filled with abuse, neglect, violence, and instability—what researchers call “toxic stress.” At this level, trauma doesn’t just change how someone feels. It literally rewires the brain. It leaves scars that impact attention, impulse control, emotion regulation, and long-term health. These aren’t "bad choices." These are often survival adaptations.

• 95% of people behind bars will return to our communities (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

They’ll be sitting on the bus next to you. Working jobs. Raising children. Trying to rebuild their lives. The question isn’t if they’ll come home—it’s whether they’ll return with tools that support healing, or wounds that keep reopening.

When we offer space to heal inside, we strengthen every family, every neighborhood, and every community on the outside.

This work isn’t extra.

It’s essential.

For families and friends: Connect through healing

Want to talk to your loved one about this content? Here are a few gentle, meaningful questions you can ask:

• What was one idea from the audio that stuck with you this week?
  
  
• Did anything surprise you about how you responded to the practice?
  
  
• Is there a moment from your past that feels different now, after doing that reflection?
  
  
• Would you want to try doing a breathing practice together during our next call or visit?
  
  

You don’t have to have all the answers. Just being present—and holding space for your loved one’s healing—is powerful.

For correctional staff: Fostering a culture of care

Your role matters.

When you encourage participation in this content, you’re not just supporting a program—you’re offering dignity.

Here are a few ways to help:

• Ask if they’ve explored any of the Sounds True Foundation courses on Edovo
  
  
• Offer time or quiet space to engage with mindfulness content
  
  
• Acknowledge the effort it takes to begin this kind of healing journey inside
  
  

You don’t have to be a therapist to make a difference. Sometimes, all it takes is recognizing the human behind the ID badge or the DOC number.

Access outside the walls

Want to explore this content for yourself? Or share it with others on the outside?

You can find many of the full-length courses and teachings at the Sounds True website.

The gist of it all

Healing isn’t linear. It’s not always visible. And it’s definitely not always easy.

But with the right tools, practiced over time, people can—and do—change.
Not just how they act, but how they live. How they connect. How they see themselves.

Thanks to this partnership, incarcerated learners can now access the very tools many of us turn to in our hardest seasons.

Because everyone deserves the chance to come home to themselves.

References

• Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2022). Indicators of Mental Health Problems Reported by Prisoners and Jail Inmates. Retrieved from https://bjs.ojp.gov
  
  
• Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., et al. (1998). Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258.
  
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html
  
  

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2018). Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 30 States: Patterns from 2005 to 2010. Retrieved from https://bjs.ojp.gov