How Art of Soulmaking Changed My View of Life and My Incarceration

by Jeffrey Yasmine

My name is Jeffrey Yasmine and I am from South Carolina, Lexington, South Carolina to be exact, which is a small town outside the capital city of Columbia. I am currently serving a ten-year sentence at Broad River Correctional Facility. To sum up what got me here is ten years of struggling with pain, fear, and resentment, and covering them up with the addiction and self-destructive behaviors that earned me the sentence.

However, ironically, I am now thankful for my time, believe it or not, as it has given rise to my rebirth and a new beginning. All thanks given to God and to The Art of Soulmaking! The program embarked me on a transformative journey of self-discovery, healing, and personal growth. Through self-inquiry, meditation, and yoga, I ultimately restored my dignity and unleashed my inner potential.

In the beginning, the morning practices helped me clear my mind of all destructive clutter, giving me clarity and concentration, opening up the grounds for new thought processes and positive outlook to fill the void, and allowing me to realize myself by shifting my consciousness entirely and rooting it in my overall goodness. I then got in touch with my inner beliefs and core values. I noticed what I have to offer others—the love and the trust that both currently exist and that I was capable of receiving and exuding, all the while learning not to seek approval. I gained the courage to share my life with others and to genuinely support them. Jeffrey Yasmine is a participant of the Art of Soulmaking program. He loves the practices that Art of Soulmaking have brought into his life and continues to shape how he experiences his sentence.

This showed me the destructiveness and futility of living in the grasps of the drama/victim triangle and taught me ways to overcome it and live in the observation triangle for fostering healthy relationships. My relationships have changed dramatically with my wife and kids. They’ve repeatedly said how they’ve noticed how loving and kind I’ve become and constantly tell me how proud they are of me for coming such a long way. Things that would not have been possible without this course.

I was brought to be able to accept my harmful emotions, such as pain, fear, resentment, etc., and turn them into love and compassion towards others and myself, finding forgiveness for all in my heart and implementing these traits into my daily life.

More importantly, I learned to be able to forgive myself, especially through the Soul Letters. They not only allowed me to identify what the others did to me, but the hurt and immense damage I caused myself, thus allowing me to forgive, love, and finally heal myself from this hurt.

This course did truly change my perspective on my incarceration as stated earlier. It allowed and will continue to allow me to utilize this prison as a place and time of great change and positive transformation, giving rise and room for the person I’ve become, the person I will continue to become, the person I was created to be!

I give my most sincere appreciation to those who created this program and those who support and maintain it. Please continue giving what y’all have so that many others may experience it.

Finally, to those who feel lost and are unsure of themselves, or are trapped in negativity and harmful behaviors and are seeking release from the entanglement of their destruction and society: Many paths lie in front of you, but no matter where you are, this is the “path to unconditional freedom.” Follow and never look back! You won’t regret it.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Yasmine
Broad River Correctional Institution, South Carolina

Jeffrey Yasmine is a participant of The Art of Soulmaking program. He loves the practices that The Art of Soulmaking have brought into his life and continues to shape how he experiences his sentence.