Breathe Smart – a Scandinavian Success Story
Breathe Smart is a comprehensive program of personal development and social rehabilitation focussed on youth. It began in Denmark and combines the Art of Living’s Non-Aggression Program (NAP) and Prison Smart Program and has achieved remarkable success with participants. We work with juvenile offenders, juvenile ex-offenders, juvenile drug addicts, and socially troubled juveniles. Many of the program’s graduates have developed so much that they are now volunteers supporting their local community.
Denmark ’s judicial system has recognized the effectiveness of the courses, and instead of sending juvenile offenders to prison, courts may now officially order them to undergo the Prison (Juvenile) Program.
See the special Report on the Breathe Smart program.
Program Coordinators
Jakob Lund
is the Director of the SMART programs in Scandinavia: Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. He is an instructor of marshal arts and specialises in conducting courses inside and outside prison for persons who have problems with drugs, crime and violent behaviour as well as for prison staff, psychologists, social workers and other people involved professionally in this area. He has also runs several programs in Morocco. In his home in Holte he has set up a treatment centre for marginalized youngsters using meditation, marshal art, social support work together with the SMART courses.
During the last 5 years, besides monthly courses for marginalized youth, Jakob has conducted programs for:
- Inmates in The Governmental Prison of Horserød, Governmental Prison of Ringe and The Lysholmgaard Prison Pension
- The DAC school of Copenhagen educating Addictions Counselors
- Staff of the Prison and Probation service in Copenhagen
Other state-sector employees have been taking the courses as well, particularly those working in related fields: social counsellors, social workers and the police.
Talks
Jakob Lund has given many public talks in Denmark on drug abuse, violence and criminality in the society, including:
- Prison and Probation service in the city of Ballerup, Helsingør, Hillerød and København
- Public municipal centers of Lyngby, Hørsholm and Hillerød
- Treatments center for drug abuse in Søllerød and Lyngby
- Alcohol ambulatories in Copenhagen
- Rotary Club of Søllerød
In cooperation with project coordinator Marie Louise Jørgensen from the Department of Justice, Jakob Lund has been running a seminar concerning how to deal with drugs, criminal and violent behaviour in the Roma community in Prague.
Helle Balsby
An MA in philosophy and psychology, she has worked for 4 years as an academic researcher in drug abuse. She is also a boxing instructor and conducts courses together with Jakob and alone in the same area also with youngster with drug problems (15-18 years). Furthermore she is working together with Jakob in the treatment centre.
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