Opening the door for Calmness and Emotional Healing with Open Heart Meditation – Behind the Walls of Medan Women’s Prison
At the women’s correctional facility in Medan—Rutan Perempuan Kelas IIA—life is regimented, heavy with routine, and often laced with unspoken sorrow. Within those walls, time can feel stagnant. Emotions are tucked away. Regret sits quietly in corners. Yet in recent months, something unexpected began unfolding—not in headlines or through policy, but heart by heart.
This heartfelt movement began through Open Heart for Everyone, a community initiative of Natural Way of Living that offers Open Heart Meditation free of charge to the public. This time, the public included incarcerated women and young people—individuals often overlooked but no less in need of connection, calm, and healing.
“We didn’t go there to teach or fix,” says Dewi Wijaya, a member of the team in Medan who spoke with us as the representative for this collective effort. “We simply came with our hearts open. Because behind the silence of many inmates, we felt there was pain, exhaustion, and deep wounds—things that cannot be reached by words, but can be touched when the heart is opened to True Source—a universal way we refer to the Creator, regardless of religion or belief system.”
The Open Heart for Everyone group from Medan conducted six Open Heart Meditation sessions at the women’s prison, followed by three maintenance sessions requested by the facility itself. In total, over 300 female inmates have taken part. Their efforts also extended to LPKA Medan, a juvenile correctional facility, where 200 young people participated across two visits—each visit consisting of two sessions.
These sessions are prepared with care: visits to understand the space, coordination with the facility, and prayer before and after each session. Members of Open Heart for Everyone take time to reflect and refine their approach—guided not by protocol but by sincerity.
What happens in the sessions isn’t always visible in the traditional sense. There are no dramatic gestures. Just a calm, shared space. “The atmosphere changes,” Dewi recalls. “Some cried. Others sat in still reflection. There was calmness—something sacred. Some said they felt loved for the first time in years. Some felt regret. Others, a sense of peace. Many felt the presence of True Source again. Some even said, ‘We just feel happier… simply happy being in True Source Love’”
According to feedback from officers, the shift was not only internal. “Before the sessions, things were tense—arguments, restlessness,” one staff member noted. “Afterward, the environment felt more peaceful. The women became calmer.”
For the volunteers themselves, the experience has left a lasting mark. “We became more grateful,” Dewi shares. “To see someone reconnect with their heart, to witness even a moment of emotional healing, is something we carry with us long after we leave.”
When asked why Open Heart Meditation should be brought into prison, Dewi doesn’t hesitate: “Because through the heart, we are connected to True Source. When one heart heals, that love flows outward. Even one open heart can become the beginning of peace.”
No grand gestures. No headlines. Just a room full of people—some once forgotten—sitting calmly, allowing their hearts to open and experience happiness from being loved by True Source. That is where emotional healing begins.
