In the I: Easing through Life-Storms

By teZa Lord

Narrator teZa Lord sets the stage that breath is the focus as she recounts what actually happened in this illustrated nonfiction narrative. A deadly force-4 hurricane's eye (of Charley, in 2004) is rampaging right toward the sequestered lives of stressed-out, extremely angry, over-crowded, incarcerated teenage girls. The story revolves around the inmates of ABG's (Academy of Bowling Green's) experiences, girls who've been sentenced to lengthy stays in jail for mental-health or drug-related repeat crimes. Set almost entirely in their remotely located facility in central Florida, Lord is compelled to reach out as a volunteer to teach these so-called "incorrigibles" after her own situation shifted negatively at home. Taking her lifelong skills of practicing yoga and meditation, Lord introduces ancient spiritual techniques to gangsta-rap loving "bad-girls" in lockup, those who volunteer each week for the yoga class. "I do this because you're just like I was, once," teZa repeatedly says. On paper called Empowerment Classes for the sake of government funding, we witness how in Lord's classes, she demonstrates the cultivation of self-empowerment in this most unlikely place, a State-sponsored institution, with its dangerous, ambivalent-to-consciousness population. "In the I" is a step-by-step exploration (each chapter diving into a different aspect) of expanded thinking: doing time doing yoga. "Miss T's yoga class" is where the girls learn they have (like everyone does) their own great source of inner power , their inner 'I'. The actual storm that Lord describes (Hurricane Charley) is a metaphor for the human condition of finding acceptance even in the middle of chaos and disappointment. Lord's work with hardcore repeat delinquents becomes a mirror of hope for all of today's angst-ridden society, many of whom are self-imprisoned by fear in a world filled with a barrage of very real conflicts.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0999312553
• ISBN13: 9780999312551
• Release Date: December 2017
• Publisher: Transcendent Publishing
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"