Centre in Korea providing busy, stressed out and frazzled Koreans a chance at tranquility and self-reflection.
Hongcheon, South Korea – Jong Hwa-nam was looking up holiday destinations for her summer break when she came across a week-long meditation programme offered by Prison Inside Me.
Instead of going on a vacation, the 50-year-old signed up for a programme because he felt “it was for me”.
“Strangely, I always had this animosity and distrust of people. They were unpleasant feelings,” Jong told Al Jazeera at the centre in Hongcheon, about 100km from the capital Seoul.
“After self-reflection here, I came to the conclusion that animosity and distrust can easily be eradicated, and that we are the same people, pursuing the same values.”
Prison Inside Me was launched in 2008 by Kwon Yong-seok, a former prosecutor who used to work 100 hours a week who could not stop working even though he was “very tired”.
“I was exhausted physically and mentally but I wasn’t brave enough to quit my job. I didn’t know what to do with my life,” said Kwon.
“Then I thought about being in solitary confinement for a week. Deciding where I should go next would become a bit clearer with no cigarettes, drinks, human relations, a boss and stressful work. And that’s how I came up with the idea of Prison Inside Me.”
More than 2,000 people have checked into Prison Inside Me over the years. Programmes range from 24-hour stays to week-long ones. Patrons have included office workers, students, corporate bosses and stay-at-home mothers.
They spend their time in one of the 28 cells. There are spiritual group activities and a guidebook. But most of the time spent at the centre is in confinement in a room with a diary, yoga mat and a panic button. South Korea’s working habit
In 2017, the average South Korean spent around 2,024 hours working, the third-highest among members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
It was the most overworked nation in Asia with 300 more hours on average than the US.
In order to improve work-life balance, South Korea cut its working hours from 68 to 52 a week in July this year.
