Anthony Cotton/CPR News Traci Lundstrom conducting a yoga class at the Boulder County Jail.

Traci Lundstrom teaches yoga classes in Boulder—at the County Jail.

Lundstrom has volunteered at the Boulder County Jail for about six years. But she just recently started collecting data from her sessions with female inmates there. She hopes to determine the effects of yoga on women, both while they're behind bars and after they're released.

Preliminary results have shown that the women who participate in the yoga program are better equipped to handle stress. They also exhibit fewer signs of depression than inmates who don't practice yoga.

Lundstrom hopes to eventually incorporate yoga as part of a re-entry program for women. Women would potentially take classes while volunteering at organizations such as the Red Cross in order to help them establish connections and potential employment opportunities when they're released.