The Eightfold Path is also about harnessing something that can help us get through tough times. Scientists have long recognized that our breath can have a huge impact on our well-being. Pranayama isn't just about taking a few deep breaths when we're feeling stressed. Prama is really like everything. Once you focus on your breath and once you assume a posture, whatever that posture is, then your body starts to go into a state of actually engaging with what is underneath your skin and what is happening.
We often think of yoga as a physical exercise - but a centuries-old Sanskrit text, The Yoga Sutras, share teachings intended to improve both the body and mind. The author, Patanjali, makes clear that the poses and stretches are only part of picture - we also need to be kind, contemplative and grounded.
Jessamyn Stanley (yoga teacher and author of Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance) takes Dr Laurie Santos through Patanjali's text - saying its lessons "can be applied in every circumstance, no matter who you are or where you are".
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