The greatest benefits of yoga lie in its ability to improve mental well-being. That said, it’s no coincidence that the practice also brings considerable physical benefit, and has been embraced in modern society as a calisthenic workout. In this video featuring John Campbell, Ph.D., an Ashtanga yoga teacher and associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia, you’ll be taken through a series of standing postures as Campbell expresses the importance of each physical and subtle element of the pose. One of the central components of the body’s adaptation to healthier forms, and the shedding of habitual patterns that cause pain, lies in the power of the breath, which as Campbell says, becomes the axis point for the body.

Related: The Importance of Breathing in Yoga

 

 

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