Stress is a presence that we cannot deny in our lives. We will find some evidence of it every day. Professor Douglas Brooks says that it’s up to us to rise to the challenge of stress and in so doing, head it off before it turns into burnout. Stress, says Professor Brooks, is a natural and important feature of our human constitution. He recommends resources and practices that can help counteract it. Foremost among them is to simply breathe, and to make a commitment to our yoga practice. That engagement with ourselves and with yoga gives us empowerment.

We can see anxiety as a problem to be solved, or an enemy to be battled, or at the very least, a feature of ourselves that doesn’t express our true self. But Professor Douglas Brooks offers the Sutras of Patanjali, other sacred texts, and lessons we can take from yoga, to explore a pathway to understanding anxiety that is empowering rather than debilitating, nurturing and protective rather than only stressful and terrorizing, and one that will help us enter a deeper relationship with ourselves.

In part two of our exploration of mindfulness, Professor Douglas Brooks summons his extensive knowledge of ancient texts to help listeners access a deep understanding of mindfulness and its practices. Derik Mills and Professor Brooks discuss how mindfulness is not just something you’re practicing on your yoga mat. It is a moment to moment practice that you develop every day. Professor Brooks believes the true benefits will come with commitment. “Little by little, again and again,” is the way to approach this rewarding practice.