The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos Pushkin

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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The Yoga Sutras are a centuries-old Sanskrit text - attributed to an author called Patanjali. The aphorisms contained in the text are the basis of the physical practise of yoga, but also offer a far wider guide of how to improve both the body and mind.

Expanding on her discussion with yoga teacher Jessamyn Stanley, Dr Laurie Santos reads short extracts from The Yoga Sutras and explores what they mean to her.

In Virgil's epic poem, The Aeneid, few Trojans survive the destruction of their city at the hands of their Greek enemies. A prince, Aeneas, leads a band of those fleeing Troy - but the journey is fraught with deadly storms and hungry monsters.  

But Aeneas takes a positive view of the struggles he and the other Trojans face, telling them to be proud of their resilience and courage. With the help of MIT classics professor Stephanie Frampton, Dr Laurie Santos explores how The Aeneid can be read as a tale of post-traumatic growth and how we can sometimes emerge happier and stronger from tragic events.  
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The Aeneid - Virgil's epic poem - tells of the destruction of Troy and of the many dangers Trojan prince Aeneas faced as he fled his burning home city. To accompany our discussion of how Aeneas dealt with these traumatic experiences, Dr Laurie Santos reads extracts from The Aeneid which show how he spoke about and framed his perilous journey.

Achilles has anger issues. The great Greek warrior sits out most of the Trojan War because he's angrily sulking. When he finally enters battle, he does so in a fit of rage that causes him to commit atrocities and bring dishonor on himself.  

So what can we learn from this angry character in Homer's epic poem, The Iliad? With the help of Harvard classics expert Greg Nagy and anger counsellor Dr Faith Harper, we look at how anger can creep up on us and what we can do to defuse this sometimes explosive emotion.      
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In Homer's epic poem The Iliad, the great Greek warrior Achilles is presented as an angry figure - prone both to sulking self-pity and to murderous rage. To accompany our discussion on what Achilles might teach us about dealing with our own angry responses to frustration, humiliation and pain, Dr Laurie Santos reads extracts from The Iliad which illustrate the warrior's struggles with rage and how he's finally able to confront the sadness and grief that fuels his worst outbursts of anger.