Breath, Stress and Health: a Biocultural Study of Hatha Yoga Practice

This study aims to contribute uniquely to stress, longevity, and mental health research in two ways: by identifying clear protocols of breath-based yoga-meditative practice based on original materials; that are subsequently assessed with established scientific stress markers across the sympathetic-adreno-medullar (SAM) axis, biochemical immunity and longevity markers, and validated psychological measures as related to mental health. The study couples emic perspectives from the traditional yoga knowledge base, both textual and practice, with empirical measures from science as an opportunity to bridge these worlds as a first known study of hatha yoga to be tackled by the means and methods of biocultural anthropology. It therefore highlights the importance of context and detail in terms of assessing human behavioral practices, where accuracy in terms of definitions, technique detail, and original purported intentions and outcomes are addressed as relevant when measuring and explaining empirical outcomes under modern research mixed methods.