As anyone who’s ever been to a yoga class will tell you, yoga and meditation have a great deal in common. In fact, many yoga instructors design entire classes of meditative postures, which help people relax, settle into their bodies, and let go of the day’s stresses.

In general, meditation in a yoga practice begins and ends with the breath. Yoga instructors often encourage students to breathe deeply and purposefully, which connects them to their breath and allows them to stay relaxed throughout the practice.

This practice almost perfectly mirrors many of the lessons taught in meditation, which involve a gradual clearing of the mind.

In yoga, perhaps no posture includes more aspects of meditation than Savasana, or the corpse pose. Savasana typically occurs at the end of class and requires only complete stillness. Students are often encouraged to let go of conscious breathing and thought and simply be present in the moment.