What is Hatha Yoga ?

The form of Yoga most people are familiar with is Hatha Yoga or Hatha Vidya. Hatha Yoga is the Yoga of postures. The picture that comes to mind whenever you see the word Yoga is of someone sitting or standing in some form of Yoga posture.

Hatha Yoga uses physical poses called Asana and breathing techniques called Pranayama. Hatha Yoga teaches that the body is the vehicle for your soul. It also teaches that meditation can bring the body into perfect health and allow the spiritual part of your brain to come forward freely.

Many believe that your mind typically ignores or suppresses the part of the brain that is spiritual and that our focus is on earthly things. In order to release this spirituality you need meditation and Yoga exercise.

Hatha Yoga utilizes all of these techniques to bind the body and soul as one. To create a union between the body and the mind takes practice. The purpose of Hatha Yoga is to perfect the body so it can be filled with your life's force or soul.

The way it works is to use opposing energies somewhat similar to Yin and Yang to achieve the binding of body, mind, and soul. Opposing energy examples are hot and cold, positive and negative, and male and female.

The Asanas in Hatha Yoga tech you poise, strength, and most of all, balance. This improves your physical health and helps you clear your mind. Without this preparation, meditation is not as effective. The exercise portion of Hatha Yoga is all part of preparing yourself so you can meditate and become enlightened, allowing your spiritual thoughts to flow freely.

Although most people in Europe or the US use Yoga as a physical exercise primarily, the intent of Yoga is to combine all of your life forces to achieve spirituality and happiness. The following are the different aspects to Hatha Yoga;

Yama: Yama is social ethics. It teaches you nonviolence, compassion, non-deception or truthfulness, honesty, conscious and non-abusive sexuality, security, and how to eliminate greed.

Niyama: Niyama is about personal practices. It teaches purity, discipline, contentment, self-examination, and spiritual attunement with GOD.

Asana: Asanas are the physical exercises in Hatha Yoga. There are many asanas and are of varying difficulty. There are some that are less difficult for beginners that can help you work up to the more difficult asanas. This not only helps you perfect your body, but helps you clear your mind for the more meditative aspects of Hatha Yoga.

Pranayama: Pranayama are breathing practices. Deep breathing exercises help clear your mind in preparation for meditation to free your spirit.

Pratyahara: Pratyahara is withdrawing the senses to facilitate Dharana (concentration or focus)

Dharana: Dharana is meant to help you focus or concentrate better also allowing you to use chants to free your spiritual mind.

Dhyana: Dhyana is an enhanced form of meditation where the concentration is focused on a single point.

Samadhi: Samadhi teaches you how to attain the essential state of joy. The definition of Samadhi literally means transcendental bliss. The exercises in Samadhi Yoga are more vigorous than with other forms.

"Trancendental Bliss or Samadhi is a state in which the individual mind, freed for a time from all material limits takes the form of supreme, omnipotent and omnipresent mind and gains enlightenment." —Shri Brahmananda Saraswati (A great yogi, doctor and founder of the Ananda Ashram)

When unaffected by culture, place, time, or circumstance, these principles are universal. They constitute the Great Vow." -Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, 2.31

The Self cannot be gained by one devoid of strength. Mundaka Upanishad iii :2:3