Yoga Systems: Hatha Yoga

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Yoga Systems: Hatha Yoga

Hatha Yoga deals with physical body and astral body purification and training. Its goal is to bring the physical body into a perfect state of health so the soul has an appropriate vehicle of expression to work through.

Hatha Yoga embraces many practices, including physical postures and breathing exercises ( pranayama ) , which also act upon the physical nervous system and etheric body. It helps bring the vital energies of the physical and etheric bodies under conscious control.

Understanding Hatha Yoga

What can you expect when you start to practice Hatha yoga ?

First, you will probably notice an increase in overall flexibility; your muscles will gradually begin to release tension and tightness. Where else does "tension" live in our bodies but in our muscles? When your muscles relax, as they do during a massage or after taking a yoga class, this muscular relaxation will be interpreted as a generalised reduction in tension and mental stress.

A Hatha Yoga Asana

Tadasana - The Mountain Posture

Tadasana is the most basic of all Hatha yoga postures. It is a grounding posture to bring the body and mind in balance and alignment.

I know you are at your computer, but take a moment and stand erect. Your feet are hip-width apart and parallel ... like railroad tracks. Your weight is distributed evenly on both feet.

Stand tall. Your chin is level. Your arms are at your side. Your shoulders are relaxed, downward.

You feel strong in your legs. They are your support. They are reaching down into the earth. Your thighs are firm. Your kneecaps are raised. Your buttocks are tucked.

All the energy in the lower part of your body is your support. With this strength, grow from your waist, your chest, reaching out through the crown of your head. Your torso reaches up.

And of course, remember to breathe. Life is easier when we take the time to breathe.

Bring your arms up to a t-position. Stretch to the east and the west. Reaching out to infinity. Remember to keep those shoulders relaxed.

Now turn the palms up and bring your arms up parallel beside your ears. Your arms and legs are in alignment. (Remember those shoulders).

Feel the gentle touch of a loved one on your shoulders reminding them to stay relaxed. Keeping your neck long. Still reaching out through the crown of your head, growing taller. Taller in your life.

The lower part of your body is reaching Earthward. It is giving you support and grounding. The upper part of your body is reaching Heavenward, your arms held up by angels . As you breathe, you may wonder, are you a human (with the lower part of your body reaching Earthward) having a spiritual experience (upper body reaching upward)? Or are you a spiritual creature from the Heavens having a human experience reaching into the earth?

When the time is right, let your arms float down, release the holding in your legs and thighs and buttocks. Close your eyes and relax.

This is just one small practice of Hatha yoga .

Benefits of Hatha yoga

Anyone can benefit from studying Hatha yoga . Busy people use it to manage stress in their hectic lives. Pregnant women use it to prepare for the birth of their children. Elite athletes use it to focus themselves toward a high level of performance and to recover from injuries.

You can use it, too.

When you study Hatha yoga you will find that it works on several levels. As a beginner, you will experience the practice of Hatha yoga as a form of physical exercise that challenges and refines your flexibility, strength and balance.

Like any form of exercise, Hatha yoga helps develop physical strength. Hatha yoga adds another dimension to this with a matching development in emotional strength that will help you handle the challenges of life with a balanced disposition.

Hath yoga encourages attention to the inner body - i.e. proper alignment of the inner structure of the bones as well as attention to the health of the inner organs - as much as it works the outer sheath of muscle. For that reason it differs both physically and philosophically from other forms of exercise.

Hath yoga operates on a more comprehensive idea of health than fitness, and a broader understanding of strength than just physical power. Yoga develops our awareness of the inner body and encouraging us to work from the core of our being, not just from the surface. The basic premise is that when we are able to contact and work from that core, we achieve a much deeper and more abiding health, which includes emotional and even spiritual health well-being.

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See also: Yoga Systems, Yoga, Yoga and Health, Yoga Systems, Yoga Positions)