Hatha Yoga – A Practice to Unite your Body and Spirit
Your body is the bridge between your physical life and your innermost spark. Hatha Yoga helps in uniting these two parts, so that your life can be a pure expression of your potential and truth.
Hatha Yoga is an ancient Indian practice that combines asanas (physical postures) and pranayama (regulated breathing).
The physical body has a certain inherent restlessness to it, just as the mind does. Holding certain postures brings control and power, opening up the body and increasing its capacity to hold life-energy.
The syllables ‘Ha’ and ‘tha’ refer to the Sun and the Moon respectively. Thus Hatha Yoga is a practice that balances these two energies in our being. The Sun’s energy is powerful, joyful and expressive, while the Moon represents softness, surrender and letting go. Too much of the Sun’s qualities will make a person aggressive and quick-tempered while too much of the moon’s energy might make a person prone to depression, fatigue, lack of productivity and weakness. Techniques of Hatha Yoga strike a balance between the two.
Hatha Yoga works on the principles of purification (removing unhelpful elements), concentration (intensifying focused energy) and liberation (which unites us with the Universe at large).
Hatha Yoga is not merely a bodily practice. It involves concentration, perseverance, will-power and discipline. The intention and inner space that is held while performing the activity is as important as the accuracy of the physical postures. If the inner space is strong, it amplifies the benefits of the bodily movements.