What is hatha yoga?
Hatha yoga refers to the physical practices of yoga. These consist of asana (literally seat) which are the physical postures and pranayama (breath management) which are breathing techniques designed to affect prana, or the lifeforce, in the individual.
Why hatha yoga?
The word comes from the roots ha, meaning sun, and tha, meaning moon. Action and Reflection. When we practice hatha yoga we use postures to balance our physical and mental powers. Hatha is will-power – not pushing something through, but achieving goals with grace and effectiveness by yoking together the clarity of our intelligence with our physical power.
Why home practice?
Instruction, whether in class or online, is necessary for learning the poses and helping students avoid pitfalls. We all have blind spots, and teachers help us understand them. But ultimately, yoga practice should be as unique as the individual student. Hatha yoga is like a language used to communicate between the different parts of the self. Just like learning any language, it’s often helpful to memorize dialogue, but to have conversations of any significance you’ll have to find your own voice. Home practice may be as brief as ten minutes a day to start. Whatever works.
Who was Patanjali? No one really knows, but they took on the job of organizing and recording existing beliefs about yoga. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras were compiled about 2,500 years ago. People have been studying and commenting on them ever since. This Sanskrit work contains approximately 200 sutras, terse aphorisms describing the path of yoga, its pitfalls, and its results. The yoga sutras are relatively accessible and pragmatic. They are an invaluable guide to yoga practice and to living well.
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