The Modern Practice Of Hatha Yoga Is Based On

Bringing awareness to more subtle levels of consciousness.

The modern practice of hatha yoga is based on. It is an old system that includes the practice of asanas yoga postures and pranayama breathing exercises which help bring peace to the mind and body preparing the body for deeper spiritual practices such as meditation. When the word hatha is broken down in hindu it has two meanings. The second h is silent encompasses several types of yoga including ashtanga vinyasa and power yoga. Tantric hatha yoga is hatha yoga practice which has returned to its roots in the search for higher states of consciousness.

Most agree that the original writings were patanjali maharishi s yoga sutras 196 sutras aphorisms written in sanskrit in around 400 ad. The hatha yoga practice also serves as a basis for many other types of yoga. The purpose of tantric hatha yoga is not to become super flexible or to work out but to still the chattering of the everyday mind. With either definition hatha yoga is a physical practice.

Hatha is a general category that includes most yoga styles. Modern yoga consists of a range of techniques including asanas postures and meditation derived from some of the philosophies teachings and practices of the yoga school which is one of the six schools of traditional hindu philosophies and organised into a wide variety of schools and denominations. Hatha classes tend to be slower paced than vinyasa. Popular thinking in the west an all too common expression now is that hatha yoga is about balancing the body and mind.

In his work patanjali describes hatha yoga as consisting of eight limbs or disciplines and referred to it as the eightfold path. Hatha yoga pronounced hah ta yoga. Hatha yoga is a balance of male and female light and dark aggressive and intuitive. Some say ha represents the sun and tha the moon so the practice of hatha yoga aims to join yoke or balance these two energies.

But aside from the asana it can also include pranayama breathing chanting mantras or creating hand gestures called mudras.