Hatha Yoga – Everything You Need to Know

When talking about meditation and yoga, usually comes to mind a specific type of yoga that for those who have never practiced it nor are they involved in the world of yoga or are yogis, is called hatha yoga. It is, so to speak, the typical yoga to meditate and the one that is most practiced (or one of them).

When Hatha yoga is practiced, postures are performed or as it is called in the yogi world “asanas” that provide among many other benefits to those who practice it, are those of having greater body flexibility, better concentration, more resistance and greater strength, elasticity, more firmness in the muscles and a better body correction. All this, at general levels would be what is achieved at the body level. Obviously, there are more factors, such as personal, satisfaction, well-being, happiness, complicity, etc.

Hatha yoga was created around the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and was based by the person who “invented” it (by the way, Suatmarama) on tantric angels. So that you put yourself a little in a situation and know a little what that means of the “tantric angels” you have to say and explain (briefly) that it is basically about finding balance, love and tantra. All this, exploring it oneself or with one’s partner, letting go and finding oneself in the depths of one’s being.

If we take all this into account and commenting that it is a very gentle type of yoga (and not as other specialties that are somewhat more intense) it becomes even more famous because it can be practiced by any type of person, of any age.

Instructions

1. When you start practicing hatha yoga you should know that it is a type of yoga very involved with transitions. What does this mean? They will move from one asana to the next and so on. Which, translated, has been, which passes from one posture (exercise) to another. There are no breaks.
2. Something that they will teach you and will always tell you in the classes, is that breathing (along with concentration) will be vital. It is very important to breathe deeply and do it correctly. Think of breathing and meditation as things that go almost hand in hand.
3. It will be as important to be breathing at all times correctly and properly, as knowing how to meditate and try to leave the mind blank throughout the session. If you take the problems while practicing hatha yoga, it will be noticed. It will be reflected in the asanas and you will not relax as it should.
4. In this type of yoga, they focus mainly on the spiritual and corporal part. Together both, help to greatly enhance the physical condition with those spectacular postures and so complicated for many (that it takes many years of work to achieve it and a lot of concentration), together with the gestures (very important the mudras), the breaths that we mentioned, the movements, leave the mind clear and free of worries and thoughts, the level of consciousness, reach maximum relaxation, feel free and better.
5. You will have to learn (which will be simple if you practice it regularly) some words that you will not stop hearing with hatha yoga. For example, the most recurrent words will be: Mudras (which refers to gestures), the Bnadhas (refers to the locks of the body itself), Pranayamas (refers to breathing).
6. Something that many people agree on (or almost all) when they have been practicing yoga for some time, is that they feel much more relaxed, at peace with themselves and above all, with others. They see things differently. They do very well to disconnect from everything and everyone while practicing yoga, they feel peace, they do not think about anything, they overcome themselves day by day with the practice of new or more complicated figures, they feel healthier, more agile, without pain or many of them are disappearing over time at the level of muscles and elasticity.
7. When you perform different movements or exercises (called asanas) you will realize that you move practically the whole body or that at least, in most of them, many and different parts of the muscles will be launched where you will begin to work and strengthen them. When you start with a null base, you will go from more to less, little by little. Do not want to force the machine and start with very complex figures because they will be not only impossible to perform, but surely, you will end up injuring yourself.
8. You will notice with the practice of yoga if you manage to breathe properly (it is not easy, but with patience and tranquility and a lot of perseverance, you can get it) get rid of a lot of stress, if not everything.
9. When you move forward with yoga, you reach a level of pure contact with your inner “I.” You will know yourself much better, you will listen to each other, you will relax, you will see things from another prism and only when that begins to happen, you will know that you are a yogi and that as they call it, you have united your (ha) and your (tha).
10. Something that should be clear to you when you decide to start with Hatha yoga is its philosophy. In this type of yoga, the holistic world is combined. That is, they will combine the physical part with all the exercise of the movements and the exercises with the most yogic part that is said (yogic) that are the mudras and a great binomial is made with the spiritual part. Both spiritual, as relaxation, meditation and without fail, breathing.
11. If you want to study a little more the philosophy of yoga and know where to start, the first thing you will be taught will be the different stages or branches it has. That is, you should know and know that there are a total of five types or paths to Yoga as such. Those five variants are, raja yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, karma yoga and hatha yoga (which we are talking about). Of course, each branch means one thing and has its meaning. We tell you very briefly.
12. Bhakti yoga refers to love. Jnana yoga means knowledge and wisdom. Raya yoga is the mind. Karma yoga is the love of others, but in a selfless way. And hatha yoga, refers to the part of exercise, fitness.
13. Always try, if you want to do the real hatha yoga, that this is the original and not the one that every time, it seems that they abound more in the rooms of the gyms. The original, the real one, is what we have told. The combination not only of the physical part (which of course is important), but also of the mental part and of course, of the breath. If you realize that you are practically with exercises, with the physical part and that there is hardly anything else, you are not doing hatha yoga. Don’t be fooled.
14. One of the most frequently asked questions is always the same: can I, do it? Depending on ages. And the answer is that practically the same, yes. The advantage is that it can be done by anyone, obviously, it will depend on the physical condition, to be able to do more or less asanas or more or less complicated. But everyone can practice it.
15. Hatha yoga comes from India and the fundamentals clearly say that the most important thing is the breath and the level of consciousness.
16. The most famous and most practiced postures with hatha yoga are those of the cobra, the camel pose, the grasshopper, the bow, the triangle, the tree the child, the corpse pose, the lotus pose, etc.
17. If you are worried about what the yoga sessions and / or classes will be like, do not worry. In general, they will always start with breathing, they will go through a warm-up that is vital to prevent you from suffering injuries. Surely, you will warm up with a posture called sun salutation, you will continue with the postures (the so-called asanas) but they will be of twisting, flexion, extension and lateral inclination, relaxation and meditate. They are always the same pillars and, in fact, if not, do not trust because it is essential to perform these exercises to not only be calm that you do not suffer injuries, muscle overload, pinching, sprains … but, also, to obtain a greater release of stress and relaxation.

What You Need

• Comfortable clothes.
• Water to hydrate.
• Towel.
• A mat

Councils

Hatha yoga translated would come to say something like “the feminine energy of the moon” and also “the sun”. That is, taking both concepts, it would be translated as being the set of the feminine part with the masculine, intuition, the rational part, cerebral, reason … the female part and the male part, mixed.

If your level in yoga is little or rather nil, if you have never practiced it, do not worry. Start with Hatha yoga, which is the simplest and as you progress and become familiar with it, you can see what other modalities (or not) you like or want to try. To begin with, the most recommended would be this one. For its simplicity and little complexity for beginners, although do not be fooled. Over the years and with experience, there are many yoga fans who perform spectacular and very complicated movements for the rest of the mortals.