It is recommended for older adults who need to improve the range of motion in the joints. Since core stability is key to good posture, Hatha builds core muscle strength. More specifically, it improves flexibility in the spine and hamstrings. Because you’re asked to bring your attention to the breath, you are more present, grounded, and in the moment.īecause the poses are held for longer, Hatha is known to improve strength, flexibility, stamina, range of motion, and balance. It is a powerful tool for self-transformation.
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Regular practice promotes mental calmness and can significantly reduce perceived stress and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Hatha is the yoga style that’s usually undertaken to relieve stress. Yoga has numerous health benefits, no matter which style you practice. READ MORE: 20 Affordable Yoga Retreats for Any Budget The class usually ends with a short period of meditation for which you might be asked to lie on your back in Shavasana or on your side, and the teacher may cover you with a blanket. If a pose is too challenging, the teacher can provide a modified version. The poses are held for several breaths before moving onto the next. As the students go through the asanas, the teacher reminds them to focus on their breath. Instead, they insist on one pose at a time, with a rest in between. Hatha classes don’t necessarily follow a flow (unlike Vinyasa). The emphasis is on controlling the poses. They start with a gentle warm-up, bringing the attention to the breath, followed by a sequence of yoga poses. The classes are usually 60 to 90 minutes long. That said, there are a few common aspects that all sessions share.Ī class labeled as Hatha includes basic yoga poses with a focus on breath and meditation. Classes vary from one studio to the other and from one teacher to the next. Because it’s such a broad term, you cannot really know what to expect from a class until you get there. Typically, when a class is labeled just yoga, it is most likely Hatha. READ MORE: Yoga Styles 101: An Introduction to Ashtanga YogaĪccording to Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Hatha has three elements: physical poses ( asanas), breathing techniques ( pranayama), and meditation ( dyana). Today, Hatha has become a mainstream form of exercise, often used as a broad term for yoga. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that Hatha Yoga was introduced to the West, and not until the 1960s that it started to gain popularity. Traditionally, Hatha Yoga uses the mastery of the body as a means to attaining spiritual perfection. It was a life philosophy, a guide to how we relate to the world we live in and to attaining inner peace. Originally, it was focused on breath, purification, diet, and physical postures. Hatha was developed as a preparation for Raja Yoga, the oldest system of yoga, which aims to reach the state of unity between body, mind, and spirit, the quintessential goal of yoga itself. Hatha Ratnavali, a 17th-century text, described 84 asanas. Later, several other Sanskrit texts about the discipline emerged. Hatha Yoga Pradipika described 15 yoga poses (asanas).
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The oldest text on the physical practices of the style is Hatha Yoga Pradipika, written in the 15th century by Swami Swatamarama using older Sanskrit texts, teachings of gurus, and his own experience. However, the style is based on ancient yogic traditions dating back to Patanjali. The term dates back to the 11th century, when Gorakhnath, a Hindu master yogi and founder of the Kanphata Yogis, described the physical and spiritual discipline of Hatha. READ MORE: Yoga Styles 101: An Introduction to Vinyasa Yoga The practice is designed to align the body, mind, and spirit, preparing you for deeper spiritual practices.
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Therefore, Hatha is aimed towards bringing balance between the sun and the moon within you, Pingala and Ida, your light and your darkness. Hatha is a Sanskrit word that can be translated as “forceful” or “willful”, used in reference to the physical postures.īut the word can also be broken into ha (“sun”) and tha (“moon”). The focus is on controlling both the posture and the breath. This pace challenges your strength and flexibility, welcoming a deep stretch, with an emphasis on mindfulness and relaxation. In Hatha, the poses are performed slowly, statically, and are held for longer than in a Vinyasa or Ashtanga class. The differences between them lie in the focus and pace. Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Hot Yoga, Power Yoga, to name a few, have all derived from Hatha. It is, therefore, the origin of all yoga styles. Hatha Yoga is a combination of movement and breath.
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This is, in fact, what is often referred to as “general yoga” in the West. Yoga postures (asanas) and breathing techniques (pranayama) are at its core. Hatha Yoga is the practice of physical postures.