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What is Hatha Yoga?

Hatha Yoga is the method of making the body the perfect temple for God to reside in it. Hatha yoga involves a lot of processes including good food habits, good sleeping habits, asanas or physical postures, mudr as or gestures, pranayama or breathing exercises, and samadhi. There have been so many confusions regarding the practice of Hatha Yoga. If you don’t follow the correct path you’ll not reach the destination. The knowledge on Hatha Yoga was transferred from Lord Shiva to Matsyendranath. It’s through his lineage the text Hatha Yoga is available for us now. Let us now see the basics of Hatha yoga and the remaining will be discussed in Kundalini Yoga.

Ideal situation for practicing Hatha Yoga

The place of practice must be secluded and free from distractions. The practitioner should not eat too much, should not exert himself in any tasks, shouldn’t talk unnecessarily, and shouldn’t waste time with other people.

Personal Discipline

The practitioner should have enthusiasm, unshakeable faith, and perseverance to practice Hatha Yoga. Must have good conduct and faith in God. Discipline and self-restraint is important in every path of yoga.

Asana

The first step in the practice of Hatha Yoga is Asana. Asana taught nowadays online are not really the same as it is in its true form. These beginner courses that are taught online has little to no use. These postures are just for obtaining steadiness of the body. There are several asanas described in ancient texts but only few are important.

Swastikasana

Sit straight with both the feet on the inner side of thighs. It is a simple asana and can be used in meditation practices.

Malasana

Keep your legs apart and lower your hips so that your bottom is just above the ground. It helps in strengthening the legs and relaxes your gastrointestinal tract. It cures constipation and induces hunger.

Padmasana

Keep you left foot on the right thigh and right foot on the left thigh. This asana is also used in meditation for its steadiness.

Gomukhasana

Bend your knees and place respective angles at the respective buttocks. Join your hands at the back.

Mudras

Mudras are gestures that will help you in sealing your energies while practicing yoga. In hatha yoga mudra is practiced in association with asana and pranayama. Mudras involves several parts of the body and the procedure also varies. The main purpose of mudras is to hold the energy within you. We let our energy out through various openings. We need to conserve our energy if we wish to progress in yoga.

Pranayama

Pranayama is the process of controlling the flow of prana. Prana can be understood as breath in general terms. Our breath varies with our state of mind. By controlling breath one can stop the working of the mind. Practicing pranayama without proper knowledge is dangerous. I’ll explain a basic breathing exercise for you to practice. Close your left nostril and breath in slowly through the right nostril. Then hold your breath as long as possible. Now close the right nostril and breath out through the left slowly. For closing the nostril the fingers are used as described in the image below.

Samadhi

Samadhi can be achieved by practicing hatha yoga regularly. When you start practicing hatha yoga, you mind may go crazy at times and you’ll stop practicing but don’t do that. Maintaining a posture for longer period of times will also be very difficult initially. If you continue to practice, you body and mind will lighten. You must be mindful of your body and mind while practicing hatha yoga. As mentioned in the title, our body is the temple of God. It is our duty to make it worthy for god to live in.

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