EY 200 & 300 Hatha Yoga

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HATHA

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HATHA means “Willful Path” effort and disciplined practice. A path of practice and purification of mind, body and soul. When we breakdown the Sanskrit word “Hatha”; Ha means sun and Tha means moon… the balance of sun and moon, yang and yin, effort and restore. Balancing the active and receptive energies in the body/mind.

HATHA; Balance & Harmony of body, mind and spirit.

Ha; Sun; masculine, energetic, activity, effort, hot.

Tha; Moon; feminine, mental, restore, receptive, cool.

Uniting opposites harmonizes, strengthens and balances all aspects of the being.

 

Core Distinctions;

-Slower movements with longer holds

-Fundamental Poses

-Includes Pranayama (Breathwork), Meditation, Mudra and Kriya

Hatha as a foundational branch of raja yoga, refers to the physical techniques to channel, refine, and balance life force energy. Hatha yoga includes the practices of using physical poses, breathwork, meditation, mudra and kriya to increase vital energy. Hatha yoga when practiced regularly will calm, balance and restore the body, mind and spirit in preparation for deep meditation and union with the Higher Mind and Divine Self

Hatha is the most popular form of yoga used to align and balance body, mind and spirit for deeper meditation and ultimately Samadhi. Hatha yoga is also the oldest form of yoga that dates back thousands of years. Hatha is also the foundation of the many lineages of physical yoga practices and techniques that exist today.

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Hatha is defined as physical techniques, disciplined effort, active engagement of the physical body, force, and will. Balancing effort and restore to balance the body and mind using asana, pranayama, meditation, mudra and kriya.

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Hatha includes holding postures for several breaths and using slower more conscious, steady movements with a focus on alignment and breath.  With regular practice, Hatha Yoga offers benefits of physical strength, flexibility, and calming the mind. Hatha includes physical yoga practices including Hatha flows and yin flows. Vinyasa and other physical yoga lineages such as Ashtanga and Iyengar all root from Hatha.

Unlike many vinyasa type practices, Hatha Yoga sequencing can be flexible and is not fixed. This offers many possibilities for different choreographed flows and practices.

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Hatha yoga is a slower moving practice, focusing on mindfulness in holding poses while using other techniques such as pranayama’s, meditations, mudras and kriyas. Holding postures steadily, consciously and longer than some faster flows allows more mindfulness, time for muscles to stretch and increase flexibility as well as calming and refining the nervous system.  

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Sun Salutations are simple flows with breath connections using primary poses and can be practiced by beginners. Hatha is an ideal form of yoga for beginners as well as experienced long time yogi’s.

Hatha is said to be the best style of yoga for beginners, yet continues to greatly benefit experienced yogis as well.

 

Hatha includes;

Asana, physical poses and postures

Pranayama, breathwork

Meditation, quieting or stilling the mind

Mudras, hand and body positions

Kriyas, combining asana, breath, mantra and meditation to clear negativities, refine energy, open channels, gain energy mastery.

 

Benefits of Hatha Yoga

Improved Mindfulness

Improved Strength

Improved Core stability

Improved Flexibility

Improved Posture

Improved Balance

Improved Sleep

Improves Mental Clarity

Increases energy

Relieves Stress & Anxiety

 

To see benefits from Hatha Yoga how often should a student practice?

Most yogic philosophies urge a daily practice, however, you will see benefits by practicing as little as 3 times a week for an hour each practice.

 

A Few Common Hatha Pose’s

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists only a few asana poses, yet more modern lineages list 84 Hatha Yoga Asana Poses.

Among all the lists there are four primary poses of Hatha always included that support spiritual balance.

-Siddhasana (Accomplished Pose)

-Padmasana (Lotus Pose)

-Simhasana (Lion Pose)

 

Here is a short list of some of the more common Hatha poses.

Mountain

Forward Fold

Lunge

Down Dog

Up Dog

Cobra (Baby)

Warrior I, II, III

Triangle

Side Angle

Boat

Butterfly

Table

Seated and standing twists

Half shoulder stand

Fish

Pigeon

Baby

 

 

Core categories for Hatha Yoga

Seated poses; lengthening spine to support proper upright position

Forward Folds; flexion of the spine provides stretch to the back & back of legs (Hamstrings and calves)

Back bends; extension of the spine provides movement to the spine and opens the chest and heart.

Twists; rotates the spine assisting digestion and improving spinal flexibility

Standing poses; builds strength, improves structure.

Balancing; improves balance and concentration.

 

Pranayama

Hatha practices include breath regulation or pranayama techniques in asana practices (Poses).

 

Breath Quality

Shallow Breathing; Breathing into the chest only. Shallow chest breathing triggers the fight or flight response and sympathetic nervous system. It invokes fast thinking, racing thoughts, stress and anxiety. It can feel constraining, tight and bring upon fatigue.

 

Deep Breathing; Breathing into the lower belly, lower abdomen and activating the diaphragm. Diaphramatic or belly breathing triggers the parasympathetic nervous system, the relaxation response in the body. Belly breathing calms the nervous system, quiets the mind, creates a sense of relaxation, ease, space and stability.

 

5 Basic Hatha Pranayama Techniques

Mindful Breath, Breath Awareness

Diaphragmatic Breathing or Belly Breath

3 Part Yogic Breath

Nadi Shodhana

Ujjayi Breath

 

Incorporating pranayama into your daily and yoga routines

Adding pranayama into your yoga practices can include a few minutes of diaphragmatic breathing, possibly adding 3 part yogic breathing and/or Nadi Shodhana before starting asana poses. This is to center, balance and become present to the asana practice. You may add pranayama to the end of your practice to prepare for meditation in alignment with the 8 limb path to samadhi and stillness. You may also include Ujjayi 

breath in your breath practices or include throughout the practice to anchor the mind.

There are many other traditional pranayama’s each with benefits, use according to the intention of your yoga practice.

 

Tips to improve your pranayama Hatha practices

-Breath into the lower belly, diaphragmatic breathing

-Relax the face and jaw

-Patience, not expecting instant relaxation

-Gentle breaths rather than forced

 

Hatha being the oldest, most fundamental yoga style available, is a great starting point or life long mind, body, spirit practice that improves physical wellbeing as well as mental clarity, calm, stability and spiritual awakening.

 

Meditation

There are many styles of meditation out there, yet Hatha offers meditation as a core technique. Using meditation and breathwork together during asana practices by offering pauses throughout the practice or a longer meditation at the end of practice. Meditation is an integral part of Hatha Yoga and assists the intention of Hatha to balance mind, body and soul through the effort of practices.

-Mindful Meditation; concentration and focus on breath, a mantra, visual object or body sensations.

-Walking/Moving Meditation; use walking or an asana flow as a meditative practice to still the mind.

-Kirtan, bhakti or music meditation; using kirtan, mantra and singing as a devotional meditation.

-Nidra & Samadhi meditation; deeper inner awareness of sensations and using the map of the 8 limbs to reach samadhi states.

 

Basic Hatha Hand Mudras

Hand mudras also called hasta mudras in Sanskrit direct prana or life force energy through the physical and subtle bodies. Although each mudra has a unique intention and activation of the life force energy they all direct prana, quiet the mind, and balance energy. By pressing specific points on the hands and touching specific fingers it activates and completes subtle body circuits to calm the mind and/or enliven prana. Using hand mudras with asana, pranayama and meditation enhances the benefits and desired shifts of a Hatha practice.

 

Anjali, prayer mudra. Respect, reverence, centering, gratitude, humility, balance.

              -Bring palms together into prayer position, rest the palms at the heart center.

Hakini, named after the Goddess Hakini representing Divine wisdom & intuition.

              Activates the third eye and expands awareness. Activates the 5 elements and mental clarity.

-Using both hands connect the corresponding thumbs and all the fingers of both hands, (index of rt. to index of left, middle finger on rt. to middle finger on left, ring on rt to ring on left, little on rt hand to little on left hand.)

Gyan, knowledge and wisdom, helps with concentration, focus and memory

              -Connect tip of index finger and thumb, palms down.

Chin, awakens consciousness and facilitates meditative states.

              -Connect tip of index finger and thumb, palms up.

Vishnu, named after Lord Vishnu, represents universal balance.

-Using your right hand, curl your middle and ring fingers into your palm, allowing the thumb, index and little finger to be open and extended. (Often used in the pranayama Nadi Shodhana, alternate nostril breathing.)

 

Hatha Kriya’s

Hatha kriyas or Shatkarmas in Sanskrit, remove toxins, cleanse the internal organs and prepare the body for deeper meditation. Hatha kriya’s vary from Tantra kriyas, yet can be combined together harmoniously in a Hatha yoga practice.

Traditional Hatha kriya’s are designed to cleanse the body and mind.

-Neti; cleanses the nasal passages with water or thread.

-Dhauti; cleanses the digestive tract and stomach.

-Nauli; massage of the abdominal muscles.

-Basti; cleanses the large intestine and colon.

-Kapalabhati; clears the frontal lobe of the brain and the sinus through breathwork.

-Trataka; concentrating the eyes and vision of a flame of single object.