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Hatha Yoga Refers to all kinds of yoga that focus on asanas (physical postures) as a means to enlightenment. ‘Hatha’ means force - forcing the body into poses which we do not naturally go into. ‘Force’ in this context simply means ‘unnatural’. For eg a human being does not naturally feel like going into headstands throughout daily life as we do with walking. The advantage of doing these unnatural but not wrong processes is to build extra ordinary physical and mental ability. The mental ability is called Raja Yoga. Raja meaning royal as it develops the mind to the best possible level ie the goal is mastery over mind in order to reach Samadhi (a state of self realisation). Hatha yoga is used to purify the whole physical body as a prelude to raja yoga. It could be viewed Hatha yoga is the means and raja yoga is the goal. With the goal of reaching samadhi ancient sages believe the purpose of life is achieved and no other things need to be done. However, the physical and physiological benefits of yoga today can not be underestimated and there are many people practising yoga for these sole reasons. Because of this many practitioners believe the true meaning of yoga has been lost. Regardless of the reasons you initially practice yoga you will live an unfolding journey that takes you by surprise. |
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