The Benefits Of Hatha Yoga

Yoga is always misunderstood as twisting your body into impossible poses, but yoga is about the mind. There are many benefits of Hatha yoga, but the purpose of it is uniting the sun and the moon within us mastering the control over the body.

What is Hatha Yoga:

Hatha Yoga is one of the branches of yoga. Ha-‘Prana’, the sun and tha–‘apana‘, the moon

Yoga in the context of hatha yoga is union unlike focus on yoga sutras.

The 15th century Hatha Yoga Prathipadika tells us what actually Hatha yoga is. Although the common meaning of hatha is stubborn, the hatha yoga pratipadika says it as “with strength”.

Here strength is not just mental by willpower or persistence but the physical strength that supports the mental ability.

I understand, uniting the sun and the moon, and that too within us is overwhelming. It is not just a fancy saying. It is said so because there are specific reasons.

What does Hatha Yoga do?

Ha-tha is referred to the heating and cooling of the body which is formed by Agni-fire, the metabolism of the body. These are supposed to be channeled properly through Vayu-air, which is the channeling of the breath in the body for the movement of life force-prana.

Hatha yoga brings together the prana that flows in the right side of the center spine and the Apana that flows in the left of the center spine and get them to flow through the center spine and then mind is said to be in focus.

Prana and Apana are the inhalation and exhalation aspects of the same force called breath. So when the breath is scattered right and left of the spine, the mind is also scattered. Practicing hatha yoga makes the prana and the Apana channel into the center spine known as Sushumna making the mind centered and focused.