eHow launches Android app: Get the best of eHow on the go.

  • Bookmark and Share

Hatha Yoga

    Hatha Yoga Editor's Picks

    • About Meditation

      Meditation is the art of attaining a deeper state of consciousness, beyond the mundane "thinking" world. It is a component of nearly all world religions but is also practiced outside religious traditions.
      Different disciplines of meditation encourage different spiritual goals and techniques with which to achieve them. more »

    • What Are the Benefits of a Neti Pot?

      Neti pots originated in India and have practical benefits. Ayurveda healing science and Hatha yoga practitioners have used neti pots for sinus-related ailments for thousands of years. The Hatha yoga cleansing method is called neti or Jalaneti. Neti pots irrigate and cleanse the sinuses. more »

    • How to Use Integral Yoga Relaxation Techniques

      Integral yoga is a system of physical poses (asanas), breathing, meditation and mantra recitations. Integral yoga is designed to integrate the whole being, relying upon raja yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga and Hatha yoga. more »

    • The History of the Neti Pot

      The neti pot is used for a form of nasal irrigation that also has its roots in yoga. It employs a pot with a spout that resembles a short teapot, and uses isotonic (saline) or hypertonic (saltier) lukewarm water. The person using the pot leans over a sink and pours the water into one nostril while breathing through the mouth. The... more »

    • How to Transform the Vital Being in Integral Yoga

      Integral yoga is a synthesis of Hatha yoga, Jnana yoga, Bhakti yoga, Japa yoga and Raja yoga. To transform the vital being in Integral yoga is to release one's being from a state of unrealized consciousness, trapped by ego and craving that radiates from the body's regions. The vital is the level where all sensation occurs.The four... more »

    Hatha Yoga Quick Guides

    Hatha Yoga Articles

    • How to Do Hatha Yoga

      Strengthen and align your body and quiet and focus your mind with Hatha Yoga, one of six branches of yoga that originated in India 5,000 years... more »

    • How to Do Hatha Yoga

      Get in shape with hatha yoga. It will make you feel better physically, emotionally and mentally. Do it as fast or slow as you like; and be... more »

    • How to Do Diaphragm Exercises in Hatha Yoga

      The stronger your diaphragm, the better your breathing will be. It’s a muscle, so you can strengthen it when you do diaphragm exercises in... more »

    • How to Do a Forward Bend in Hatha Yoga

      To stretch your back and open your hamstring muscles, do a forward bend in Hatha Yoga known as Prasarita Padottanasana. This pose also opens the... more »

    • How to Breathe in Hatha Yoga

      Though breathing is something we do all the time, few of us do it correctly. Rather than short and shallow, breathing should be long and deep. You... more »

    Wikipedia

    Hatha yoga

    Hatha Yoga (Sanskrit हठयोग , ), also called Hatha Vidya (हठविद्या), is a system of Yoga introduced by Yogi Swatmarama, a sage of 15th century India, and compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. In this treatise Swatmarama introduces Hatha Yoga as preparatory stage of physical purification that the body practices for higher meditation. The Asanas and Pranayama in Raja Yoga were what the Hindu Yogis used to physically train their body for long periods of meditation. This practice is called ), referring to Praana and Apaana, and also to the principal [[nadis (energy channels) of the subtle body that must be fully operational to attain a state of dhyana or samādhi. According to the Monier Moneir-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary, the word "hatha" means forceful. It is a strong practice done for purification. In other respects Hatha yoga follows the same principles as the Raaja Yoga of Patanjali including moral restraint yama and spiritual observances niyama. Hatha Yoga is what most people in the West associate with the word "Yoga" and is practised for mental and physical health throughout the West.

    Etymology
    Hatha Yoga, pronounced in Hindi, is also known as hatha vidya or the "science of hatha" yoga. The word Hatha comes from combining the two Sanskrit terms "ha" meaning sun and "tha" meaning moon. The word "ha" refers to the solar nadi (pingala) in the subtle body and "tha" the lunar channel (ida). However, when the two components of the word are placed together, "hatha" means "forceful", implying that powerful work must be done to purify the body. Yoga means to yoke, or to join two things together, hence hatha yoga is meant to join together sun (masculine, active) energy with the moon (feminine, receptive) energy, thus producing balance and greater power in an individual.

    Origins

    The most comprehensive text of Hatha Yoga is the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Yogi Swatmarama. This work is nonetheless derived from older Sanskrit texts on Yoga besides Yogi read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatha+yoga

    Related Ads

    Hatha Yoga People & Community

    Connect with people who share your interest by joining one of our Groups:

    Topic Contributors
    Get Free Sports & Fitness Newsletters

    Copyright © 1999-2009 eHow, Inc. Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the eHow Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.   en-US Portions of this page are modifications based on work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.

    Demand Media