Hatha Yoga Asanas And Their Benefits

Hatha Yoga: a system of physical exersices and

breathing control.
Exercise prepares you for greater purposes. Wondering what that means?
Well, let me tell you. Weakness, pain, and low stamina reduce the capabilities
of your body, stopping you from reaching your full potential. Exercise opens
you up and creates a means to garner mental clarity and calmness. Hatha
Yoga is one such exercise. Here, we discuss the best of its asanas. Check
them out.

Ha’ means the sun and ‘tha’ means moon. Hatha Yoga means to bring
balance to the sun and the moon in you. It is designed to calm your body,
mind, and spirit and prepare you for meditation. It is the physical branch of the
ancient Indian yogic science that strives to build a sound body and mind and
help you attain inner peace and happiness. Hatha Yoga also balances the
masculine and feminine in you to deepen your consciousness. To be able to
reach your fullest potential, a balance between the masculine and feminine is
necessary, and Hatha Yoga is the first step towards attaining that.

The name ‘Hatha Yoga’ appeared way back in the 11th century in Sanskrit
texts. A sage named Kapila developed the earliest techniques of this yoga
that had no religious connection or rituals, which made it popular
among the common man. It entails a list of yoga asanas or postures that
are divided into five categories – standing poses, sitting poses, resting
poses, backbends, and balancing poses. These poses manipulate the
energy of your body and channelize it in a manner that will help you
experience the limitless.

Hatha Yoga is capable of taking you beyond limitations through yogic

postures. If you train your body to form individual poses, you can do the same
to increase your consciousness. It is a process where you start with your
body, move to the breath, work on the mind. Hatha Yoga purifies your body
and disciplines it to be able to receive higher levels of energy.

In the broader concept of yoga, Hatha Yoga is a physical technique that is a

necessary preparation to achieve a higher goal. It is readily available to the
common man and has been practiced by regular people since time
immemorial, irrespective of caste and religion. The yoga regimen involves
proper intake of nutritious food and breathing well apart from a routine of
practicing asanas.

The physical postures of Hatha Yoga, in particular, became very popular from
the 20th century onwards and spread across India and abroad. Let’s take a
look at some of them now.