09.02.23

Hatha Yoga

Dear reader. Welcome back to Healing Arts!

During the next few months I will take you on a deep dive into the yogic philosophy and how it relates to my own life as well. Hopefully you will gain some insights in what yoga is all about.

Last week we covered Jñaña Yoga and how to gain yogic knowledge, but this week we are opening up to the biggest of the four, hatha yoga paths.

I would describe this path as the most physical practice of yoga in order to conquer one’s own mind. Where karma yoga is more about your actions towards others and the impact you have on the world, hatha is more an inward journey through the physical body. This path has become the most famous path in the west because it contains the practice of asanas or postures.

When most people think of yoga they see someone in a yoga stance like Warrior-pose, Virabhadrasana II, but the truth is, that this is just a fraction of what yoga is about. Nonetheless, it is still a crucial part of the hatha yoga path and a great way to reach enlightenment. I have often wondered why it became this specific path that became so popular in the west. It is also my personal favorite, and my Guru, B.K.S Iyengar was also the most important person in this practice. During his lifetime, he took all the postures, refined them and mediated them to the West. So the credit basically goes to him for making yoga so known. The New York Times even put him on their top 100 of the most influential people of the 20st century because of that fact.

Anyways, I think the reason it has been so well received over here, is because it is such a physical approach to the practice of communion between body, mind and spirit. You can feel the results in your body. Measure it. Take pictures of it and glorify it and harvest likes. It is the closest you get to something where you can see proof of concept. We really love that. The improvement of blood pressure, reduction of stress and so forth. And we westerners need scientific proof to be convinced. If you want to prove a point to us, you have to come up with a way to prove it. Like distilling saltwater to point out the existence of NaCl, or a glowing lightbulb to prove the existence of electrons.

The same way people can really feel and see the results of practicing the physical postures, asanas. They get happier and calm, and that is proof enough for them that yoga works. Some even just do it to get flexible or get stronger and then they are satisfied. To these people, yoga is just gymnastics, like aerobics or pilates. And that’s great they feel that way. But in fact, the asanas have been mapped out by yogis for thousands of years to affect your soul, and the regular practice will eventually bring spiritual growth for people no matter the original intentions. The practitioners, sadhakas, will be shown things about themselves that they may not like. The veil of ignorance will be lifted by the practice of yoga, and the ego’s intentions will be revealed as they become more aware of their thoughts. Only a few people in the west who claim to be yogis are curious about what yoga really has to offer, but once their curiosity finally appears, that’s when their true journey, sadhana, begins.

The path of Hatha yoga is described in the works called Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as the system of Ashtanga, the Eight Limbs. These eight limbs or parts are to be seen as flower petals working as doorways into the center of the flower which is when one is liberated from the constraints of the mind. It is like a battle where the yogi is trying to conquer the mind to get free from it and reach the ultimate state of consciousness called Samadhi. One could refer to a yogi practicing the ashtanga as a spiritual warrior, and it takes a lot of discipline and hard work to get there, but anyone can do it.

Since this last system is actually the most practiced in the West I assume that most readers are mostly interested in this area. Thus, during the next weeks I will examine these eight limbs closer, one by one.

“The Path of Hatha Yoga is the fountain for the three other paths. It brings calmness and tranquility and prepares the mind for absolute unqualified self-surrender to God, in which all these four paths merge into one.” – B.K.S. Iyengar

Please feel free to write us a mail or DM us on social media if you have any questions.

Namaste,

Felix

Hatha Yoga

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