Yoga is not just a series of exercises. It is not only physical postures (asana) but breath work (pranayama) and meditation. Hatha yoga is the umbrella term for all other types of yoga. Hatha yoga helps to promote mental, physical and spirtual health. Hatha yoga promotes peace and harmony in the mind and body. Each pose affects the body differently but when practiced with the breath helps to calm the mind. The philosophy of traditional yoga was written in Patajani's yoga sutras in around 200-400 BC. The yoga sutras are a code of behaviours that influence many types of yoga today. The name Hatha comes from the sanskirt word yuj which means 'to unite, to join or connect.' The physical poses of hatha yoga are written in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Yoga started out as a seated practice (asana means seat) which was mostly about mind control and meditation. Yoga is actually about quietening your mind but because that is a hard thing to do, it is much easier to focus our mind on physical postures. Yoga isn't really about the stretching or achieving a certain pose. It is about the focus and concentration required to get into a pose and in doing so we can block out all other thoughts while we focus on the pose. When we bring our awareness to our physical yoga practice we can focus on what is happening now in the present moment, rather than dwell on the past or worry about the future. When we focus on our breath and how it feels to be in the posture this can bring us a sense of stillness and calm. This is true yoga. Yoga in the early days looked more like gymnastics or contortionists!
Yoga on social media can often be too focussed on how a posture looks rather than how a posture feels. Modern yoga in the west is largely influenced by movement science and yoga teachers are much more informed about anatomy and physiology of the human body. Yoga can be a great anitdote to a busy and stressful modern life if we apply it in the right way.
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