Hatha Yoga

Today’s contemporary yogic practices commonly used in the West are considered Hatha Yoga. The body and mind are cleansed of impurities that inhibit the flow of prana, an energetic force that sustains all life, through the nadis. Blockages in these subtle sustenance channels may lead to various ailments that incapacitate the yogi’s ability to engage in the meditative components of Raja Yoga–of which the latter limbs of Patañjali’s Ashtanga Yoga categorically refer to.

The “yoking” element is inherent in Hatha’s Sanskrit etymological origins. Ha is attributed to the sun; tha engages the lunar qualities; and together ha and tha becomes “forceful.” Combined with yoga, Hatha alludes to the power and balance generated as a result of this partnership, as well as the force necessary to cleanse our physical form.

This cumulative pranic energy is engaged in the rising of the Kundalini Shakti, which leads to elusive enlightenment sought by the yogis. The ida and pingala, also representative of the sun and moon respectively, join forces to unite in the sushumna (spinal column) and rise upwards to pierce the sahasrara, the chakra of the thousand-petalled lotus at the top of the skull. The opposing forces of hot and cold; female and male; body and mind; positive and negative are all reminiscent of the power that arises from the unification of opposing forces.