As lives become busier people are interested in finding different activities that can help them relieve the stress and feel more relaxed. There are certainly a lot of things that fit into this description, but one of the most popular and widely used is yoga.
People are now used to living in a fast-paced, noisy environment that is constantly putting stress on them. However, living constantly under stress is not a good way to live and many people discover this the hard way, when they start suffering from different conditions. It has been proven that a lot of conditions including cancer, diabetes, etc. can have stress as one of the reasons for their appearance. If you want to live healthy then you need to start practicing an activity that can take the stress away, even just for a bit. One of the best ways to train both your mind and body, recharge your soul, and feel enlightenment is to practice yoga.
Generally, yoga is considered to be the fundamental practice for reaching inner peace and making the body and mind forge into one entity. It can bring you spiritual enlightenment and awakening, and can also help you train your body to be healthier and stronger. The more that you learn about yoga, the more you will see why millions of people all over the world choose to practice it. There are many different styles of yoga, but in this article we will take a look at Hatha Yoga.
Hatha Yoga is one of the fundamental traditions of what is known as Tantra Yoga. Many people consider this to be the most physically imposing type of yoga there is, mainly because of the fact that it focuses on the general movements and postures of the body. The main idea is that Hatha Yoga is used to combine the polar opposites and to intertwine the different elements within the body. The name Hatha can be literally translated to “force”, hinting at the physically challenging aspects of this particular yoga practice.
The basis of Hatha Yoga is concentrated on the control of breathing and the different postures. However, it can also include other physical exercises, moral values, and meditation, and in general turn into a way of life for some people. Hatha Yoga is in fact one of the most popular forms of yoga known to the Western World and so it comes as no surprise that it has gained a lot of followers over the years.
One of the core elements of Hatha Yoga is the body posture. The different exercise postures, also known as asanas, have been greatly emphasized in Hatha Yoga. This practice believes that the posture is the key towards achieving true meditation. If you have already managed to master your yoga postures, you will be able to achieve higher levels of concentration and in turn – meditation.
The breathing exercises also play a significant role. They are also referred to as Pranayama and are essential towards achieving true balance between mind and body. The name is derived from “Prana”, which means “life force” or “vital energy”, and “Ayama”, which means to extend or to draw out. Hatha Yoga teaches that the mastering of one’s breathing techniques is one of the keys towards reaching the higher stages of meditation. It can open up the channels to the brain and can regulate the elements within one’s body.
There are many Hatha Yoga venues and classes available in just about any city these days. You can always go online and watch a few videos of experts practicing it in order to get into the basics of what it is all about. However, it is always more advisable that you sign up for a class that teaches Hatha Yoga. After all, videos will never be able to capture the true essence of Hatha, and so you may not learn as much as you would from a real class. If you are serious about practicing it, going to a class is the much more preferable option.