Hatha Yoga: All About the Style of Yoga

Hatha yoga
Everything about the style of yoga

by Stephanie Pingel

02/25/2021, 10:57 am

What is hatha yoga?

Hatha Yoga is probably the most famous of all yoga styles worldwide and focuses on Asanas (movement) and Pranayama (breath) – but meditation also plays a role. The yoga style includes many classic yoga exercises such as the sun salutation or the downward facing dog and is therefore particularly suitable for beginners. The term comes from Sanskrit and is made up of "Ha" (sun, power) and "tha" (moon, silence) – in Hatha Yoga, two opposing forces are supposed to be united.

There is even a kind of basic work for Hatha Yoga, the so-called Yoga Pradipika. Translated, Pradipika means something like lamp, lamp or light. Just like Hatha Yoga as a style itself, Yoga Pradipika is probably the most famous script of yoga worldwide.

What are the benefits of hatha yoga?

Hatha Yoga focuses on flowing, calm movements and breathing exercises, which are primarily used for relaxation. This is what makes this style of yoga so appealing to beginners. Regular Hatha Yoga has the following advantages:

The many positive effects can be attributed to the combination of asanas and pranayama. Of course, yoga can't work miracles – especially if you're just starting out, you should give yoga some time to develop its health benefits. The more you practice it, the easier the exercises are and the more fluid they appear. Mind and emotions come to rest, it is easier to focus on the here and now.

Yoga: important for beginners

Beginners in particular should listen to their bodies when doing yoga. The aim of the exercises in Hatha is to do something for your health and to carefully feel your own limits – but not to recklessly ignore it. That is why it is also important to do the yoga exercises cleanly, at best under professional supervision at first. Otherwise, you only need comfortable yoga clothing and perhaps a comfortable pad to start with – there are plenty of yoga mats, for example.

These yoga exercises are part of Hatha Yoga

There are usually three phases in yoga: Warm up, the so-called flow phase and the final relaxation. The following exemplary exercises are typical of Hatha and are immediately associated with yoga, especially in the West:

1. cat and cow

These two exercises, along with the downward facing dog, are ideal yoga warm-up exercises to loosen up and warm up the muscles. To do this, go to the quadruped position and look straight down.

When you inhale, you make a cat hump by rounding the spine and stretching it towards the ceiling (cat). When you exhale, your gaze goes up and you let your body "sag" in the middle (cow).

2. Downward facing dog

You start again in the four-legged position. Then you stand slightly on your toes, push your hands forward and push your whole body up so that an inverted V appears. You can hold this pose for a moment or alternately press your heels lightly towards the floor to stretch the muscles of the hind legs. Then you either return to the cat and cow or start the flow phase of yoga.

3. Plank

The good thing about the flow phase in yoga is that you can vary and expand it as you wish. A common exercise is the plank. From the four-footed position, you stretch your legs backwards one after the other and hold yourself on the balls of your feet at the back and on your hands at the front with your arms outstretched, as if you were doing a push-up. Make sure that your back stays straight and that there is no hollow back. The abdomen is tensed, then this position is held for a few breaths. Then lower carefully.

4. Cobra

For the cobra you lie flat on your stomach, your arms are bent at the sides of your body, your chest and forehead are touching the ground. Now you lift your head and, with the support of your arms, gradually push your upper body up and back as far as possible. Hold this position for two to three deep breaths and then carefully lower yourself back down to the front.

5. The child

The position of the child in yoga is the ideal relaxation in between. To do this, sit on the balls of your feet and push your upper body down towards the mat. You can either extend your arms long and parallel to the front or put them back towards your legs. At best, the forehead touches the ground in front. Hold this position for a few breaths, then slowly come back to the four-footed position.

Savasana as a final relaxation

It sounds a bit strange at first, but the most famous final exercise in Hatha Yoga is the so-called Savasana – the corpse pose. To do this, lie down relaxed on your back and stretch your arms and legs out to the side. The feet point outwards and the palms downwards. So you lie down for a few minutes and breathe deeply and slowly into and out of your stomach. Then end your yoga session by slowly sitting up and standing up.

Reading tips: Tired of hatha yoga? Here we explain to you how the Osho meditation, Chakra meditation and Zen meditation work and how you can learn meditation.

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