Sunday, August 10, 2008

Hatha Yoga

Hatha Yoga

The school of Hatha Yoga attaches a lot of importance to the perfect physical form, believing it to be a way of attaining spiritual perfection. And to this end it takes the help of pranayama (breath-control exercises) and mudras (hand gestures) to attain self-realization.


Often seen as part of Raja Yoga, the origins of Hatha Yoga can be traced to Gorakhnath, the 12th-century founder of the Kanphata Yogis. The word 'hatha' is derived from the two root terms, 'ha' meaning 'the sun' and 'tha' meaning 'the moon'. Taken together, the term stands for 'union of force'. Hence, central to Hatha Yoga disciplines is the harmonizing of its positive (sun) and negative (moon) currents.

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