• HATHA YOGA .. what is hatha yoga?

     

    HATHA YOGA 

    HATHA YOGA                           in sanscrit...  HA - THA                 HATHA YOGA

     

    HA   as bija mantra corresponds to the "Prana Shakti" or  Vital force

    Likewise the bija mantra THA refers to the "Manas Shakti" or Mental force

    Thus HATHA YOGA means UNION of these two forces, the Mental and Vital forces which compose our being.

    According to the ancient texts of HATHA YOGA PRADIPIKA, when UNION is completed between Manas Shakti and Prana Shakti, one reaches HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS AWAKENING

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    While THA- the mind force- is often symbolised by the FEMININE qualities, the MOON, creativity, intuition, passivity, kindness, sensitivity...

    HA- the pranic force will be represented by the MASCULINE qualities, and SUN, logical and rationnal thinking, strength, activity. 

    Like this Ha- et Tha- may be seen as the two poles of an alternating current, THA being the negative pole and HA being the positive one.

    When they unite... AWAKENING takes place ! big FLASH ! 

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    Yet before we imagine reaching this possible future awakening... it is important to point out that just like in electricity, should one of the pole be predominant, then the quality of the current will be poor.

    Likewise, in our life, in our being, should masculine and feminine energies be in a state of imbalance, then our whole being, our whole life will also be in imbalance

    And unfortunately that is actually what 99% of human being experience, specially in the West where this MALE aspect- SUN aspect- HA aspect  has been so strongly stressed, almost forgetting the FEMALE tendancies of creativity, intuition, sensitivity...

    But let me draw your attention to this point:

    First there is no judgement in those words, both MALE and FEMALE qualities are valuable. 

    Second, BOTH MALE and FEMALE aspects, or lets say HA and THA tendancies, are PRESENT in BOTH MEN and WOMEN of course.

    Besides they are closely related to the two cerebral hemispheres:

     

    --  TheLEFT hemisphere which deals with our right side of the physical body, is related with the HA aspect of our personality: action, rationnality, logical thinking, competitiveness, attraction for power .... the SUN aspect and masculine tendancies..

    -- the RIGHT hemisphere now deals with the left side of the physical body, and is related with the THA aspect of our being: sensitivity, passivity, compassion, intuition, creativity .. the MOON aspect and female tendancies.

     

    So, just as we MEN AND WOMEN have all both RIGHT and LEFT HEMISPHERES  in our brains (:o)) we BOTH MEN AND WOMEN have these FEMALE and MALE tendancies in us ALL.

    However ....

    However there is no doubt that whether man or woman, the predominancy of the MALE qualities, on the expense of the FEMALE ones   is OBVIOUS specially in the west...

    And i would even dare to say that, even though this imbalance might be already painful and difficult to heal for us WOMEN, it might be even WORSE for MEN, who have seen their sensitivity totally and forcibly denied, despised since childhood ??...

    (like ... "a boy should not cry!" .. or "a man should be strong !" .. or "a man has no emotions ! " ... "don4t be like a girl !!" . such reprimand when repeatedly heard during childhood may break the heart of a young and sensitive boy who will just have to hide his true nature for long ! )

    Nowdays fortunately things are changing, consciousness evolve, yet wounds take sometimes long to heal...

     

    THat is also why HATHA YOGA is such a precious and powerful tool.

    Before even thinking of uniting our two poles HA and THA, and reaching a mysterious Awakening... HATHA YOGA will PREPARE our body mind spirit by recreating,  reharmonizing the BALANCE between our two tendancies.

     

    And actually it might be said that one of the most important aim of the HATHA YOGA is precisely that one :

    Bringing back BALANCE to our whole being in the form of the HA and THA polarities

    HATHA YOGA  Balance between our MOON and SUN aspects  HATHA YOGA

    Balance between our male and female qualities

    Balance between rational and intuitive thinking

    Balance between logical thinking and creativity 

    Balance between action and passiveness

    ...

    And like this HATHA YOGA may let our WHOLE being flourish again, ancient tendancies previously denied would come back with full acceptance and joy, excessivly predominant tendancies would just diminish smoothly and welcome new aspects with full openness.. and HARMONY may ultimately take place ...

    We may ultimately continue the journey with BOTH poles balanced, none of them being too much predominant, and both of them being equally important and accepted.

    THis is the condition to be able to LIVE as HUMAN BEING with our FULL POTENTIAL 

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     Just like the ocean is moved by the flood tide and ebb tide

    Just like breath is given rythm by the inhalation and exhalation

    Just like night is balanced with day

    HATHA YOGA    Just like the Moon dances with the Sun    HATHA YOGA

    Our male and female tendancies should be balanced

    This is the condition for a FULL POTENTIAL and HARMONISED LIFE 

     

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    As an important consequence of this BALANCE brought by HATHA YOGA we must mention .. HEALTH !

    According to Yoga and all the Eastern medecines, any kind of disease or illness is the sign of an energy imbalance. 

    Be it at physical level or mental level or emotionnal level ...

    So it is just a wonderful positive outcome that bringing back BALANCE in our being... HATHA YOGA will bring our HEALTH in a better condition as well.

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    Now lets look at the HATHA YOGA means : What are they ?

    ASANAs physical postures which will be practiced with AWARENESS, uniting breath and physical movements with mental awareness

    PRANAYAMAs breathing practices aiming at becoming aware of the PRANA's movements in us (PRANA= life force= vital energy= prana shakti) which again conducted with AWARENESS will unite mind and pranic energy in one practice- thus leading to harmony and balance

    SHATKARMAs purification- cleansing practices which may at first appear a bit difficult but will definitely come to us when time is right to help remove blockages of locked energy

     

    Whereas it was advised in the past and according to the ancient scriptures to start Yoga with YAMAs and NIYAMAs (sort of moral conducts) it appears that for us, westerners, we are more inclined to start with ASANAs and PRANAYAMAs and soon SHATKARMAs which appear to be more adapted to our functionning.

    Yet YAMAs and NIYAMAs will come on time and be part of the path too.

    So we can say that HATHA YOGA prepares our being to more advanced practices like "pratyahara" (withdrawal of the senses) , "dharana" (concentration) "dhyana" (meditation) and "samadhi" (realization)

    Yet without focusing or expecting anything like that, we should practice HATHA YOGA at first to become BALANCED and recover and BETTER HEALTH so as to be able to live our life with its FULL POTENTIAL.

     

    Hari Om Tat Sat

     

    ----------------------- soon texts about ASANAS-  PRANAYAMA- SHATKARMAS will come ----------------------------