What is Hatha Yoga? By: Alison King Tigges

Hatha yoga.  Maybe you have heard of it?  Or seen it on our class schedule?  My goal today is to answer the question “What is hatha yoga?”  The answer is twofold.

1.     Hatha yoga historically, in the context of yoga as a whole

2.     Hatha yoga, the class, on the One Tree Yoga schedule.

I will attempt to answer both!

The answer to the first is long and spans over centuries.  We could spend countless hours learning about hatha yoga.  In a nutshell, hatha yoga is ALL that we think about when we think of yoga poses.  Every style of yoga we know (hot, yin, restorative, vinyasa) all falls under the umbrella of Hatha Yoga.  Asana (doing yoga poses) is participating in the practice of Hatha yoga.  There are tons of other kinds of “yoga” historically.  This included things like bhakti yoga (the path of devotion), jnana yoga (the path of knowledge), the list goes on.  All of these different paths are seen as ways to get to the ultimate goal of self-realization or enlightenment.  Hatha yoga is the physical path (it’s also known as the hardest path by the way!  It takes the longest) to get there.

So, why do we have a class on our schedule specifically called Hatha yoga, if all yoga styles are hatha? 

Glad you asked! “Hatha yoga” seems to best capture the essence of the class. It is our way of saying, “this is your run-of-the-mill, alignment-based, traditional, learn-how-to-do-yoga-poses, use all the yoga props, yoga class”!  In other words, hatha yoga at OTY is where you learn HOW to do yoga poses.

Here are a few reasons we LOVE our hatha yoga classes at OTY, and think EVERYONE can benefit from it:

1.     Props!  They are the best.  We use them a lot.  They can make poses more challenging, more accessible, and inform better alignment.  We base our hatha classes off traditional Iyengar yoga, where props are king. 

2.     You learn poses!  Hatha is a great class that accomplishes pose deconstruction.  It breaks a pose down and helps you understand what needs to be strengthened, opened, and prepped in order to do a pose.  It allows you to learn the key actions in the pose and really understand them in your body.  It builds muscle memory which leads to a more effective practice.

3.     You have more time!  Hatha allows time for longer holds.  When you hold an active pose for more than a breath or two, you build strength and stamina.  This also allows for more time to focus on breath and being in the present moment.  I love some fast yoga flow on occasion, but it is easy to let alignment suffer and go on auto pilot.  Longer holds and moving a bit slower promotes mindfulness.  Mindfulness is an essential part of a yoga practice.

4.     Alignment!  Yes, alignment is just a suggestion.  We all have innate knowledge in our bodies that knows better than some ideas some old yogis thought of a long time ago.  BUT there is something to be said about safety and optimal ways to stack the bones and work with muscles in postures.  When we have more time in a pose, there is more time for the teacher to cue the pose! The instructors at OTY have a lot of training and therefore have a lot to say.

5.     Hatha informs all the other yoga we do!  When we understand and really know poses in our bodies, it’s easier to flow faster in a vinyasa practice or slow down and relax into a yin pose.  Poses can be manipulated depending on the intention or style, and hatha is a great baseline for that. 

6.     It is awesome and appropriate for ALL students.  Beginners, this is where you learn!  Long-time yoga practitioners—we should always keep learning and refining!  Understanding poses and props is a great way to ensure we can do this yoga thing for a lifetime.