5 Principles of Hatha Yoga
By Charlene Gibian, Certified Yoga Instructor
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The benefits that we gain from a consistent practice of yoga are endless. Lowering our blood pressure, respiration, heart rate, just to mention a few. These benefits don’t just happen by showing up to a yoga class! We need to be able to understand the essence of the practice. This will allow healthy improvements to our bodies. Such as stimulation of our organs, our digestion system and improving our blood flow. These 5 ‘Principals of Hatha Yoga’ are as follows:
1. Proper Exercise (Asanas)
Our physical body is meant to move and exercise. If our lifestyle doesn’t provide motion of muscles and of our joints, then disease and stiffness & discomfort will happen with time. Proper exercise should be pleasant to the person who practices it, while beneficial to the body, mind and spiritual life.
2. Proper Breathing (Pranayama)
Yoga teaches us how to use the lungs to their maximum capacity and how to control our breath. Proper breathing should be deep, slow and rhythmical. This increases our focus and mental clarity. It also teaches us to move with the breath.
3. Proper Relaxation (Savasana)
Long before the invention of cars, planes, telephones, computers, highways and other modern triggers of stress, the Sages of the old days and Yogis of yore devised very powerful techniques for deep relaxation. They taught themselves a style of self hypnosis. As a matter of fact, many modern stress-management and relaxation methods borrow heavily from this tradition by relaxing deeply and totally all of our muscles. A Yogi can thoroughly rejuvenate our nervous system and attain a deep sense of inner peace.
4. Proper Diet (Vegetarian)
We most certainly are responsible for building our physical body. The foods that we eat definitely affect our mind. For maximum body-mind efficiency and complete spiritual awareness, Yoga advocates a lacto-vegetarian diet. This is an integral part of the Yoga lifestyle. Do no harm. This means to all creatures everywhere. All creatures above us, below us, in the air, in the sea, those being born and those dying. DO NO HARM. Eat no flesh.
5. Meditation (Dhyana)
Here is the most important point of all, we become what we think. Therefore we should work to think positive and creative thoughts. These will contribute to vibrant health and a peaceful, joyful mind. A positive outlook on life can be developed by learning and practicing the teachings of the philosophy of Yoga. Our mind can be brought under perfect control by a regular practice of meditation.
Yoga is the art of living a healthy and sound lifestyle. It’s not just twisting yourself into a pretzel. As I have said before. (Although the pretzel part would be nice!) It’s truly about an average person coming into class, trying to learn to apply these Principles, and to make these the best and most healthy years of your life. This I know for sure…..as I am you.
Namaste,
Charlene Gibian
Certified Yoga Instructor
charlinfla@aol.com
www.charlenesyoga.com
954-755-9123 Anytime, any questions.
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