Hatha yoga comes in the path of kriya yoga (internal action) and although asana is an integral part of Hatha Yoga, it does not make up all, or even most of the traditional practices. Many of the practices which historically may have been thought of as easy and for beginners, require much more concentration than the average person is currently able to apply.
But luckily (using asana) you can work on the mind through the body, which is probably why it has become so popular today. So many people spend their lives completely stuck in their minds that learning to bring the energy down into the body helps them to calm down and achieve higher levels of concentration and efficiency in other aspects of their lives.
Other times you hear people saying ‘it’s not real yoga it’s just gymnastics’. The yoga element comes from the mental and internal actions of the posture rather than external aesthetics. But this cannot all be learned instantly. Possibly for some time, people are only interested in the physical aspects, but with practice, the layers of the mind will naturally follow.
Hatha = Effort / Forceful
This understanding of the word Hatha makes it clear to anyone who wants to take this path that it will be forceful or effortful purification of the self. The path is well laid out with techniques to remove various levels of blockages and bring the body to its natural state of health so that prana (life force) can flow freely, and the sense of ego and self can be dropped.
It may seem like the path is relatively straightforward (difficult but simple) but there are many ways that people get caught, and it is usually to do with the ego.
Asana (posture) is a brilliant example of this. If it is being used to unblock areas of the body, and to overcome mental fears then there will be no problems. But if you start to identify your self-worth with how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ your posture is, and compare yourself to others, and strive to become more gymnastic and beautiful, then you will be caught in these mental cycles and will be creating more blockages than you are freeing.
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