Author: Yogmandu

– Kabindra Yogi:

If one wishes to ponder upon the history of Hatha Yoga, ignoring the history of yoga itself will be a distortion of information. The inception of Yoga begins with Shiva who is also known as the Adhi Yogi as well as the father of Yoga. He was the first yogi to teach and flourish the science of yoga.

Researchers and historians trace the development of yoga back to 5,000 years. Some sources even believed yoga to be originated around 10,000 years back. But the philosophies and practices of yoga were conveyed orally.

The history of yoga is segmented into four main eras. Vedic, Preclassical, Classical, Post Classical, or Modern. The Vedic era encompasses the Vedas and Upanishads where huge works of scripture were accomplished. Pre-Classical yoga is a time of Sage Patanjali who developed Ashtanga yoga or eight-limbed path. Classical era of yoga is the era when Tantra yoga was developed which signifies the purification of body and mind breaking the knots that binds us to our connected physical reality. Commencing through this conscious exploration that connects physical and spiritual reality is referred to Hatha Yoga.

Hatha can be broken down into two Sanskrit words: “Ha”- meaning sun and “tha”- meaning moon. This represents the practice in this method. Hatha Yoga is dated back to the 15^th century. There are three classic texts on Hatha yoga. One of which is the “Hatha Yoga Pradipika” is a classic text written by Svatmaram in the 15^th century. He clarified that in the text Hatha as a preparatory stage for physical purification before Raja Yoga.

Gheranda Samhita is another of three classic texts of Hatha yoga which was written by sage Gheranda in the 17^th century. This text is a dialogue between sage Gheranda and king Chandakapalika. Another text by an unknown writer is “Shiva Samhita”. It is dated back by some scholar to be a 17^th-century text, which was written in Varanasi.

The 84 asanas firstly mentioned in Shiva Samhita and Hatha Ratnavali. Hatha Ratnavali is a Hatha Yoga text written by Srinivasa in the 17^th century.

We know that Hatha yoga includes different techniques such as- Shat Karmas (Purification), Asana (Posture), Pranayama (Breath-control), Mudra (Gesture), Chakra (Energy center), Kundalini(Serpent power), Bandha (energy lock), Nadis (psychic channels), Pratyahara(Sensory withdrawal), Dharana(Concentration), Dhyana (Meditation) and Samadha (Meditative absorption).

In the modern era, Swami Vivekananda made a historic address to the world’s Parliament of Religion in Chicago, U.S.A in 1893. Many other charismatic and energetic personalities emerged in the last several decades and propagated different forms of yoga. In the 20^th century, the ancient word yoga had taken thousands of new associations. T. Krishnamacharya was a Sanskrit scholar and yoga teacher in the palace of the Maharaja of Mysore. He developed a unique approach to yoga asana, based on an ancient manuscript known as the “Yoga Korunta”. His very vigorous, athletic, acrobatic, approach to yoga asana was enticing, especially to westerners. The recent master of yoga (Hatha) has emphasized more on the practices of Asana and Pranayama. B.K.S Iyengar developed yoga based on props and equipment which is known as Iyengar yoga worldwide. Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga was developed by K.Pattabhi Jois which is Indian power yoga.

The entire concept of yoga has changed in modern times. Hatha yoga helps to focus on the present moment to become consciously aware and create a healthy mind-body. Even gentle yoga practice provides several health benefits including the cardiovascular benefits, increased oxygenated blood to the body cells, and many more. Yoga can aid weight control, reduce stress, increase strength, and improve flexibility or mobility. It teaches to focus on breathing patterns to improve lung functions, trigger the body’s relaxation response, achieve calmness, and reduce pain.

There are varieties of forms of yoga. You can either choose a physically demanding class or a meditative one. Hatha yoga has different styles in modern-day yoga practices. Some of the names are Sivananda yoga, Iyengar yoga, Kundalini yoga, Ashtanga vinyasa yoga, Vinyasa yoga, Satyananda yoga, Bikram Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Prenatal yoga. Anusara Yoga, Jivamukti yoga, Viniyoga Yin yoga, and many more.

In ancient times Hatha yoga was practiced for many years as to awakening the higher states of consciousness. In today’s times, the actual motive of this great science remains intact as well and should not be forgotten. Hatha yoga was developed for the enfoldment of mankind to create an absolute balance of body, mind, and energy to generate impulses to awaken Sushumna Nadi.

Yoga is an ancient art, science, and philosophy gifted to humans for spiritual enlightenment. It’s an emotional matter practiced by Sadhak (Seeker/Practitioner) for self-realization. For this, yoga offers a three-dimensional benefit: physical, mental, and spiritual.

In today’s world, people across the globe take yoga as a mere exercise. It’s only become a source of physical fitness and if not, mental calmness or relaxation. However, in reality, yoga is more than just bending bones and flexing hips. It’s spiritual guidance!

Every Kriya (action) in yoga has spiritual values, but to learn it, one must have a guru by their side. Otherwise, your practice will only incorporate the physical and the mental side leaving the spiritual one totally unchecked.

The physical and mental side of the practice is more put into action by the people who want to perform the yoga asanas (postures). However, it’s not only about the poses, but it’s also about those breathing bits and pieces.

With the growing use of social media, copying has become a favorite hobby. People, not only copy the poses from socials such as YouTube and TVs, but also without an experienced yoga teacher.

Yoga asanas attract a lot of people because of their health benefits. But, in addition, it also has a plethora of issues. Even if you perform the postures, there can be some common mistakes while doing yoga – jerking body parts, irregularity of breath, overstretching, playing without knowing the intensity, strength, stamina, flexibility, and much more. This, in turn, inflicts harm to self. Unguided yoga practice might cause nerve compression, ligament tears, muscle tears, increased heartbeat, fatigue, tiredness, irritation, and such.

Therapeutic yoga can help people cure diseases, but some medical complications must be duly dealt with. The complications vary in accordance to the Sadhak’s body.

Let’s take Kapalbhati for an example. It’s a well-known breathing technique in the yoga world. TVs and other media platforms just show the How To’s for the exercise but fail to tell the contra-indications to the technique. For Kapalbhati, it’s not recommended for people with heart disease, hernia, high blood pressure, vertigo, epilepsy, stroke, or gastric ulcer. The media has failed to deliver this exact information to the public.

Quite risky for beginners, eh? Yoga practice from TVs or social media is unsafe and might harm some delicate nerves, organs, and tissues in the short run. Moreover, practitioners may also suffer from stroke, paralysis, body pain, body aches, and even mental disorders in the long term.

So, what did you get from all this? Well, though we’ve found ways to teach ourselves new skills and techniques, learning from a master is always of more value.

And, it’s also our parampara (tradition) to learn from masters!

The same applies to yoga, where the energy of a guru helps motivate and inspire and if not, protect the practitioners.

The mentor helps light the path of any spiritual practice of what is called yoga!