The fundamental techniques of hatha yoga

Hatha Yoga literally means sun and moon, coming from two Sanskrit words Ha which means sun and Tha which means moon.Hatha Yoga, which was first introduced to help yoga practitioners start off with purifying their bodies before proceeding to a higher level of meditation.

American yoga followers usually practice the Hatha Yoga to improve their physical and mental health. Most of the Western practitioners of the Hatha Yoga focus on the asanas or yoga poses and exercises but it is really a unified yoga discipline veering not only on the physical but also in Pranayama which consists of breathing and meditation techniques.

The two fundamental techniques of hatha yoga are Asanas(postures) and Pranayama(breathing techniques, also known as shatkarma).

Asanas (poses)
Asanas in Hatha Yoga has two essential objectives. The first is that to practice any real meditation, one needs at the least one posture in which one can be perfectly comfortable for a longer period of time. The more such postures one can master, the better the basis for developing the inner meditation techniques.

The second objective of excercising asanas in Hatha Yoga is to bring health and energy to body and mind by opening the nadis. When such excercises are regularly perfomed, the path of hatha yoga is opened automatically, though one still has to follow it further.

The mere mastering of postures is no objective in itself, though mastering various postures certainly strengthens the power of will and concentration and the habit of not paying too much attention to the information input by the senses. Thus practicing asanas in Hatha Yoga directly opens the path to Prathyahara and Dharana.

Pranayama (breathing techniques)
The excercise of Pranayama in Hatha Yoga is essential to master ones' breathing patterns. If one can master breath, then the mastery of mind is within reach. Through breathing excercises the flow of prana or vital life force through the body is regulated. That energy is certainly needed on the further steps of Hatha Yoga that ultimately may lead to samadhi. Special breathing techniques, in which the flow of breath through both nostrils is alternated, brings balance to the two hemispheres of the brain.

Hatha yoga is a very significant discipline that helps a yoga practitioner to achieve unity of body and mind in order for him/her to be elevated to spiritual perfection. An important part of hatha practices is awakening of Kundalini Energy.The signs of success in hatha yoga are slenderness of the body, cheerful face, hearing mystical sound, bright eyes, sense of well-being, control over the subtle body(bindu), increase in gastric fire and purification of the nadis(channels for the flow of consciousness)