For complete health and fitness, Hatha Yoga encompasses the eight limbs of yoga which includes asanas, concentration, meditation and Samadhi! Your sadhana practiced religiously leads one to become a master over ego and ignorance. Thus, the true practice of yoga is the union of soul and spirit and this should be the first question on the spiritual path:
"How May I Come To Know God"?
God may go by many names in many religions. But God is not a "man" up in the sky! Essentially, all religions state that God is Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent. So it doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to conclude that if God is truly everywhere and everyplace then He must accordingly be within you!
Intellectually, we may accept this fact but many of us have no idea how to reach the God that may be within us. This is a question that was first positioned ages ago and there are those that have answered the question for themselves and then provided a roadmap for others to find the same. Hence, came the Birth of Yoga. Yoga is the union of soul and Spirit. It is the means to this union and the state of Union.
Over the ages have evolved many types and branches of yoga that may be more suited for the individual and yet they are all branches of the same Tree!
- Hatha Yoga is known as the purification path to Self-Realization or Kaivalya.
- Hatha deals with understanding the nature of not only the body but the elements of Creation.
- By doing so, we learn to give the body what it needs to flourish and thrive.
- When we become in tune with the body, we become in tune with a calm, steady and healthy relationship with the mind.
- When we're able to calm the mind we are able to concentrate and elevate the consciousness to the higher states of spiritual awareness.
Through continued practice in diet, asanas, exercise and breathing techniques known as pranayama will lead one to liberation from attachment to the physical body. It is a proven system for realizing one's spiritual destiny. Sincere and regular effort is required of any yoga path but they all lead to true happiness, inner peace and the dynamic joy of the soul.
"Many rivers... One Ocean; many branches... One Tree; many paths... One Destination; many stories... One Truth!"
1 S.O.U.L. Publishing
www.selfawakened.com