Have you been skipping on your fitness classes for long or wanting to join the latest bandwagon of fitness from your old routine? For all scenarios, the answer is yoga! However, it is an overwhelming community and you may land up feeling like Alice in Wonderland over various types of yoga! Selecting it can be a pretty daunting task but our hands down verdict go to hatha yoga! For all yoga newbies, it is the perfect starting place even though it may not be the ideal form for you to practice eventually! Let’s enlighten ourselves about the hatha yoga series and the arguments supporting it.
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What Is Hatha Yoga?
In true sense, hatha yoga is not a particularly definitive style but it facilitates any kind of yoga where the asanas or poses are practiced. The complete Sanskrit word ‘Hatha’ means ‘Forceful’. When broken down, the Sanskrit words, ‘Ha’ means sun while ‘Tha’ means the moon. Thus, the basic meaning of hatha yoga is a practice of those asanas that brings together opposite pairs and helps you achieve total peace, synchronization and relaxation between mind and body.
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Being a slow and gentle form, it focuses more on breathing through Pranayama exercises and meditation to help you achieve a perfect body and mind alignment. Here you are required to hold a yoga pose for a longer period of time and then relax before moving to the next pose. Thus, there is no yoga hatha flow present here. This implies that there is ample relaxation between two yoga poses. Owing to this, hatha yoga for beginners is considered ideal! No matter what your fitness level is, you can easily energize and nourish your body with this form of yoga!
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Hatha Flow Yoga
Like all other streams, you cannot have any yoga style without its variations. Hatha yoga is a great place to start for all those who are taking their first baby steps in the word of fitness. However, if you are already a fitness freak andares trying to take up yoga for complete body and mind relaxation, then the hatha yoga sequence flow is the ideal choice! Yes, we remember stating above that hatha yoga has no flow. However, do not get confused. Here all the hatha yoga beginner poses are practiced one after another in a sequence without that resting period in between to form the flow. Many also describe this sequence flow as vinyasa yoga form.
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Why Opt For Hatha Yoga?
Now that you understand what hatha yoga is you would naturally want to understand its varied benefits. Foremost, this style of yoga focuses on breathing and helps you generate both strength and flexibility. Balancing the harmonic connection between the mind and the body, it facilitates the flow of energy throughout the body to eliminate all kinds of stress and tension. Some of its major benefits include:-
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1. Improves flexibility
You might have a slim body but without flexibility, you would be losing out on an agile and supple body. The flexibility gained through this form of yoga practice helps you rectify all postural issues and facilitate muscle flexibility. Consequently, your body gets prepared in the right way to assume difficult yoga postures as you advance forward.
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2. Strengthens and tones the body
Hatha yoga allows you to work with your body weight in a harmonious way such that your body not only develops strength but also becomes toned. The poses are held for longer periods of time which will really engage your muscles and impart the strength as well as balance. Owning to this, various ailments like arthritis are also kept at bay.
3. Enhances your fitness and health
This yoga style despite being slow in pace energizes your body optimally and surprisingly melts away a sizeable portion of the deposited fats within you to leave a slimmer you! Strengthening all the body systems, it enhances the body metabolism and strengthens the immunity system. Because of this not only are the fat deposits targeted but the lymphatic system is also triggered. This improves the drainage of all harmful radicals and toxins from our body, thereby improving its overall health.
