Hatha Yoga with Samantha

Hatha yoga is the yoga of activity and includes asana, pranayama, mudras, bandhas & kriyas.

The ultimate goal in Hatha yoga is to achieve Samadhi – state of freedom from attachments, ego and the illusion of the material world.

“Yogas chitta vritti nirodha” – Yoga Sutras, 1:2

Yoga stills the fluctuations of the mind

• Union (self-realisation) is achieved when we balance the mental & pranic energy forces
• Pingala (right/yang) & Ida (left/yin) nadis (energy channels). One of them usually dominates
• Hatha yoga’s role is to balance these two forces and bring us into perfect mental & energetic equilibrium to awaken Sushumna
• All three nadis end at Ajna (third eye) chakra, the psychic centre
• During our Hatha practice, Ida & Pingala are balanced, Sushumna is activated and Ajna chakra is awakened

We practice our asana the way we come into the world – head first!

The life cycle of our practice reflects our own life cycle, mirroring nature as we go through every stage on our way to samadhi.

Classical hatha yoga begins the asana sequence with inversions, then moves us into supine poses (laying on our backs, like babies), then rolling over onto our stomachs into prone poses (as we learn to do as babies when we develop our muscles and begin to explore our surroundings). Next comes seated postures and then as we develop maturity into our standing postures. The final pose in a hatha class is Savasana (corpse pose) reflecting the death of our practice as we move onto the next phase of our energetic development.

At the beginning of every practice and between each set of asana, we take a short Savasana, observing ourselves with curiosity and compassion. At the end we take a long Savasana relaxing into our expanded awareness, observing the interplay between Ida and Pingala and Sushumna.

1. Tadasana – mountain pose
2. Pranamasana – Prayer pose
3. Anuvittasana – Standing backbend
4. Uttanasana – Standing forward bending pose
5. Anjaneyasana – Low Lunging pose
6. Phalakasana – Plank pose
7. Ashtanga Namaskar – Knees, chest, chin pose
8. Bhujangasana – Cobra pose
9. Adho Mukha Svanasana – Downward facing dog pose
10. Anjaneyasana – Low Lunging pose
11. Uttanasana – Standing forward bending pose
12. Anuvittasana – Standing backbend
13. Tadasana – mountain pose