Hatha Tantra and Hatha yoga at Applied Yoga Studio

1. Hatha Tantra and Hatha Yoga Applied Yoga Research & Training Centre, Rishikesh India The technical details of Hatha Yoga and Hatha Tantra styles can be either simple or complex, but it's not a matter of which one is better or which one is right. It's a matter of which yoga practice is suitable for you; since many enlightened masters with their hard work and long dedicated exploration, have established several schools and styles of yoga and tantra. Applied Yoga Research and Training Centre is a support system, with to bring clarity into the mind of seekers. Its objective is to provide insightful knowledge and guidance, to help people make a suitable decision for yoga practices in this age information bombardment. The observation of Hatha Tantraas a natural science. Unlike the people who meditated to reflect upon the discriminative intelligence of what is pure and what is impure, there was the dawning of a conceived idea, that if God exists, then it must exist in its creation and its creative forms. The idea evolved that the creator is

2. hidden behind the creation. Hence if this world is the creation of God, then God must be experienced in this very world. There must be a way to experience liberation, while living in the mundane world. As this idea developed, a new system of physical discipline, taming the basic instincts of Thirst, Hunger, Sex/ Reproduction and exploring a way of liberation, through the transcendence of these drives, occurred. Hatha indeed is a primary science of force and effort. Any movement presupposes an applied force. Even the evolution of tantra used the same science of Hatha, only it did not follow the belief of a transcendental God; away and untouched by any movement. It believed that the application of force and effort to make any desirable change was necessary in order to experience the path of liberation in this very ordinary life. This is Hatha Tantra. The Origin of Hatha Yoga as precise science. Hatha Yoga is that which explains how to apply certain forces to the body and the Effect it shall generate. It is a primary science which originated and evolved in India, as a support system to the yogis who wanted to be healthy and live long in. Any kind of environment. Back in those days, science was not developed enough to protect one against the vagaries of nature, so the situation demanded a very strong immune system, like the animals. In order to meet this challenge, they started learning from the animals around them who were fully healthy until death. In the long course of history, Hatha Tantra has also bred many schools of thoughts, styles and techniques. Though there has always been a fundamental difference between methodology or styles of adopting an asana, between Hatha yoga and Hatha Tantra. In Hatha Yoga, a Yogi would either practice the resting pose of an animal or the everyday movements from sleeping to waking up. That is because Hatha yogis are primarily making an effort to calm and control the instincts and drives, in order to experience the transcendental God.

3. Development of Asanas and movements in Hatha Yoga and Hatha Tantra The yogis observed that the animals, who breathe fast, die within a short Span of life, like dogs, cats etc. and the animals who breathe in a measured and gentle manner, live much longer lives, like the turtle. With this observation, the yogis started to copy the poses of certain animals and make a deeper observation of what is happening in the Brain and mind. In this way, many asanas started to come into practice.These practices of relaxing into a pose of an animal and breathing in the same pattern of an animal, started to change the endocrine system and Brain, consequently influencing the life of the practitioner; providing a stronger immune system and long life – span. This way, a new science of support system by the yogis developed and it was called Hatha Yoga. Through further observation of the animal kingdom, hatha Tantra Yogis realized that the heart of the movement is dependent on nervous system coordination, use of vertebra and the spinal cord. In order to derive maximum benefits from the of drives, the perfect movements are needed. When they Studied the perfect movement from them, they basically observed how the animals used their vertebra and discs; which beads of the disc are relaxed and which ones are held under tension and how the animals are bringing force, using their nervous system. They also observed the animals attacking, defending, eating and mating, and they started simulating these same movements. Thus gaining mastery and awareness, to experience the God who is transcendental and at the same time imminent, into this very natural world.

4. The idea of liberation As well as working on the physical body, the primary goal of the yogis was to attain liberation, or the Union of the Individual with God or “paramatma”- the Supreme Soul. They chose to live in forests, caves and Mountains, where they kept practicing poses of animals and their breathing patterns. The Hatha Tantra yogis were more interested in experiencing liberation while meeting the survival needs, supporting the natural law of reproduction and living a normal social life. The Asanas based on Animal, Human and Divine Forms As yogis intelligence started to develop further and awakened to the infinite possibilities, they started to learn directly from their own body and mind. And so in Hatha Yoga, some asanas are named after the animals and some asanas are based on flowers, plants, and symbols. That which was learned directly from the self ie, the human body, are in the category of Human Poses and that which are based on plants, celestial bodies and diagrams are called Divine Poses. The Adaptation of Hatha Yoga in society: known as Yoga The practice of Hatha Yoga in itself is also evolutionary. One learns to evolve with a silent and serene mind. First as an animal where they learn to tame the self-preservation instincts and various bodily drives. And then progressing into practicing the transition into tacking inspiration from the human form and start to grow within, with divine poses as a Pure Meditation. People who are awakening a discriminative intelligence without any external

5. support or utilizing their energy into transcending the drives, are called Yogis, or Hatha Yogis. The first University of Yoga established in the world, was the Bihar School of Yoga, founded by Swami Satyananda Saraswati, in the realm of Sivananda tradition. Though later, because of the demonstration of Swami Rama and the teachings of other great sages, about how a true Yogi can control the body and mind, Hatha Yoga became well known. It is now more commonly known as only Yoga.