Friday, August 16, 2013

Fitness Tip of the Day: Friday's Facts/Saturday Stretch -- The Benefits of Hatha Yoga

I decided to combine the Friday and Saturday posts today because of a new post from Dr. Melissa West from Namaste Yoga that I saw on Facebook.

It is the first video of a 20 class series that she will be doing on Hatha Yoga; what is it and what are it's benefits.  She is going to cover not only the benefits to the physical body, but also the energetic body.  It is very informative.

It is based on two books:  Yoga Beyond Belief, Insights to Awakening and Deepening Your Practice and  a main Hatha Yoga text:  The Hatha Yoga Pradipika

From the text with the video:

"What is Hatha Yoga? Over the next several weeks we will be exploring Hatha Yoga and its benefits. Ha means sun and tha means moon. Ha is masculine, heating, expanding and strengthening. Tha is feminine, cooling, contracting, and flexible. We need both in our practice to create balance. Flexibility without strength leads to fragility. Strength without flexibility leads to rigidity. Too many heating practices would cause you to burn out. Your inhalation for example increases energy, tightens and strengthens (HA), while your exhalation releases energy, softens and lengthens.

The style of hatha yoga we practice on Namaste Yoga encourages long holds anywhere from 30 seconds to one minute to several minutes. Ideally without the time constraints of computer download file sizes I would have you holding yoga poses for at least 3-5 minutes

Long holds allow for deeper openings. Long holds release deeply held stress and tension. Long holds release holding patterns in your musculature that leads to better alignment of your muscles, bones and nerves. Long holds allow you to penetrate to deeper and subtler areas of your energetic body. This allows you to tune into energy and receive the messages from your body, ultimately allowing you to strengthen, heal and balance."


Her website is listed on the right side bar.  You can also follow her on facebook.

No comments:

Post a Comment