A yoga class described as ‘Hatha’ will typically involve a set of physical postures (yoga poses) and breathing techniques. These are typically practised more slowly and with more static posture holds than a Vinyasa flow or Ashtanga class. And indeed, that is how we describe our Hatha yoga classes on LotusYoga.
Originally, Hatha yoga practices were entirely focussed upon the breath and the means of controlling it. This way of practising has now come to represent just one of the branches of Hatha yoga – Pranayama. Extreme breath control was essentially considered the ability to control prana or one’s own ‘life force’, and therefore the ability to control life.
The postures are taught to assure alignment, sharing of weight between the left and right sides, develop the right kind of breathing and enhance balancing.