Hatha Yoga
The practice of yoga is an art and science dedicated to creating union between body, mind and spirit. Its objective is to assist the practitioner in using the breath and body to nurture an awareness of ourselves intimately connected to the unified creation. It is about making balance within so as to live in peace, good health and harmony with the greater whole. This art of living was perfected and practiced in India thousands of years ago and the foundations of yoga philosophy were written down in The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, approximately 200 AD. This sacred text describes the inner workings of the mind and provides an eight-step blueprint for controlling its restlessness so as to enjoying lasting inner peace.
The core of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is an eight-limbed path that forms the structural framework for yoga practice. Upon practicing all eight limbs of the path it becomes self-evident that no one element is elevated over another. Each is part of a whole which eventually brings completeness to the individual. Because we are all uniquely individual a person can emphasize one branch and then move on to another as they round out their understanding.