Meaning of Hatha Yoga Beyond Yoga Poses

Yogini Ida, one of our Hatha / Vinyasa yoga teachers at Bali Yoga School, explains what Hatha yoga is beyond the benefits of physical yoga asanas.

My name is Ida, I’m currently teaching in Bali Yoga School. I teach Hatha yoga and also alignment and adjustment here. I am Balinese, grew up in a Hindu family, so yoga is not like a new thing for us here as a Hindu. Yoga is like an inner journey, yoga is a journey of life here (in Bali). learning Hatha yoga gives you much benefits especially we align the body, learn a lot about the body. Through Hatha practice, you build the strength and the basic foundation of the body. It helps you to build your strength and flexibility as well. ‘Ha’ is a bija mantra from the sun. ‘Tha’ is the moon, so Hatha is also about balance, balance in life, and balance in the body as well between the female and male energy, active and passive, hot and cold. It’s all about balance. Why do we also need to learn about alignment and adjustment is that they help us to learn and build stability of the body which also gives us the space for us to learn align the body again, build strength and avoid injuries with a safe practice here.