Hatha Yoga

Hatha yoga can be described as a branch of yoga that often flashes in one's mind when one thinks of yoga in its general terms. It must be understood that hatha yoga practice entails body, breath, and mind and classes, normally last for about 45 minutes to 90 minutes of yoga poses, breathing, and perhaps meditation.

Hatha yoga began a long time ago in India, and it was only considered a series of spiritual breathing exercises. It is imperative to note that the term "Hatha" was first used in the 11th century but later spread to American in the late 19 century, where it gained popularity in the 1960s. As the practice gained momentum in America, it can be said that as of today, it has been found that in every seven Americans, at least one person practices yoga, and this has been attributed to several benefits of yoga exercises as it promotes mind-body well-being alongside other numerous health benefits.

The history of hatha yoga can be traced back to Gorakhnath. In Sanskrit, the term Hatha means force, and its origin is strongly linked to the Hindu and Buddhist texts, which grew and later included the use of yoga postures as well as breath control which was recognized as one of the primary ways of enhancing vital energy. It must be understood that later in the 15th century, classical Hatha yoga was developed, and this advancement included proper guidance on the effective way of setting asanas, yoga, breathing exercises which were identified as pranayama, hand gestures or mudras, and meditation as part of enhancing personal spiritual growth. The spread of Hatha yoga was spread to America by Swami Vivekananda late in 19 century as a spiritual practice. But as time went by, the practice of yoga in American gained a lot of popularity and perhaps made a combination of asanas with other well-known exercises of the day to develop a flow style of hatha yoga that was more of physical bodily exercise than spiritual.

In American, the practice of Hatha yoga kept on improving by combining many other aspects of physical exercise, and by the 1950s, the practice had already been introduced to millions of households across America with Richard Hittlemen via his popular TV show known as " Yoga for Health" and a few years later a spiritual leader- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who as a spiritual leader and advisor to the Beatles developed another new dimension of Yoga which spearheaded the combination of transcendental meditation and yoga and as we speak today, Hatha yoga is popular for both spiritual practice for mind and as well for a physical bodily exercise. Much medical research has shown that Hatha yoga has several benefits to the human body, particularly the benefits that promote good health in people living with various medical conditions. Among these benefits includeRelieving depression and anxiety among people affected with the said condition.

Hatha yoga can help reduce the aspect of everyday anxiety and depression symptoms. Although it may not be medically effective, research has shown that it can help reduce the impacts of depression and anxiety conditions. Secondly, it is believed that other than promoting the physical and mental wellness of people, Hatha yoga also plays a critical role in relieving the effects of osteoarthritis, arthritis, rheumatoid, and fibromyalgia. Besides that, hatha yoga is one of the primary remedies for back pains; American college of physicians conducted recent research on the relationship between hatha yoga practice and back pains, and from the data collected from various study cases, it was recommended that hatha yoga is one of the non-drug treatment method used to help people with constant beck pains get relieved by improving low back pain.
Worth knowing is that hatha yoga also promotes good emotional health. It positively impacts the mental wellness and resilient aspects that enable one to manage any emotional encounter in their daily lives. In addition to that, hatha yoga also has appositive effects in the negative experiences of menopause stage among women. It relieves both physical and psychological symptoms of menopause. Perhaps hatha yoga improves one's mindfulness and aspect that enhance theory motivation to participate in various forms of activities. Hatha yoga reduces neck pain, improves sleep, helps in stress management, and improves body balance when performing different activities.