It seems there has been a few hang ups with the Hatha and the Kriya Techniques, so I will clarify a bit for you, but before I do I would like to tell you about 39 photos you can view.
These Hatha postures are done by a young Russian student who was having trouble with his back (more of that later) so I put him on a course of gentle postures. He returned these photos after a year of practice. They are perfect. It will give you an idea how to warm up and just what you can achieve.
For those of you that are doing the Kriya, there are some who have written to say that they cannot keep the one second count while taking the breath in and out. I assure you, when you are beginning, should you find it difficult, you can just take the in and out breath in a way that is comfortable for you. Your breathing will develop and in no time that 1 second count will be easy for you.
When doing the postures make sure you warm the body up first - especially in the morning. You can do this by stretching, gentle bending forward and backwards, standing up and swinging the torso and the head from side to side, while at the same time flinging the arms in the same direction, and you can also make circles with the torso.
Do some leg squats - and also turn the ankles in both directions. Spend some time sitting on your heels, gently lean forward and backwards and when you feel you have become supple, then go into the postures.
Always do them in slow motion. Never go further than your comfort level allows. Now hold as long as you are comfortable. This way you will gradually extend the comfort level to where you can do the complete posture.
Some have expressed the idea that one cannot learn the postures properly over the internet. This is false, as you will see when you download the postures of one who did.
To download the pictures of the student doing the Hatha Yoga poses, simply go to my newsletter section of my site at:
http://www.real-yoga.com/newsletters/
Once on this page, simply scroll down to the bottom of the page and look for the download link. It will take approximately 3 minutes on a slower Internet connection to download the pictures.
If there are problems, it takes communication, so please write if you have questions about anything.
Namaste,
Swami