Hatha Yoga: Introduction
There are literally hundreds of postures, but only about 20 are necessary to work the Chakras.
What I want to do is slowly introduce you to Hatha Yoga with some of the easier asanas (poses). Then, should you really want to advance to learn more advanced poses, begin moving on to the other Hatha Yoga lessons.
Please remember that Yoga sped up too fast can do harm, both psychological and physical. The pace I like to take is 3 years.
Union With Self
Lessons 1 to 5 will expose you to a few Hatha Yoga postures. These postures are very important in allowing the Chakras to start to unfolding and begin spinning their energies upwards.
Before starting, I would like to pass on to you some aspects of Real Yoga
.
Although Yoga means Union, it is Union with the SELF. Yoga is not effortful. If it is, then stop doing it.
Yoga should be done with Love. When you love doing something, there is no effort involved. If there is effort, you have stopped loving.
Begin your Yoga lessons with a feeling of love and relaxation and continue your lessons as long as you feel that.
Yoga is not practiced so you can get thin and get healthy. Although they can be by–products of the study, but this is not why one practices Yoga.
One practices Yoga to Unite with SELF.
When that Union occurs, you experience Sat–Chit–Ananda, which means, Being Ever Existent, Ever Conscious and Ever Blissful
.
When this occurrence happens it is called Samadhi, and may last a short time only. Extended Samadhis come later and we shall discuss that at a future date.
Explore The Stretch
Many people think that flexibility makes a great Yogi or that if you are flexible, you are better. But this is not true. If it were true, then all contortionists would be Masters.
You can be an inflexible Hatha Yogi and yet be in perfect stillness. Meanwhile, you can be the most flexible person in the world and have a mind that is moving wildly.
Flexibility does not equal a calm mind.
The point of Hatha Yoga is to use the stretch as a tool to focus the mind. When you explore the stretch, the only thing you can think of is the stretch. Your mind can't help but become calm. Flexibility is a by–product of the stretching. But the purpose is always to use the stretch as a tool to focus the mind.
Watch a person do Hatha Yoga at a yoga school and if you watch closely, their movements are not smooth. When the mind is moving, the movements and poses are bumpy.
Focus your mind on where the stretch is the greatest and if you focus to the extreme, your mind cannot move.
Hatha Yoga, like all Yogas, is a tool. If you were only to WAKE UP, as the Swami would always say, then you would have absolutely no need for any type of Yoga.
Flow Yoga
As a purist, I prefer to hold each pose for 1 to 2 minutes before silently moving into the next pose. Although this is my preference, one can also start with Flow Yoga
, also known as Vinyasa Yoga
.
I have personally found that Flow Yoga is a good way to start to build flexibility and strength. While flexibility and strength is not the goal, strength and flexibility is needed for some more advanced poses. Therefore, doing a routine like Yoga Mind & Body
featuring Ali Macgraw and Eric Schiffman is also a good place to start. Then come back to these lessons.
Stepping Stone
A person with a 1 soul, based on Yantra Yoga, is well suited to Hatha Yoga because they are always in the Mind. As a result, doing the physical stretching helps allow them to get out of their mind and into the their body by focussing on the stretch.
Everyone can benefit from Hatha Yoga even if they do not have a 1 soul. There is a pose or a stretch for all levels of ability and age.
But of all the Yogas, Hatha Yoga is considered the weakest. Hatha Yoga is a stepping stone to help you build a foundation to proceed onto more powerful Yogas such as Karma Yoga, Gnana Yoga, Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, etc.
I Asked The Swami
The Swami was quite hard–core when it comes to Yoga and its practice. He enjoyed challenging attachments that students had.
When it comes to Hatha Yoga, he started the lessons strong and powerfully with the shoulder stand pose. Yet, I know this can be a difficult pose to start with for many. But the Swami didn't want to come close to doing anything that could be considered Westernized Yoga
.
I asked the Swami why he didn't start the Hatha Yoga lessons with the dog (cow pose) and cat tilt. The Swami felt these poses had been abused by Westernized Yoga
. Yet, he acknowledged they are beneficial.
In addition to the Swami's Hatha Yoga lessons, I have added more basic, simplistic and/or shorter Hatha Yoga routines for those that need a more gentle
start, don't have time to do a full practice or simply need somewhere to start.
The Swami specifically created his lessons to awaken the Chakras. Yet, we can still do other poses. But we want to avoid the Wsternized Approach
where the result, the appearance, the physical benefit, etc is the focus or goal. In the Hatha Theory
information, Yogi Ramacharaka talks about this very issue or concern.
Variations
It's virtually impossible to create any new stretches. Every possible stretch has already been done by someone. But when you are doing your Hatha Yoga, you can explore the stretch.
Let your body guide you as you alter or modify the stretch. Maybe, as an example, instead of stretching both arms at the same time, you stretch one and then the other.
Once you have good experience, you don't actually need a routine to follow. You can go freestyle and let your body guide you. But one of the basic rules is that if you bend forward, the next pose should bend backwards and vice versa.
Hatha Yogis
A Master Hatha Yogi has complete control of their body. To the Master Hatha Yogi, their body is their temple. With hours upon hours of constant and never–ending dedication, the Master Hatha Yogi obtains this control.
A Master Hatha Yogi does more than just stretch. They have a superior dedication to maintaining a clean and healthy body.
This includes abilities such as sitting in a bath of water, then pulling in the water through their anus and then flush it out as a natural enema. Master Hatha Yogis also have powerful control of their stomach and some would even swallow a long piece of cloth and then begin to pull it out as a way of cleaning their stomach. Others would cut their tongue to be able to do Khecarī Mudrā better.
There's a lot more to Hatha Yoga than just stretching. From Hatha Yoga also comes Ayurvedic medicine and the Sattvic diet.
A book such as The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga by Swami Devananda is a great book for anyone wanting to learn true Hatha Yoga.
License
Articles by Swami Harinanda and Yogi Karmananda are © 2026 and are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Most images do not qualify for use under this license. The 9 Planes of Reality
image is, however our own
image and thus qualifies.
Some images are used under a Creative Commons License and can also be used as long as you follow their license agreement.
Music has been used with permission and may be used if you qualify and abide by the licensing requirements.
The Real Yoga
website is designed to be a self–study website. But, feel free
to send us a message — but do make sure your email is correct.
