You’re at a party. A cool party. It’s peopled with lots of groovy folks. Ones from hip yoga tribes.
Somebody sidles up to you and asks,
“What kind of yoga do you teach?”
“Um, well, I…I teach hatha yoga.”
The inquirer says not a thing. Gives you a blank stare. An un-understanding one, and then manages to gaze down their nose in a perfectly executed dristi and says,
“Oh. You just teach hatha?”
Your perfect posture shrinks. You find yourself, maybe just for a split-second, feeling like the lowly “red-headed step-child” of yoga. ParaYoga founder Yogarupa Rod Stryker refers to Cinderella when describing the sentiment expressed by people who look down on “just hatha,” and situations that make you feel like your plain ol’ vanilla hatha yoga is “less than” star-studded, name brand yoga.
And there you are. The non-compete clause that is one of yoga’s hallmarks leeks out of you in what feels like your last, mindful, breath.
You find yourself feeling less worthy than someone who can state, “I teach Iyengar.” I am an Ashtanga teacher.” ” I do Bikram.” “I’m a certified 108 Drop-Backs-Every-Day yoga teacher.”
If you just found yourself looking for the brand of yoga I left out (why didn’t she mention Anusara, or Forrest, or Turbo to the Max Yoga), well, my point, exactly. What’s in a name? As Erich Schiffmann says, “The only person who can really do Iyengar yoga is Iyengar.” In point of fact, in the original usuage of the word, “hatha yoga” is anything but “just.” While in current times hatha yoga usually suggests a sort of eclectic cocktail of yoga styles, in its original context hatha yoga included a vast sundry of practices, many of them intense.
“The entire science of hatha yoga includes asana, pranayama, shatkarma (six cleansing techniques, using a neti pot is one of the milder ones), mudra and bandhas.”
Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Yogi Swatmarama
I’ll share but a sampling of the entries set forth in the 15th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika (HYP):
- Asana, the varieties of kumbhaka, practices called mudras and concentration on the inner sound (nada) comprise the sequence of hatha yoga. (Uh-oh, where does nada fit in the raging debate over music/no music during yoga class?)
- When mind is still, prana is still, then bindu is still. By bindu being held still, there is always a sattvic state which produces steadiness in the body.
- The middle nadi, sushumna, easily becomes established (straight) by the yogi’s persistent practice of asana, pranayama, mudra and concentration.
Whoa. And that’s just a child’s pose of a look at the HYP, yogis.
Rarely do I have to scout for so may explanatory links…just to describe, generic, no-name brand, white bread, hatha yoga. That’s some deep stuff, dude. Maybe hatha yoga ranks after all.
Anyone who can practice mayurasana (one of less than 30 poses in the HYP) while wearing glass slippers (metaphorically, but still) can go to the front-center yoga mat, in my book. Here’s another boon from the book: this practice is “the lion which conquers the elephant, death.” Gotta be a really big, flashy, pose to accomplish that, wouldn’t you think? No, it’s not standing on your hands in the middle of room, folks, it’s uddiyana banda. Put that in your navel chakra and smoke.
What do think?
Has “hatha” been dismissed as the red-headed stepchild of yoga brands? If you can say, “I teach hatha yoga, and I’m proud of it,” step up to the plate. And please. If you’ve ever seen a class schedule with a listing for a class called hatha and shunned it, or thought it beneath your level (and are brave enough to admit it), I’d love to hear about it.
Thank you for writing this !!! I teach hatha and proud of it!
Glad to do so, Stay. I, too, teach hatha yoga. Specifically Tantric Hatha Yoga. Before I began studying with Yogarupa, I had thought "too plain" when I saw the two words together. When I discovered that in its original practicing it included so many subtle applications (full body mudras, visualizations during breathing–kriya, I was marveled. When practiced with its full range of techniques it is endlessly rich.
Very nice article.
I do teach Hathayoga and I'm proud of it — thanks to my guru/master/teacher, Guruyogi Shankarnath Ji Maharaj.
Grateful to hear from you, Christian. It occurred to me a bit ago, while some might still think "hatha" suggests something not as defined as one of the "name brand" styles, since I've been studying Tantric Hatha Yoga, I've discovered an infinite well of techniques to explore, far beyond whatever number of asana or pranayama…and the myriad of meditations, available to fine tune our systems…classic hatha has a wealth of offerings.
I too teach Hatha yoga and am proud to say so:) Who can argue with a practice that's been around for a few thousand years…
I think its sad that people perceive any type of yoga as superior to other kinds of yoga. I practice yoga it's not hatha and that's ok if the place i practiced at was thought hatha then that would be good as well. Yoga teachers have an opportunity to share a gift of yoga no matter what style it's called. If a person is so shallow as to have a need to feel superior over someone else over yoga then they apparently aren't genuine folks. Maybe one day I'll have the pleasure to practice some hatha yoga and learn some more new things about myself. Thank all of you who teach and share the gift of yoga. Your all awesome!
Randy, it is sad, and I don't mean to suggest it is rampant. I also know that before I began studying Tantric Hatha Yoga, I also (I admit it) would sometime see a teacher's class listed as "hatha" and kind of think they called it that because they did not have a specialized training…I bow in humility now, traditional hatha can be fierce, even in a simple asana!
Really great article and thank you bringing up that questions. Sometimes I do feel that there tends to be an elitism in the certain styles of yoga that is taught. I however do not profess that I teach hatha, it is included in the list of things I teach, but if someone asks, I say Ashtanga Vinyasa because that is what I received my training in. But the way that you put the question, definitely does have me doubt why I say specifically that. I have studied various styles, like yin, restorative, Ashtanga Vinyasa, Yoga Tune Up® and dabbled in others, but I would like to say that I take elements from all of those styles and integrate them all into my classes while also infusing the use of pranayama, sometimes kriya, and bandhas as well. I would be happy to state that I am a teacher of hatha yoga
"Infusing the use of pranayama, kriya, bandhas"…Tia, this is hatha! Even though the word is not typically interpreted that way these days, that was the original structure of hatha yoga…many, many techniques, and combinations of techniques. Love your comment!
Technically, it's all hatha, right? (They're just all different types of hatha yoga.) But what I've noticed is that people think it means "easy yoga."
Nada yoga clearly does not mean music. There are other sanskrit words for music. So, playing music in class with the justification of the HYP's statements around Nada could only be done by someone who clearly doesn't understand the texts or the concept of Nada. It is a purely internal sound, ABSOLUTELY NOT a sound external to a Yogi.
Exactly, Ralph. "Listening" for that inner sound is a divine practice, unfortunately, one that many are uncomfortable with…diving into that expanse of stillness.
Every single fancy yoga brand out there is just a form of Hatha Yoga.
Up to the 20th Century there was only Hatha Yoga as a general term, it was all Hatha Yoga. And then us creative modern yogis came along, played with Hatha Yoga and invented "NEW" brands, but they all are essentially variations of Hatha Yoga. So Hatha Yoga rocks!!
And on a more serious note: Let's remember the legacy of what we are practicing and teaching, instead of buying into labels / brands / fashions / trends…
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