Intrinsic Yoga with Anita Hartman

This may sound a little silly but to help me understand yoga better, I envision yoga as a giant tree with eight branches. Each branch has its own unique character, but each is also part of the same tree. The branches are Bhakti Yoga: The Yoga of devotion; Guru Yoga: the Yoga of dedication to a Yoga master; Hatha Yoga: the Yoga of physical discipline; Jnana Yoga: the Yoga of wisdom; Karma Yoga: the Yoga of self-transcending action; Mantra Yoga: the Yoga of potent sound; Raja Yoga: the royal Yoga and Tantra Yoga (including Kundalini Yoga): the Yoga of continuity. The path of all yoga practices is to discover your spiritual nature on the road to enlightenment.

My website articles will focus on the physical discipline of Hatha Yoga by describing asanas, and postures, but will also include moral and spiritual readings in the inspirational moment section.
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What is important to know is that all approaches to yoga concentrate on how you can discover your spiritual nature by developing awareness and teaching you how to relax.

Both awareness and relaxation go together in yoga. Awareness is the ability to pay close attention to something by being consciously present and mindful of the moment and relaxation is a conscious release of unnecessary tension in the body.

I like to practice my yoga as a lifestyle. I try to incorporate elements of yoga into my life every day; whether it’s by practicing the physical exercises, relaxing or developing awareness. I try to think about what I eat, how I play, work, and relate to others.

There is no better time than the present to begin practicing the style of yoga you would like to adopt in your life. Just make a few simple adjustments in your daily schedule and keep your goals vividly in front of you. Whenever you are ready to begin your practice, just take one step at a time.

Hatha Yoga practitioners believe that unless the body is properly purified and prepared by performing asanas, the higher stages of concentration, meditation, and ecstasy are virtually impossible to achieve. In the Yoga Sutra, written by Patanjali, he suggests that the only requirement for practicing asanas is to be “steady and comfortable”. The body should be held firm yet relaxed, and the practitioner should not experience discomfort of any kind. Tightness or tension observed within the body should be consciously relaxed. Breathing should be natural and through the nose. Keep in mind that asanas are postures that rebalance the body. They bring strength to the weak areas of the body, they bring softness to the tight spots and they give you exercise with the added bonus of inward focus. Not only will performing postures create space in the physical body they offer a sense of spaciousness. By freeing up the outer body, the physical body, the muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, and visceral organs asanas build and control the prana, or vital force, of the body’s subtle energies. Asanas purify and heal the body as well as claming and steadying the mind providing the practitioner with a sense of tranquility and self-realization.

Most people do not believe they are flexible enough to practice yoga. Don’t let a stiff body stop you from reaping the benefits of yoga. You should start training from wherever you are right now. Don’t judge your practice by how far you can or cannot stretch. Never feel inadequate because you are not able to hold a pose for long, or because it doesn’t perfectly mirror the pose in a picture. Practice spreading your awareness through your whole body. In addition to endeavoring to achieve poise in your posture, seek grace in your breathing. Remember there is no “perfect” pose. Learn to intuitively modify poses to accommodate your body. Every person has a different body shaped by genetic disposition and life’s experiences. Each individual should find his or her own way of performing a posture that meets his or her own needs.

Stay mentally present while you practice. Let your mind become absorbed in your movements and in the subtle sensations of your body. Allow your practice to become a sort of conversation with your body. Be reflective, be respectful, be responsive and go with the flow of your body. Just start the journey; you never know where it might take you.

“There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the back fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day cam when the boy didn’t loss his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that we was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out, it won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry,” the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.”

Remember the lesson the father taught his son. What “holes” have you made recently? Some might be big and some might be small. Whatever those holes are, each hole that is made in anger makes life less pleasant. The next time you begin to feel angry, try to express yourself in a different way and reduce the number of holes you make.