10/16/2025
The Ha in Hatha
There are many misconceptions about yoga, ranging from its true origins, to how it should or shouldn’t be practiced, to virtually everything in-between. One of the most prevalent is yoga is an exercise system that promotes stretching and is designed to improve flexibility. Improved range of motion is a benefit, but the intention behind the practice of yoga is considerably more far-reaching.
Yoga is so alchemically powerful that even considering its practice brings to surface many of the self-imposed limitations that inhibit forward progression in life. For example, how many times have I heard “I’m not flexible enough to do yoga, or I don’t have the discipline to practice regularly ?” So many I’ve lost count … attempting to go into all the reasons why this is a significant misunderstanding would require a book, instead I’d like to focus on the counterpoint to the prevailing belief one needs to be flexible to take up yoga or that yoga is specifically designed to improve range of motion.
There are various approaches —known as branches — to practicing yoga and only one of them focuses exclusively on performing posture (asana) in the way it’s commonly seen throughout the world today. Within this realm there are numerous systems of posture practice, from Ashtanga to Viniyoga, but each of them fall under the broader category, or branch, of Hatha Yoga. Hatha is the method of harmonizing the various functions of the physical body to attain a state of yoga. Rather than attempting to transcend the confines of the body, as with the practice of meditation (dhyana) known as Raja Yoga, hatha yogis work directly with the material form to find equanimity with the ever-present “fluctuations of the mind.” They wisely recognize there is no true separation between the various layers of the human psyche (koshas) — the physical body being one — and that balancing a single layer leads towards balance of all. For many, working with the body provides a much needed sense of grounding, which builds a stable base for the more highly-nuanced practices of mantra, meditation, and other types of psychotherapy.
Another common misconception, “psyche,” from the Greek, means “life, spirit, soul,” not the more commonly understood “mind,” or even more limiting, “brain.” We’re talking about an entire being, not just the functioning of one’s mental and/or emotional body.
Contrary to popular belief, the fluctuations of the mind cannot be subdued … to paraphrase Alan Watts, “attempting to do so creates the opposite effect, stirring them up even more.” Instead, yoga is attained by creating a harmonious internal relationship among the various subtleties of the human psyche. One of those subtleties happens to be fundamental to asana practice — polarity.
An ancient concept characterized by the 4th Hermetic Principle proposed millennia ago by the venerable sage Hermes Trismegistus, polarity in Hatha Yoga is represented by the interplay of opposing forces, the yin and yang inherent in movement of the physical body. The interconnection between hard and soft, flexion and extension, action and surrender, just to name a few. In Sanskrit, ha = sun ☀️, tha = moon 🌙, and the term “hatha” is symbolic of weaving these opposing polarities together to form a unified whole. Sun represents action/contraction/stabilization, moon release/extension/surrender.
This unified whole manifests in posture practice when we eventually come to realize one polarity cannot be fully present in a healthy, balanced way without the other in equal measure. Flexibility must be balanced by a corresponding stability, otherwise grounding and finding leverage to hold posture is minimized — a pose like Dancer (Natarajasana) being impossible to perform otherwise. Skilled hatha practitioners are highly-attuned to these subtleties of body control, and through years of consistent practice are able to apply what they’ve learned performing posture to navigating the complexities of daily life and ultimately the deeper layers of consciousness. Balancing mental, emotional, and spiritual polarities within the psyche is a skill that leads towards wholeness in all aspects of life, and can very effectively be worked towards on the yoga mat.
The flexibility component of yoga posture is obvious. On social media we’re inundated with thousands of images of yogic body contortion on a daily basis. Because most humans are not naturally flexible to the degree found in advanced yoga postures, many are immediately fascinated by this seemingly extreme range of motion and despair that “they could never practice yoga in this way.”
First of all, extreme body contortions can, but DO NOT NECESSARILY, produce a state of yoga. It depends on the frame of mind and intention of the one who’s moving. Every day gymnasts, contortionists, and other athletes the world over bring their bodies to the limits of movement potential without ever considering the depths of yoga, focusing instead on the results of performance. Secondly, the vast majority of asana is geared towards DEVELOPING range of motion and body control, the beginning and intermediate stages of advanced yoga posture. Thirdly, there’s another critical aspect of movement that, oddly, seems to rarely be discussed — that of stabilization, or the “ha” in hatha.
The stabilization aspect of yoga posture is less obvious and often overlooked. Because of my background in weight training I’ve always made core stabilization a top priority. I incorporate Pilates floor exercises into my posture sequences and emphasize strength-building yoga postures such as Bakasana and Ashtavakrasana. Time and time again students tell me they feel stronger after consistently attending my classes and related trainings.
So if you feel inflexible but stable — say you’re able to perform several pushups or bodyweight squats — then you can come into a yoga class with confidence that you’re ahead of the game, having a significant aspect of Hatha Yoga practice already in place. If you happen to feel neither strong nor flexible, you have a wonderful opportunity to cultivate patience and humility as you gradually build both over time. Most mature adults realize patience and humility are two of the most sublime and helpful virtues a person can weave into navigating the challenges of their daily lives.
Ashtanga guru Pattabhi Jois once offered the world a simple, but profound and highly-nuanced quote, “body not stiff, mind stiff.” He could have also said “body not weak, mind weak.” So much of our limitation in life stems from the fluctuations of the mind, our belief in ourselves and what we’re capable of. Yoga practice offers the opportunity to build self-confidence in a variety of ways, but we have to be willing to not be an expert right off the bat. We must learn to focus on the journey rather than the destination, balancing the typical human over-reliance on the ego/persona structure. If we can somehow manage to achieve this skill on our yoga mats, a simple shift of focus and intention will bring it forth into the vast complexity of our daily lives and interpersonal relationships 🙏
