Hatha Yoga for Embodiment

Principles for an Embodied Approach to Hatha Yoga 

by SHIVA REA

I. Hatha yoga as bodily practice can be viewed as a way of exploring, cultivating, observing, transforming, and knowing all aspects of oneself as expressed through the body.

II. The primary techniques of hatha yoga -asana (postures), pranayama (breath extension), dristi (focused gaze), bandhas (containment of internal energy), mantra (sound), and svadyaya (self-observation or study) -are the means for achieving the above.

III. Through the techniques of hatha yoga, there is a release of inhibiting patterns manifest in the bodymind and the development of awareness grounded in the changing sensations of the body.

IV. The techniques of hatha yoga enable the practitioner to naturally ease the dominance of verbal/mental activity to experience a non-verbal state of embodied awareness

V. The awareness developed through the techniques of hatha yoga extends throughout the body from the surface into the interior.

VI. The practice of hatha yoga can thus be seen as a practice of embodiment that permeates the body with consciousness.

VII. That embodied consciousness is cultivated during the practice as a tool for self-awareness in everyday life.