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Asanas
Although it contains all three, Hatha Yoga focuses more on the asanas - on the physical development of strength, flexibility and balance. On a therapeutic level, it releases old patterns of tension, improves joint range of motion and induces total body relaxation.

So many individuals have chronic, high levels of stress, which can lead to poor health, chronic pain and fatigue. And we are often unconscious of our tension and unaware of how difficult it is to stop and be still. It is so important to stop and observe our sensations and thoughts as though we were aware of them for the very first time. From here we can begin to understand what it truly means to "let go".

Yoga, Health and the Mind/Body
With age, the body tends to stiffen and tighten. As our flexibility diminishes, our aches and pains tend to increase, and we feel less energetic, less resilient to change and more susceptible to injury. This isn't surprising considering the way that we live, with such high levels of stress and lowlevels of activity. We work too much and run and stretch too little.

Over time, we often don't even notice what is happening to our bodies, since it is so gradual, and the only way we can measure its effect is if we remember the way we felt five or ten years ago.

Through regular yoga practice, you can slow down the tendency toward a stiff, achy body. In fact, you can reverse this process, renewing the suppleness you once felt when you were younger. With greater mobility, dramatically improved flexibility and a stronger body, you will feel lighter, movement will require less effort and your body will be pain-free. The mind/body has unlimited potential, a natural tendency toward health and a memory of what it was like to exist effortlessly and joyfully.

Meditation
A large part of this change has to do with the way you think about and observe yourself and the world around you. Meditation is an exploration of these patterns, a tool that helps to uncover mental and physical habits that are preventing the mind from becoming free to explore, free from harmful emotional states. It focuses the mind, teaches you to "be present" and to relate to your surroundings in a positive, unattached way.

Pranayama
Pranayama is a method of controlling prana or life force through the regulation of breathing. Yoga incorporates a vast system of breathing techniques, each one of them focusing on different ways to encourage the movement of prana and create health. Experimenting with pranayama is essentially an exploration into the very nature of your energetic being.

During asana practice, the breath is not only a part of yoga practice, but becomes one with movement. Flowing from one asana to another is lead by the breath and the mind naturally remains present with the sensations of breath, the physical body and the movement of energy.

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