Hatha Yoga, according to Wikipedia, is what many people in the West associate with the general word Yoga. Hatha Yoga as true with any form of Yoga is typically practiced for the benefits of mental and physical health. Hatha is a combination of two terms “ha”-meaning sun and “tha”-meaning moon and when the two terms are put together to form one word it is said to mean “forceful”. The word yoga means to join two things together. By practicing Hatha yoga the idea is that a person will be joining together the energies in the body to produce balance and power.

Typically Yoga in any form is practiced to purify the body by using a holistic approach. Yoga is a combination of physical exercise and meditation. Hatha Yoga was introduced in India in the 15th century, since that time Yoga has taken many forms and variations, one being Hatha Yoga.

The practice of Hatha Yoga includes purification, breathing, meditation and physical exercise to obtain a state of calm and purification. Morality and spirituality is also a major focus of the practice of Hatha Yoga. Hatha Yoga strives to bring persons opposing energies into balance to create healty mind/body results for the purposes of enlightenment. It is believed that human beings have opposing energy fields such as hot and cold, positive and negative and male and female. It takes work and practice to bring these opposing energies to a place where they can work in unison and balance each other out for the health, well being and spiritual growth. Hatha Yoga is one of the many available forms of Yoga that work to allow people the maximum benefit of self awareness and physical well being.