With ha meaning "sun" and tha meaning "moon," Hatha Yoga is
commonly translated as the yoga that brings union "of the pairs
of opposites." Sometimes Hatha Yoga is also translated as the
"forcefull yoga", because it requires a lot of physical effort.
Hatha Yoga is certainly the yoga that is the best known in the
West, which is part of the reason why so many definitions of
Hatha Yoga exist. In the indian tradition, Hatha Yoga is one of
the four main traditions of Tantra Yoga. Hatha Yoga is first of
all concentrating on the practice of postures (asanas) and
breath control (pranayama) to energize the subtle channels
(nadis). Thus one might say Hatha Yoga concentrates on the third
and fourth steps of the eight-fold path of Ashtanga Yoga. The
objective of Hatha Yoga is obviously to remove the obstacles to
address the further steps of Pratyahara (sense-withdrawal),
Dharana (Concentration), Dhyana (Meditation) and Samadhi
(Balance). In many Hatha Yoga schools, these further steps are
seen as part of Hatha Yoga. What'