Ha-tha Yoga is often written as one word, said quickly, used as a label for some brand of yoga, which informs us the style with which we’re expected to move on the mat, if the transitions are smooth or static, etc. It is however, not at all a label, but rather instructions for how to practice.
Ha relates to qualities of the Sun, of Surya. His aspects are those of strength, of action, of heat, of potency, of transformation. Tha relates to the nature of the Moon, of Chandra. Her boons are those of stability, stillness, holding, coolness, sustaining. Yoga stems from the root yuk, to unite, to bind, to bridge.
These are our instructions as yogis. Our lives are the dynamic equilibrium of the bridging of Ha and Tha. Every action requires its mate of stillness. Every bit of heat relies on equal time to be cool. When we work to be strong, we must equally work those same areas, thoughts, and behaviours, to be flexible. When we talk about balance in yoga, we are referencing this, the instructive Ha-Tha Yoga.
Thus, every yoga – the yoga of song, of communication, of posture, of eating, of cooking, of dancing, they all share this in common. When our focus becomes too narrow, too “singularly pointed” so that we misunderstand this deliberate instruction, this innate activity of balance, we become sick, injured, upset, unkind.
Ha is the action, Tha is the fuel. No action can occur without fuel and no fuel is necessary without action. Sometimes we have too much fuel and need more action to balance Ha and Tha, while other times we have too much action and are depleted in fuel.
For this reason, there is no real “style” of yoga, no real need for obsessive corrective alignment, and why there is a need only for the ability to see reality as it is, for the awareness to un-emotionally comprehend where we currently are on our own personal spectrum of Ha and Tha. We must know the circumstances – our goals – in order to truly gather that which we need to add or subtract this meal, this conversation, this day, this week, this year, in order to achieve the dynamic equilibrium known as balance.
This is Ha-Tha yoga. It can be applied to any style, any activity, any dream. Yogis who perceive and practice this can be free, enthusiastic, and of service to others.