The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is regarded as one of the three classic texts on Hatha Yoga, along with the Gheranda Samhita and the Shiva Samhita. This 15th century text was written by Swami Svatmarama, and is said to be the oldest surviving text about Hatha Yoga. This text has been translated into many languages, including English.
Although many forms of yoga training have existed for thousands of years, Hatha (the yoga of physical mastery) is a relative newcomer in comparison to the other main systems of Yogic methodology in India. Hatha dates back as recently as the 15th century with Svami Svatmarama and is the base for many popular styles today such as Iyengar, Bikram, Kundalini, and Ashtanga.
How much time should we spend on history during a yoga instructor training course? If you want to understand the roots of what you teach, you might want to learn as much as you can.
Though we all seem to be different human beings, in essence each one of us is the same infinite and immortal being. So what appears to be different, in reality it is one. But since our senses, ideas and beliefs are so limited, we are unable to experience the oneness, the infiniteness of the supreme. Therefore, we must awaken such energy, knowledge or wisdom in us whereby we can overcome the limits of the physical level as also of the emotional, mental and spiritual levels as well.
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