Listening to Life...

There are several ways to attain a state of abiding joy and ultimate union. These are diverse, but it is important that they really are all addressed in a balanced and integrated way. There is really no division or hierarchy between these varied approaches. Yoga is completely even handed: it employs all the aspects of who you are to take you to your ultimate destination.

The body constitutes a very large part of who you are in your present understanding. The science of using the body to hasten your evolutionary process is Hatha Yoga. Ha denoted the sun and tha denotes the moon. Hatha yoga is the science of bringing about a balance between these two dimensions within the human system.

The body has its own attitudes, its own resistance, its own temperament. Hatha yoga is not exercise. It is instead, about understanding the mechanics of the body, creating a certain atmosphere, and then using physical postures to channel or drive your energy in specific directions.

This is the aim of various asanas, or postures. That kind of postures that allows you to access your higher nature is a yogasana.

It is the science of aligning your inner geometry with the cosmic geometry.

Source: Inner Engineering by Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev.