It all started with the spirit An all-embracing life philosophy: here is the original concept of Hatha Yoga, that in primordial times completely engaged man in his relationships with others and with himself. Its origin, in fact, is to be found in the composition of the first Tantra, the classic texts that include the spiritual teaching of the Indian religious culture and other oriental mystics. In his reference text Yoga Sūtra, written in Sanskrit around 400 AD, Patañjali describes for the first time Hatha Yoga as the union of eight distinct disciplines, or the “eight petals of Yoga”. Whilst associated with the execution of physical exercise, the mystical essence of Hatha Yoga is not distorted in any manner. The origin of the word "Hatha" embodies all the timeless fascination of the Hindu civilization: “Ha” is one of the names of Sûrya, the Sun; “Tha”is derived from Candra, the Moon. The first is masculine, strength, warmth; the second is feminine, iridescent and light. Hatha is therefore the “Yoga of the Sun and the Moon”, the union of opposites that regulate all: the world, nature and the human dimension. Uniting the polarities within the individual, symbolised by the greater luminaries, means overcoming the same and attaining a state of Oneness. This reflects the heart of the original Hatha Yoga: through a very rigid discipline, dominating the body and the individual spirit with the universal spirit, to achieve Oneness. In the context of this principle, Hatha Yoga does not represent a particular style of Yoga. It was rather the Yoga: the union of physical practices to be executed to reach transcendence in the journey towards cosmic energy. It was during the 20th century that, discussing on Hatha Yoga, reference was first made to the yoga practices in the western world in the work of two Masters who are still internationally recognized, as much the subject of discussion as admiration. The “Guru of the world” Swami Sivananda Saraswati (1887 – 1963) and his disciple, “Contemporary Guru”, Swami Satyananda Saraswati (1923 – 2009), whose supreme doctrine is composed of six powerful premises: "Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realise". yogasūtra 3.0 111
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