Frequently Asked Questions
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Yoga in the West—Hathayoga
Yoga as we know it in the West—body-oriented yoga—is a very small branch of one system of classical Indian philosophy called Yoga. This small branch is called hathayoga. Our appropriation of the term hatha to describe a style of physical yoga strays from the traditional Indian usage of the term. To an Indian, the term yoga is most closely associated with the word dhyana, or meditation. Unlike the general western concept of meditation, dhyana is not specifically body-oriented. It doesn’t necessarily mean seated meditation, nor does it necessarily exclude the body or hathayoga.When reading about types of western yoga, keep in mind that any physical yoga is hatha yoga (I won’t italicize when speaking in western terms), but it is also used to describe a style of yoga. More on that in the schools section.
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Best,
Anastasia
