We wanted to comment a bit in this post on the choice of the name of our studio. Its meaning and energy, what we aspire to be and to offer to you on the every day life. Hara literally translates to "belly" in Japanese, but it has a more transcendental meaning of "center and epicenter." Everything on earth has its point where its center of gravity is located. With center we mean 360º, four cardinal directions, where Hara acts as an intersection or link between the physical, the emotional, the energetic and the spiritual. In humans this point is approx. four finger widths below the navel and approximately three centimeters in front of the fifth lumbar vertebra. It is the area where vitality traditionally originates. When the human being centers his consciousness with presence and attention in the Hara, the energy of the Ki (Japanese), Chi (Chinese) flows better, more joyful, creative and full of life, since it is here where it is centered and from where it flows, expands. In yoga we call this vital energy Prana. This energy is expressed through two opposite and complementary forces (Yin and Yang, in India it could be compared to the Ida and Pingala nadis) which, acting reciprocally, generate all natural phenomena. This confluence calls for and allows the continuity of life.
It is also the point from which actions arise. If this area is weak, the entire body will tend to become unbalanced and weaken with consequences for our physical, emotional and vital stability. That is why it is very important to give special importance to the work on the hip and core during practice. In its placement during the asana, in strengthening it and focusing concentration and attention. It is also a very important point when doing hanstand poses, since it helps us to change our gravitational center, to educate the mind and to lose fears through delivery and trust.
Ki, like Prana, need a healthy body tho flow, which is achieved through the practice of asanas or Qigong as a receptacle and breathing, pranayama. In Chinese, the Hara is known as the lower Tan Tien or Dan Tien, also called the "ocean of ki or sea of energy." We found 3 Tan Tiens, the lower one (Xia Dantien located in the lower abdomen as mentioned), the central one (Zhong Dantien located in the thorax area) and the upper one (Shang Dantien located in the skull where the forehead is). In India it would coincide with the second chakra, Svadhisthana, the fourth chakra, Anahata and 6 chakra, Ajna.
In the Japanese language, the word Hara also describes the capacities and substances of the human being, the personal work that has been done, indicates a state of being: Hara no hito "centered state of being". As a curiosity, we will add that the term Hara in Sanskrit is found as one of the names of Vishnu, referring to the part of himself where his wife Lakshmi, Goddess of Fortune, resides. This shakti "energy" is the samvit "complete knowledge" of the god from the self. Shakti is the aham-mata "I-thought" or Vishnu's self. It also appears in the Govinda legend, where Vishnu's avatar Krishna has Hara Radha as his wife. Hara is here again the shakti energy from the wife's love, desire, adoration and surrender to Krishna. It is therefore the energy of love, desire (of aspiration), adoration and surrender of the sadhaka for Divinity.
The poet, sage and saint Sri Caitanya in his poem Siksastaka, in the last verse speaks of himself in the feminine to emphasize this Hara energy. In the Maha Mantra Hare Krisha the term Hara appears declined in the vocative hare to express this devotional energy.
Maha Mantra
hare kṛṣṇa, hare kṛṣṇa
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa, hare hare
hare rāma, hare rāma
rāma rāma, hare hare
¡PRANAMA, my friends!