page_title: Hatha yoga
hierarchical_section_title: Hatha yoga
caption_attribution_description: English: Four components of Hatha Yoga: Shatkarmas (purifications, here the start of Nauli with Uddiyana Bandha), Asanas (postures, here Mayurasana, Peacock Pose), Mudras (here, Viparita Karani), and Pranayama (breath control, here Kapalabhati).
context_page_description: Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga. The Sanskrit word हठ haṭha literally means "force" and thus alludes to a system of physical techniques.
  In India, haṭha yoga is associated in popular tradition with the Yogis of the Natha Sampradaya through its traditional founder Matsyendranath. Almost all hathayogic texts belong to the Nath siddhas, and the important ones are credited to Matsyendranath's disciple, Gorakhnath or Gorakshanath. Matsyendranath, also known as Minanath or Minapa in Tibet, is celebrated as a saint in both Hindu and Buddhist tantric and haṭha yoga schools. However, James Mallinson associates haṭha yoga with the Dashanami Sampradaya and the mystical figure of Dattatreya. According to the Dattatreya Yoga Śastra, there are two forms of haṭha yoga: one practiced by Yajñavalkya consisting of the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga and another practiced by Kapila consisting of eight mudras.
  Currently, the oldest dated text to describe haṭha yoga, the 11th-century CE Amṛtasiddhi, comes from a tantric Buddhist milieu. The oldest texts to use the terminology of hatha are also Vajrayana Buddhist.
context_section_description: Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga. The Sanskrit word हठ haṭha literally means "force" and thus alludes to a system of physical techniques.
  In India, haṭha yoga is associated in popular tradition with the Yogis of the Natha Sampradaya through its traditional founder Matsyendranath. Almost all hathayogic texts belong to the Nath siddhas, and the important ones are credited to Matsyendranath's disciple, Gorakhnath or Gorakshanath. Matsyendranath, also known as Minanath or Minapa in Tibet, is celebrated as a saint in both Hindu and Buddhist tantric and haṭha yoga schools. However, James Mallinson associates haṭha yoga with the Dashanami Sampradaya and the mystical figure of Dattatreya. According to the Dattatreya Yoga Śastra, there are two forms of haṭha yoga: one practiced by Yajñavalkya consisting of the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga and another practiced by Kapila consisting of eight mudras.
  Currently, the oldest dated text to describe haṭha yoga, the 11th-century CE Amṛtasiddhi, comes from a tantric Buddhist milieu. The oldest texts to use the terminology of hatha are also Vajrayana Buddhist. Later haṭha yoga texts adopt the practices of haṭha yoga mudras into a Saiva system, melding it with Layayoga methods which focus on the raising of kuṇḍalinī through energy channels and chakras.
  In the 20th century, a development of haṭha yoga, focusing particularly on asanas (the physical postures), became popular throughout the world as a form of physical exercise. This modern form of yoga is now widely known simply as "yoga".
caption: Hatha Yoga's components include Shatkarmas (purifications, here Nauli), Asanas (postures, here Mayurasana, Peacock Pose), Mudras (manipulations of vital energy, here Viparita Karani), Pranayama (breath control, here Anuloma Viloma).[1]
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