Hatha yoga
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, who is celebrated as a saint in both Hindu and Buddhist tantric and haṭha yoga schools. Almost all hathayogic texts belong to the Nath siddhas, and the important ones are credited to Matsyendranath's disciple, Gorakhnath or Gorakshanath. According to the "Dattatreya Yoga Śastra", there are two forms of haṭha yoga: one practiced  by Yajñavalkya consisting of the eight limbs of yoga, and another practiced by Kapila consisting of eight mudras. The oldest dated text so far found to describe haṭha yoga, the 11th-century "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". Origins. Earliest textual references. According to the Indologist James Mallinson, some haṭha yoga style techniques practised only by ascetics can be traced back at least to the 1st-century CE, in texts such as the Sanskrit epics (Hinduism) and the Pali canon (Buddhism). The Pali canon contains three passages in which the Buddha describes pressing the tongue against the palate for the purposes of controlling hunger or the mind, depending on the passage. However, there is no  mention of the tongue being inserted further back into the nasopharynx as in true khecarī mudrā. The Buddha also used a posture where pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, similar to modern postures used to stimulate Kundalini. In the "Mahāsaccaka sutta" (MN 36), the Buddha mentions how physical practices such as various meditations on holding one's breath did not help him "attain to greater excellence in noble knowledge and insight which transcends the human condition." After trying these, he then sought another path to enlightenment. The term haṭha yoga was first used in the c. 3rd  century "Bodhisattvabhūmi", the phrase "na haṭhayogena" seemingly meaning only that the bodhisattva would get his qualities "not by force". Transition from tantric Buddhism. The earliest mentions of haṭha yoga as a specific set of techniques are from some 17 Vajrayana Buddhist texts, mainly tantric works from the 8th century onwards. In Puṇḍarīka's c. 1030 "Vimalaprabhā" commentary on the "Kālacakratantra", haṭha yoga is for the first time defined within the context of tantric sexual ritual: While the actual means of practice are not specified, the forcing of the breath into the central channel and the restraining of ejaculation are central  features of later haṭha yoga practice texts. The c. 11th century Amṛtasiddhi is the earliest substantial text describing Haṭha yoga, though it does not use the term; it is a tantric Buddhist work, and makes use of metaphors from alchemy. A manuscript states its date as 1160. The text teaches mahābandha, mahāmudrā, and mahāvedha which involve bodily postures and breath control, as a means to preserve amrta or bindu (vital energy) in the head (the "moon") from dripping down the central channel and being burned by the fire (the "sun") at the perineum. The text also attacks Vajrayana deity yoga  as ineffective. According to Mallinson, later manuscripts and editions of this text have obscured or omitted the Buddhist elements (such as the deity Chinnamasta which appears in the earliest manuscripts and was originally a Buddhist deity, only appearing in Hindu works after the 16th century). However, the earliest manuscript makes it clear that this text originated in a Vajrayana Buddhist milieu. The inscription at the end of one "Amṛtasiddhi" manuscript ascribes the text to "Mādhavacandra" or "Avadhūtacandra" and is "said to represent the teachings of "Virūpākṣa"". According to Mallison, this figure is most likely the Buddhist mahasiddha Virupa. Early haṭha  yoga. Around the 11th century, techniques associated with Haṭha yoga begin to be outlined in a series of early texts. The aims of these practices were siddhis (supranormal powers such as levitation) and mukti (liberation). Early haṭha yoga works include: The earliest haṭha yoga methods of the "Amṛtasiddhi", "Dattātreyayogaśāstra" and "Vivekamārtaṇḍa" are used to raise and conserve bindu (semen, and in women "rajas –" menstrual fluid) which was seen as the physical essence of life that was constantly dripping down from the head and being lost. This vital essence is also sometimes called amrta (the nectar of immortality). These techniques sought  to either physically reverse this process (by inverted postures like "viparītakaraṇī") or to use the breath to force bindu upwards through the central channel. In contrast to these, early Nāth works like the "Gorakṣaśataka" and the "Yogabīja" teach a yoga based on raising Kundalinī (through śakticālanī mudrā). This is not called haṭha yoga in these early texts, but Layayoga ("the yoga of dissolution"). However, other early Nāth texts like the "Vivekamārtaṇḍa" can be seen as co-opting the mudrās of haṭha yoga meant to preserve bindu. Then, in later Nāth as well as Śākta texts, the adoption of haṭha yoga  is more developed, and focused solely on the raising of Kundalinī without mentioning bindu. Mallinson sees these later texts as promoting a universalist yoga, available to all, without the need to study the metaphysics of Samkhya-yoga or the complex esotericism of Shaiva Tantra. Instead this "democratization of yoga" led to the teaching of these techniques to all people, "without the need for priestly intermediaries, ritual paraphernalia or sectarian initiations." Classical haṭha yoga. Section::::"Haṭhayogapradīpikā". The "Haṭhayogapradīpikā" is one of the most influential texts of Haṭha yoga. It was compiled by Svātmārāma in the 15th century CE from earlier Haṭha yoga  texts. These earlier texts were of Vedanta or non-dual Shaiva orientation. From both, the "Haṭha Yoga Pradīpika" borrowed the philosophy of non-duality (advaita). According to Mallinson, this reliance on non-duality helped Haṭha yoga thrive in the medieval period as non-duality became the "dominant soteriological method in scholarly religious discourse in India". The text lists 35 great yoga siddhas starting with Adi Natha (Hindu god Shiva) followed by Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath. It includes information about shatkarma (six acts of self purification), 15 asana (postures: seated, laying down, and non-seated), pranayama (breathing) and kumbhaka (breath retention), mudras  (internalized energetic practices), meditation, chakras (centers of energy), kundalini, nadanusandhana (concentration on inner sound), and other topics. Post-"Hathayogapradipika" texts. Post-"Hathayogapradipika" texts on Haṭha yoga include: Modern era. According to Mallinson, Haṭha yoga has been a broad movement across the Indian traditions, openly available to anyone: Haṭha yoga represented a trend towards the democratization of yoga insights and religion similar to the Bhakti movement. It eliminated the need for "either ascetic renunciation or priestly intermediaries, ritual paraphernalia and sectarian initiations". This led to its broad historic popularity in India. Later in the 20th-century, states Mallinson, this disconnect of Haṭha yoga  from religious aspects and the democratic access of Haṭha yoga enabled it to spread worldwide. Between the 17th and 19th-century, however, the various urban Hindu and Muslim elites and ruling classes viewed Yogis with derision. They were persecuted during the rule of Aurangzeb; this ended a long period of religious tolerance that had defined the rule of his predecessors beginning with Akbar, who famously studied with the yogis and other mystics. Haṭha yoga remained popular in rural India. Negative impression for the Hatha yogis continued during the British colonial rule era. According to Mark Singleton, this historical negativity and  colonial antipathy likely motivated Swami Vivekananda to make an emphatic distinction between "merely physical exercises of Haṭha yoga" and the "higher spiritual path of Raja yoga". This common disdain by the officials and intellectuals slowed the study and adoption of Haṭha yoga. A well-known school of Haṭha yoga from the 20th-century is the Divine Life Society founded by Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh (1887–1963) and his many disciples including, among others, Swami Vishnu-devananda – founder of International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres; Swami Satyananda – of the Bihar School of Yoga; and Swami Satchidananda of Integral Yoga. The Bihar School of  Yoga has been one of the largest Haṭha yoga teacher training centers in India but is little known in Europe and the Americas. Theos Casimir Bernard's 1943 book "" provides an informative but fictionalised account of traditional Haṭha yoga as a spiritual path. Yoga as exercise. Yoga as exercise, of the type seen in the West, has been greatly influenced by Swami Kuvalayananda and his student Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who taught from 1924 until his death in 1989. Both Kuvalayananda and Krishnamacharya combined asanas from Haṭha yoga with gymnastic exercises from the physical culture of the time, dropping most of its  religious aspects, to develop a flowing style of physical yoga that placed little or no emphasis on Haṭha yoga's spiritual goals. Among Krishnamacharya's students prominent in popularizing yoga in the West were K. Pattabhi Jois famous for popularizing the vigorous Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga style, B. K. S. Iyengar who emphasized alignment and the use of props in Iyengar Yoga, Indra Devi and Krishnamacharya's son T. K. V. Desikachar. Krishnamacharya-linked schools have become widely known in the Western world. Examples of other branded forms of yoga, with some controversies, that make use of Haṭha yoga include Anusara  Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Integral Yoga, Jivamukti Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Kripalu Yoga, Kriya Yoga, Sivananda Yoga and Viniyoga. After about 1975, yoga has become increasingly popular globally, in both developed and developing countries. Practice. Haṭha yoga practice is complex and requires certain characteristics of the yogi. Section 1.16 of the "Haṭha yoga Pradipika", for example, states these to be "utsaha" (enthusiasm, fortitude), "sahasa" (courage), "dhairya" (patience), "jnana tattva" (essence for knowledge), "nishcaya" (resolve, determination) and "tyaga" (solitude, renunciation). In Western culture, Haṭha yoga is typically understood as "asanas" and it can be practiced as such. In the Indian and Tibetan traditions , Haṭha yoga is much more. It extends well beyond being a sophisticated physical exercise system and integrates ideas of ethics, diet, cleansing, pranayama (breathing exercises), meditation and a system for spiritual development of the yogi. Diet. Some Haṭha texts place major emphasis on "mitahara", which means "measured diet" or "moderate eating". For example, sections 1.58 to 1.63 and 2.14 of the "Haṭha Yoga Pradipika" and sections 5.16 to 5.32 of the "Gheranda Samhita" discuss the importance of proper diet to the body. They link the food one eats and one's eating habits to balancing the body and gaining most  benefits from the practice of Haṭha yoga. Eating, states the "Gheranda Samhita", is a form of a devotional act to the temple of body, as if one is expressing affection for the gods. Similarly, sections 3.20 and 5.25 of the "Shiva Samhita" includes "mitahara" as an essential part of a holistic Haṭha yoga practice. Verses 1.57 through 1.63 of the critical edition of "Haṭha Yoga Pradipika" suggests that taste cravings should not drive one's eating habits, rather the best diet is one that is tasty, nutritious and likable as well as sufficient to meet the needs of one's  body and for one's inner self. It recommends that one must "eat only when one feels hungry" and "neither overeat nor eat to completely fill one's stomach; rather leave a quarter portion empty and fill three quarters with quality food and fresh water". According to another text, the "Goraksha Sataka", eating a controlled diet is one of the three important parts of a complete and successful practice. The text does not provide details or recipes. The text states, according to Mallinson, "food should be unctuous and sweet", one must not overeat and stop when still a bit hungry  (leave a quarter of the stomach empty), and whatever one eats should please Shiva. Purifications. Haṭha yoga teaches various steps of inner body cleansing with consultations of one's yoga teacher. Its texts vary in specifics and number of cleansing methods, ranging from simple hygiene practices to the peculiar exercises such as reversing seminal fluid flow. The most common list is called the "shatkarmas", or six cleansing actions: "dhauti" (cleanse teeth and body), "basti" (cleanse rectum), "neti" (cleanse nasal passages), "trataka" (cleanse eyes), "nauli" (abdominal massage) and "kapalabhati" (cleanse phlegm). The actual procedure for cleansing varies by the Haṭha yoga  text, some suggesting a water wash and others describing the use of cleansing aids such as cloth. Breath control. Prāṇāyāma is made out of two Sanskrit words "prāṇa" (प्राण, breath, vital energy, life force) and "āyāma" (आयाम, restraining, extending, stretching). Some Haṭha yoga texts teach breath exercises but do not refer to it as Pranayama. For example, section 3.55 of the "GherandaSamhita" calls it "Ghatavastha" (state of being the pot). In others, the term "Kumbhaka" or "Prana-samrodha" replaces Pranayama. Regardless of the nomenclature, proper breathing and the use of breathing techniques during a posture is a mainstay of Haṭha  yoga. Its texts state that proper breathing exercises cleanse and balance the body. "Pranayama" is one of the core practices of Haṭha yoga, found in its major texts as one of the limbs regardless of whether the total number of limbs taught are four or more. It is the practice of consciously regulating breath (inhalation and exhalation), a concept shared with all schools of yoga. This is done in several ways, inhaling and then suspending exhalation for a period, exhaling and then suspending inhalation for a period, slowing the inhalation and exhalation, consciously changing the time/length of breath (deep , short breathing), combining these with certain focussed muscle exercises. "Pranayama" or proper breathing is an integral part of "asanas". According to section 1.38 of "Haṭha yoga pradipika", "Siddhasana" is the most suitable and easiest posture to learn breathing exercises. The different Haṭha yoga texts discuss "pranayama" in various ways. For example, "Haṭha yoga pradipka" in section 2.71 explains it as a threefold practice: "recaka" (exhalation), "puraka" (inhalation) and "kumbhaka" (retention). During the exhalation and inhalation, the text states that three things move: air, prana and yogi's thoughts, and all three are intimately connected. It is "kumbhaka" where stillness and  dissolution emerges. The text divides "kumbhaka" into two kinds: "sahita" (supported) and "kevala" (complete). "Sahita kumbhaka" is further sub-divided into two types: retention with inhalation, retention with exhalation. Each of these breath units are then combined in different permutations, time lengths, posture and targeted muscle exercises in the belief that these aerate and assist blood flow to targeted regions of the body. Posture. Before starting yoga practice, state the Haṭha yoga texts, the yogi must establish a suitable place. This is to be away from all distractions, preferably a "mathika" (hermitage) distant from falling rocks, fire and a damp  shifting surface. Once a peaceful stable location has been chosen, the yogi begins the posture exercises called "asanas". These postures come in numerous forms. For a beginner, states the historian of religion Mircea Eliade, the" asanas" are uncomfortable, typically difficult, cause the body to shake, and are typically unbearable to hold for extended periods of time. However, with repetition and persistence, as the muscle tone improves, the effort reduces and posture improves. According to the Haṭha yoga texts, each posture becomes perfect when the "effort disappears", one no longer thinks about the posture and one's body position, breathes normally  in "pranayama", and is able to dwell in one's meditation ("anantasamapattibhyam"). The "asanas" vary significantly between Haṭha yoga texts, and some of the names are used for different poses. Most of the early "asanas" are inspired by nature, such as a form of union with symmetric, harmonious flowing shapes of animals, birds or plants. Mudras. According to Mallinson, in the earliest formulations, Haṭha yoga was a means to raise and preserve the bindu, believed to be one of the vital energies. The two early Haṭha yoga techniques to achieve this were inverted poses to trap the bindu using gravity , or mudras (yogic seals) to make breath flow into the centre channel and force bindu up. However, in later Haṭha yoga, the Kaula visualization of Kuṇḍalini rising through a system of chakras was overlaid onto the earlier bindu-oriented system. The aim was to access amṛta (the nectar of immortality) situated in the head, which subsequently floods the body, in contradiction with the early Haṭha yoga goal of preserving bindu. The classical sources for the mudras are the "Gheranda Samhita" and the "Hatha Yoga Pradipika". The yoga mudras are diverse in the parts of the body involved and in the  procedures required, as in Mula Bandha, Mahamudra, Viparita Karani, Khecarī mudrā, and Vajroli mudra. Meditation. The "Haṭha Yoga Pradipika" text dedicates almost a third of its verses to meditation. Similarly, other major texts of Haṭha yoga such as the "Shiva Samhita" and the "Gheranda Samhita" discuss meditation. In all three texts, meditation is the ultimate goal of all the preparatory cleansing, asanas, pranayama and other steps. The aim of this meditation is to realize "Nada-Brahman", or the complete absorption and union with the Brahman through inner mystic sound. According to Guy Beck – a professor of Religious Studies known for  his studies on Yoga and music, a Hatha yogi in this stage of practice seeks "inner union of physical opposites", into an inner state of samadhi that is described by Haṭha yoga texts in terms of divine sounds, and as a union with "Nada-Brahman" in musical literature of ancient India. Goals. The aims of Haṭha yoga in various Indian traditions have included physical "siddhis" (special powers, bodily benefits such as slowing age effects, magical powers) and spiritual liberation (moksha, mukti). According to Mikel Burley, some of the "siddhis" are symbolic references to the cherished soteriological goals of Indian religions . For example, the "Vayu Siddhi" or "conquest of the air" literally implies rising into the air as in levitation, but it likely has a symbolic meaning of "a state of consciousness into a vast ocean of space" or "voidness" ideas found respectively in Hinduism and Buddhism. Some traditions such as the Kaula tantric sect of Hinduism and Sahajiya tantric sect of Buddhism pursued more esoteric goals such as alchemy (Nagarjuna, Carpita), magic, "kalavancana" (cheating death) and "parakayapravesa" (entering another's body). James Mallinson, however, disagrees and suggests that such fringe practices are far removed from the mainstream Yoga's goal  as meditation–driven means to liberation in Indian religions. The majority of historic Haṭha yoga texts do not give any importance to "siddhis". The mainstream practice considered the pursuit of magical powers as a distraction or hindrance to Haṭha yoga's ultimate aim of spiritual liberation, self-knowledge or release from rebirth that the Indian traditions call "mukti" or "moksha". The goals of Haṭha yoga, in its earliest texts, were linked to "mumukshu" (seeker of liberation, moksha). The later texts added and experimented with the goals of "bubhukshu" (seeker of enjoyment, bhoga). Differences from Patanjali yoga. Haṭha yoga is a  branch of yoga. It shares numerous ideas and doctrines with other forms of yoga, such as the more ancient system taught by Patanjali. The differences are in the addition of some aspects, and different emphasis on others. For example, "pranayama" is crucial in all yogas, but it is the mainstay of Haṭha yoga. Mudras and certain kundalini-related ideas are included in Haṭha yoga, but not mentioned in the "Yoga Sutras of Patanjali". Patanjali yoga considers "asanas" important but dwells less on various "asanas" than the Haṭha yoga texts. In contrast, the Haṭha yoga texts consider meditation as important but  dwell less on meditation methodology than Patanjali yoga. The Haṭha yoga texts acknowledge and refer to Patanjali yoga, attesting to the latter's antiquity. However, this acknowledgment is essentially only in passing, as they offer no serious commentary or exposition of Patanjali's system. This suggests that Haṭha yoga developed as a branch of the more ancient yoga. According to P.V. Kane, Patanjali yoga concentrates more on the yoga of the mind, while Haṭha yoga focuses on body and health. Some Hindu texts do not recognize this distinction. For example, the "Yogatattva Upanishad" teaches a system that includes all aspects  of the "Yoga Sutras" of Patanjali, and all additional elements of Haṭha yoga practice. External links.