Classical Hatha Yoga

In the early modern, Hatha Yoga was further developed into the classical system
as it is known today.
Principal texts
According to Burley and Rosen, classical Hatha Yoga is described primarily in th
ree texts of Hinduism:[3][15]
Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Yogi Swatmarama (15th century)
Shiva Samhita, author unknown (1500 C.E [16] or late 17th century)
Gheranda Samhita by Yogi Gheranda (late 17th century)
Hathapradipik?
The Hathapradipik? was composed by Svatmarama in the 15th century CE as a compil
ation of the earlier hatha yoga texts.[1]
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Gheranda samhita are derived from older Sanskri
t texts. In Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Swatmarama introduces his system as preparator
y stage for physical purification that the body practices for higher meditation
or Yoga. It is based on asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing techniques).
Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists 35 great Hatha Yoga siddhas or masters Adi Natha, Mat
syendranath and Gorakshanath. It includes information about shatkarma (purificat
ion), asana, pranayama (subtle energy control), chakras (centers of energy), kun
dalini (instinct), bandhas (muscle force), kriyas (techniques; manifestations of
kundalini), shakti (sacred force), nadis (channels), and mudras (symbolic gestu
res) among other topics.
The only other texts older than the Hathapradipik? to teach Hatha Yoga ? mudras a
re the Shiva Samhita, Yogabija, Amaraughaprabodha, and Sar?gadharapaddhati.[1]
Post-Hathapradipik? Texts
Post-Hathaprakipika texts include Hathasa?? ketacandrika, the Yogacintama?i, the
Hathatattvakaumud?, the Yogabija anthologies, the Yoga Upanisads, and ? Brahmana
nda s Jyotsna commentary on the Hathapradipik?', the Amaraughasasana, the Hatharatn
avali, the B?hatkhecariprakasa, the Hathapradipik? Siddhantamuktavali, the Gorakh
ba?i, the Gheranda Samhita and the Jogpradipaka.[1]
Modern popularization
Many modern schools of hatha yoga in the West derive from the school of Tirumala
i Krishnamacharya, who taught from 1924 until his death in 1989. Among his stude
nts 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 emph
asized alignment and the use of props, Indra Devi and Krishnamacharya's son T. K
. V. Desikachar.
Another major stream of influence within and outside India has been Swami Sivana
nda 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 Yog
a.
In India, Baba Ramdev of Haridwar has popularized yoga among the masses in the 2
1st century.
In Sierra Leone, the "Yoga Strength" organization headed by Tamba Fayia, a forme
r child soldier who has become "the country's first qualified yoga teacher", foc
uses on "taking yoga to the people who need it ... on the streets, in the slums,

in the schools."[17]
Practice
Hatha yoga has some important principles and practices that are shared with othe
r methods of yoga, such as subtle physiology, dhara?a (fixation of the elements)
, and nadanusandhana (concentration on the internal sound).[1]
Six limbs
Hatha yoga consists of six limbs focused on attaining samadhi. In this scheme, t
he six limbs of hatha yoga are defined as asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana,
dhyana and samadhi. It includes disciplines, postures (asana), purification pro
cedures (shatkriya), gestures (mudra), breathing (pranayama), and meditation.[ci
tation needed] The hatha yoga predominantly practiced in the West consists of mo
stly asanas understood as physical exercises. It is also recognized as a stressreducing practice.
Preservation of life force
In its earliest formulations, hath? was used to raise and conserve the physical
essence of life, identified in men as bindu (semen), which is otherwise constant
ly dripping downward from a store in the head and being expended.[1] The female
equivalent, mentioned only occasionally in our sources, is rajas, menstrual flui
d.[1] The preservation and sublimation of semen was associated with tapas (ascet
icism) from at least the time of the epics, and some of the techniques of early
Hatha Yoga are likely to have developed as part of ascetic practice.[1] The tech
niques of early Hatha Yoga work in two ways: mechanically, in practices such as
viparitakara?i, the reverser, in which by standing on one s head one uses gravity to
keep bindu in the head; or by making the breath enter the central channel of th
e body, which runs from the base of the spine to the top of the head, thereby fo
rcing bindu upward.[1]
Kundalini
In later formulations of Hatha Yoga, the Kaula system of the visualization of th
e serpent goddess Ku??alini rising as ku??alini energy through a system of cakra
s, usually six or seven, is overlaid onto the bindu-oriented system.[1] The same
techniques, together with some specifically ku??alini-oriented ones, are said t
o effect ku??alini s rise up the central channel (which is called the susumn? in th
ese traditions) to a store of am?ta (the nectar of immortality) situated in the
head, with which ku??alini then floods the body, rejuvenating it and rendering i
t immortal.[1]
Siddhis
The aims and results of Hatha Yoga are the same as those of other varieties of y
oga practice: siddhis (both mundane benefits and magical powers) and moksha, the
latter often understood as being attained in a body immortalized by Hatha Yoga
practices.[1] In keeping with the physical orientation of Hatha Yoga practices,
its siddhis are predominantly physical, ranging from the loss of wrinkles and gr
ey hair to divine sight or the ability to levitate.[1] In common with earlier fo
rmulations of yoga, in particular Kaula ones, the techniques of Hatha Yoga can b
e used to effect kalavacana (cheating death), utkranti (yogic suicide), or paraka
yapravesa (entering another s body).[1] As in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, siddhi
s are usually said to be a hindrance to or distraction from Hatha Yoga s ultimate
aim liberation
but in some Kaula-influenced texts, the pursuit of specific siddh
is through specific techniques is taught.[18]
Health benefits ascribed to yogasana practice
See also: Yoga as exercise or alternative medicine