The earliest haṭha yoga methods of the Amṛta Siddhi, Dattātreya yoga śhāstra, 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.

Kundalinī raising practices

In contrast to these, early Nāth works like the Goraksa Satakạ 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 Viveka Mārtaṇḍa 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.

Democratization of yoga

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

Haṭha yoga pradīpikā

The Haṭha yoga pradīpikā 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 Nath (Hindu God Shiva) followed by Macchindranath and Gorakshanath. It includes information about:

• Shatkarma (six acts of self-purification),
• 15 asanas (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-Hatha Yoga Pradipika texts

Post-Hatha yoga pradipika texts on Haṭha yoga include:

Amaraughasasana

A Sharada script manuscript of this Haṭha yoga text was copied in 1525 CE. It is notable because fragments of this manuscript have also been found near Kuqa in Xinjiang (China). The text discusses khecarimudra but calls it saranas. It links the squatting pose Utkatasana, rather than the use of mudras, with the raising of Kundalini.

Hatha Ratnavali

A 17th-century text that states Haṭha yoga consists of ten mudras, eight cleansing methods, nine kumbhakas, and 84 asanas (compared to 15 asanas of Hatha yoga pradīpikạ). The text is also notable for dropping the nadanusandhana (inner sound) technique.

Hatha Pradipika Siddhanta Muktavali

An early 18th-century text that expands on the Hatha yoga pradipikạ by adding practical insights and citations to other Indian texts on yoga.

• Gheranda Samhita: a 17th or 18th-century text that presents Haṭha yoga as “ghatastha yoga”, according to Mallinson. It presents 6 cleansing methods, 32 asanas, 25 mudras, and 10 pranayamas. It is one of the most encyclopedic texts on Haṭha yoga.
• Joga pradipika: an 18th-century Braj-language text by Ramanandi Jayatarama that presents Haṭha yoga simply as “yoga”. It presents 6 cleansing methods, 84 asanas, 24 mudras, and 8 kumbhakas.

Modern era Hatha yoga

According to Mallinson, Haṭha yoga has been a broad movement across the Indian traditions, openly available to anyone:

Haṭha yoga, like other methods of yoga, can be practiced by all, regardless of sex, caste, class, or creed. Many texts explicitly state that it is practice alone that leads to success. Sectarian affiliation and philosophical inclination are of no importance. The texts of Haṭha yoga, with some exceptions, do not include teachings on metaphysics or sect-specific practices.

A trend towards the democratization

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.

The era of 17th and 19th-century

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.

British colonial rule era

A 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.

Bihar School of Hatha 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 Hatha Yoga: The Report of A Personal Experience provides an informative but fictionalized 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. 

Other branded forms of yoga

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
• Vini Yoga. 

After about 1975, yoga techniques have become increasingly popular globally, in both developed and developing countries.

Hatha Yoga 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), 
• Nishchaya (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 the spiritual development of the yogi.

Recommended Diet for practicing Hatha yoga

Measured diet or moderate eating

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 the most benefits from the practice of Haṭha yoga. Eating, states the Gheranda Samhita, is a form of a devotional act to the temple of the body as if one is expressing affection for the Gods. Similarly, sections 3.20 and 5.25 of the Shiva Samhita include mitahara as an essential part of a holistic Haṭha yoga practice.

Eat only when one feels hungry

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”.

Food should be unctuous and sweet

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.

Purification of the inner body

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 peculiar exercises such as reversing seminal fluid flow. The most common list is called the shatkarmas, or six cleansing actions include:

• 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).

Breathing exercise

Some Haṭha yoga texts teach breathing exercises but do not refer to them 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.

Regulating breath

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 is four or more. It is the practice of consciously regulating breath (inhalation and exhalation), a concept shared with all schools of yoga.

Inhaling and Exhaling

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 threefold practice of Pranayama

The different Haṭha yoga texts discuss pranayama in various ways. For example, Haṭha yoga pradipika 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 emerge. 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 is 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.

Hatha yoga Posture

Before starting a 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).

Types of asanas in Haṭha yoga

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.

Asanas (postures) in some Haṭha Yoga Texts

Sanskrit	English	Gheranda Samhita	Haṭha Yoga Pradipika	Shiva Samhita
Bhadrāsana	Fortunate	2.9–910	1.53–954	—
Bhujaṅgāsana	Serpent	2.42–943	—	—
Dhanurāsana	Bow	2.18	1.25	—
Garuḍāsana	Eagle	2.37	—	—
Gomukhāsana	Cow face	2.16	1.20	—
Gorakṣāsana	Cowherd	2.24–925	1.28–929	3.108–9112
Guptāsana	Secret	2.20	—	—
Kukkutāsana	Rooster	2.31	1.23	—
Kūrmāsana	Tortoise	2.32	1.22	—
Makarāsana	Crocodile	2.40	—	—
Mandukāsana	Frog	2.34	—	—
Matsyāsana	Fish	2.21	—	—
Matsyendrāsana	Matsyendra’s pose	2.22–923	1.26–927	—
Mayūrāsana	Peacock	2.29–930	1.30–931	—
Muktāsana	Freedom	2.11	—	—
Padmāsana	Lotus	2.8	1.44–949	3.102–9107
Paschimottanāsana	Seated Forward Bend	2.26	1.30–931	—
Sankatāsana	Contracted	2.28	—	—
Shalabhāsana	Locust	2.39	—	—
Śavāsana	Corpse	2.19	1.34	—
Siddhāsana	Accomplished	2.7	1.35–943	3.97–9101
Siṁhāsana	Lion	2.14–915	1.50–952	—
Yogāsana	Union	2.44–945	—	—
Svastikāsana	Auspicious	2.13	1.19	3.113–9115
Vṛṣāsana	Bull	2.38	—	—
Uṣṭrāsana	Camel	2.41	—	—
Utkaṭāsana	Superior	2.27	—	—
Uttana Kurmāsana	Raised Tortoise	2.33	1.24	—
Uttana Mandukāsana	Raised Frog	2.35	—	—
Vajrāsana	Thunderbolt	2.12	—	—
Virāsana	Hero	2.17	—	3.21
Vṛkṣāsana	Tree	2.36	—	—

Hatha Yoga 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 center 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.

Hatha Yoga 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 the musical literature of ancient India.

Goals of Hatha Yoga 

Physical siddhis and spiritual liberation

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.

Para kaya pravesa (entering another’s body)

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 para kaya pravesa (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 means liberation in Indian religions. 

Siddhis are not important

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).

How different is Hatha Yoga 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 the 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.

Frequently asked questions

Before posting your query, kindly go through them:

What is the meaning of ‘Hatha’? The term Hatha Yoga has been commonly used to describe the practice of Asana (postures). The syllable ‘ha’ denotes the pranic (vital) force governing the physical body and ‘tha’ denotes the Chitta (mental) force thus making Hatha Yoga a catalyst to an awakening of the two energies that govern our lives.

Is Hatha Yoga practice complex? Yes. Hatha 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), Nishchaya (resolve, determination), and  Tyaga (solitude, renunciation).

 

What Dattātreyayogaśhāstra teaches? The Dattātreya Yoga Shāstra teaching includes Mahāmudrā, Mahābandha, Khecarīmudrā, Jālandharabandha, Uḍḍiyāṇabandha, Mūlabandha, Viparītakaraṇī, Vajrolī, Amarolī, and Sahajolī.