109-506: The Haṭha Ratnāvalī is a Haṭha yoga text written in the 17th century by Srinivasa. It is one of the first texts to name 84 asanas , earlier texts having claimed as many without naming them. It describes 36 asanas. The Haṭha Ratnāvalī is a Haṭha yoga text written in the 17th century by Srinivasa. It states (1.17-18) that asanas , breath retentions , and seals assist in Haṭha yoga. It mentions 8 purifications ( shatkarmas ), criticising
218-802: A 19th-century Scandinavian tradition of gymnastics dating back to Pehr Ling , and "found their way to India" by the early 20th century. Yoga asanas were brought to America in 1919 by Yogendra , sometimes called "the Father of the Modern Yoga Renaissance", his system influenced by the physical culture of Max Müller . In 1924, Swami Kuvalayananda founded the Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center in Maharashtra . He combined asanas with Indian systems of exercise and modern European gymnastics, having according to
327-440: 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
436-501: A central link between the manifest body and the unmanifest spirit. Therefore it should not be the sense-attached, bodily-involved consciousness that motivates yoga practice, but spiritual thoughts. According to Grill, this path from above to below is essential, because “the soul lives in the receptivity of giving and not in the receptivity of earthly taking.” For the practice he has written a book called The Souldimension of Yoga , which has already been translated into many languages. Since
545-559: 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 . 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
654-506: A few being ancient, some being medieval, and a growing number recent. Some that appear traditional, such as Virabhadrasana I (Warrior Pose I), are relatively recent: that pose was probably devised by Krishnamacharya around 1940, and it was popularised by his pupil, Iyengar. A pose that is certainly younger than that is Parivritta Parsvakonasana (Revolved Side Angle Pose): it was not in the first edition of Pattabhi Jois's Yoga Mala in 1962. Viparita Virabhadrasana (Reversed Warrior Pose)
763-414: A methodical way of freeing up the spine, limbs, and breathing so that the yogi can spend extended periods of time in a seated position." Iyengar observed that the practice of asanas "brings steadiness, health, and lightness of limb. A steady and pleasant posture produces mental equilibrium and prevents fickleness of mind." He adds that they bring agility, balance, endurance, and "great vitality", developing
872-627: A prototype of the god Shiva , recognised by being three-faced; in a yoga position as the Mahayogin, the god of yoga; having four animals as Pashupati , the Lord of Beasts; with deer beneath the throne, as in medieval depictions of Shiva; having a three-part headdress recalling Shiva's trident; and possibly being ithyphallic , again like Shiva. If correct, this would be the oldest record of an asana. However, with no proof anywhere of an Indus Valley origin for Shiva, with multiple competing interpretations of
981-553: A secular context, the journalists Nell Frizzell and Reni Eddo-Lodge have debated (in The Guardian ) whether Western yoga classes represent "cultural appropriation". In Frizzell's view, yoga has become a new entity, a long way from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and while some practitioners are culturally insensitive, others treat it with more respect. Eddo-Lodge agrees that Western yoga is far from Patanjali, but argues that
1090-502: A single asana by name, merely specifying the characteristics of a good asana: स्थिरसुखमासनम् ॥४६॥ sthira sukham āsanam Asana means a steady and comfortable posture. Yoga Sutras 2:46 The Sutras are embedded in the Bhasya commentary, which scholars suggest may also be by Patanjali; it names 12 seated meditation asanas including Padmasana , Virasana , Bhadrasana , and Svastikasana . The 10th–11th century Vimanarcanakalpa
1199-459: A stick, Chakrasana , Yogapattasana which requires the use of a strap , and a hand-standing inverted pose with a stick, as well as several unidentified poses. By the 17th century, asanas became an important component of Hatha yoga practice, and more non-seated poses appear. The Hatha Ratnavali by Srinivasa (17th century) is one of the few texts to attempt an actual listing of 84 asanas, although 4 out of its list cannot be translated from
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#17327825717701308-538: 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
1417-445: A variety of claims for the benefits brought by the asanas, both spiritual and physical. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (HYP) states that asanas in general, described as the first auxiliary of hatha yoga, give "steadiness, good health, and lightness of limb." (HYP 1.17) Specific asanas, it claims, bring additional benefits; for example, Matsyendrasana awakens Kundalini and makes the semen steady; (HYP 1.27) Paschimottanasana "stokes up
1526-470: A water wash and others describing the use of cleansing aids such as cloth. 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
1635-605: Is "said to represent the teachings of Virūpākṣa ". According to Mallinson, this figure is most likely the Buddhist mahasiddha Virupa . The c. 10th century Kubjikāmatatantra anticipates haṭha yoga with its description of the raising of Kundalini , and a 6- chakra system. Around the 11th century, techniques associated with Haṭha yoga also begin to be outlined in a series of early Hindu texts. The aims of these practices were siddhis (supranormal powers such as levitation) and mukti (liberation) . In India, haṭha yoga
1744-453: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ha%E1%B9%ADha yoga Traditional Hatha yoga ( / ˈ h ʌ t ə , ˈ h ɑː t ə / ; IAST : Haṭha-yoga ) is a branch of yoga that uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ haṭha literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some hatha yoga style techniques can be traced back at least to
1853-411: 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
1962-722: Is associated in popular tradition with the Yogis of the Natha Sampradaya . Almost all hathayogic texts belong to the Nath siddhas , and the important ones are credited to Gorakhnath or Gorakshanath (c. early 11th century), the founder of the Nath Hindu monastic movement in India, though those texts post-date him. Goraknath is regarded by the contemporary Nath-tradition as the disciple of Matsyendranath (early 10th century), who
2071-542: Is celebrated as a saint in both Hindu and Buddhist tantric and haṭha yoga schools, and regarded by tradition as the founder of the Natha Sampradaya. 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
2180-495: 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 exercise using asanas and it can be practiced as such. In
2289-563: 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
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#17327825717702398-401: Is described by Haṭha yoga texts in terms of divine sounds, and as a union with Nada-Brahman in musical literature of ancient India. 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
2507-690: Is evidence that practice of asanas improves birth outcomes and physical health and quality of life measures in the elderly, and reduces sleep disturbances and hypertension . Iyengar yoga is effective at least in the short term for both neck pain and low back pain. The National Institutes of Health notes that yoga is generally safe "when performed properly", though people with some health conditions, older people, and pregnant woman may need to seek advice. For example, people with glaucoma are advised not to practise inverted postures. The Yoga Journal provides separate lists of asanas that it states are "inadvisable" and should be avoided or modified for each of
2616-455: Is inherently Hindu, making Christian yoga an evident contradiction or indeed "diametrically opposed to Christianity". A similar debate has taken place in a Muslim context; under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman , yoga, formerly banned as a Hindu practice, has been legalised, while mainly-Hindu Bali has held a yoga competition in defiance of a ruling by Indonesia's Muslim Ulema Council. In
2725-482: 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. Earlier texts were of Vedanta or non-dual Shaiva orientation, and 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
2834-601: 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. 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
2943-471: Is steady and comfortable". Patanjali mentions the ability to sit for extended periods as one of the eight limbs of his system . Asanas are also called yoga poses or yoga postures in English. The 10th or 11th century Goraksha Sataka and the 15th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika identify 84 asanas; the 17th century Hatha Ratnavali provides a different list of 84 asanas, describing some of them. In
3052-530: Is still more recent, and may have been created after 2000. Several poses that are now commonly practised, such as Dog Pose and standing asanas including Trikonasana (triangle pose), first appeared in the 20th century, as did the sequence of asanas, Surya Namaskar (Salute to the Sun). A different sun salutation, the Aditya Hridayam , is certainly ancient, as it is described in the "Yuddha Kaanda" Canto 107 of
3161-418: Is symbolic rather than literal, indicating completeness and sacredness. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (15th century) specifies that of these 84, the first four are important, namely the seated poses Siddhasana, Padmasana, Bhadrasana and Simhasana . The pillars of the 16th century Achyutaraya temple at Hampi are decorated with numerous relief statues of yogins in asanas including Siddhasana balanced on
3270-508: Is the first manuscript to describe a non-seated asana, in the form of Mayurasana (peacock) – a balancing pose. Such poses appear, according to the scholar James Mallinson , to have been created outside Shaivism , the home of the Nath yoga tradition, and to have been associated with asceticism ; they were later adopted by the Nath yogins. The Goraksha Sataka (10–11th century), or Goraksha Paddhathi , an early hatha yogic text, describes
3379-571: The Hatha Yoga Pradipika for only describing 6 of these. It is one of the earliest texts (the other being the unpublished Yogacintāmaṇi ) actually to name 84 asanas, earlier manuscripts having simply claimed that 84 or 8,400,000 asanas existed. The 84 asanas listed (HR 3.7-20) include several variations of Padmasana and Mayurasana, Gomukhasana , Bhairavasana , Matsyendrasana , Kurmasana , Kraunchasana , Mandukasana, Yoganidrasana , and many names now not in wide usage; it provides descriptions of 36 of these asanas. This Yoga-related article
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3488-555: The Ramayana . Surya Namaskar in its modern form was created by the Raja of Aundh , Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi ; K. Pattabhi Jois defined the variant forms Surya Namaskar A and B for Ashtanga Yoga, possibly derived from Krishnamacharya. Surya Namaskar can be seen as "a modern, physical culture -oriented rendition" of the simple ancient practice of prostrating oneself to the sun. In 1966, Iyengar's classic Light on Yoga
3597-614: The Yogatattva Upanishad teaches a system that includes all aspects of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and all additional elements of Haṭha yoga practice. Asana Traditional An āsana ( Sanskrit : आसन ) is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose , and later extended in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise , to any type of position, adding reclining, standing , inverted, twisting, and balancing poses. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali define "asana" as "[a position that]
3706-604: 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 fictionalised account of traditional Haṭha yoga as a spiritual path. Yoga as exercise , of
3815-460: 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
3924-542: The Buddha , Jain tirthankaras , and Shiva in lotus position and other meditation seats, and in the "royal ease" position, lalitasana . With the popularity of yoga as exercise, asanas feature commonly in novels and films , and sometimes also in advertising . The central figure in the Pashupati seal from the Indus Valley civilization of c. 2500 BC was identified by Sir John Marshall in 1931 as
4033-554: 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
4142-530: 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
4251-464: The bodhisattva would get his qualities "not by force". The earliest mentions of haṭha yoga as a specific set of techniques are from some seventeen 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: when
4360-881: 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). Mallinson, however, disagrees and suggests that such fringe practices are far removed from
4469-586: 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. The text includes
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4578-528: 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
4687-496: The "tantric manipulation of the subtle body", and at a more physical level, destroying poisons. Singleton describes Hatha Yoga's purpose as "the transmutation of the human body into a vessel immune from mortal decay", citing the Gheranda Samhita 's metaphor of an earthenware pot that requires the fire of yoga to make it serviceable. Mallinson and Singleton note that the purposes of asana practice were, until around
4796-690: The 1930s, creating "a marriage of hatha yoga, wrestling exercises, and modern Western gymnastic movement, and unlike anything seen before in the yoga tradition." Sjoman argues that Krishnamacharya drew on the Vyayama Dipika gymnastic exercise manual to create the Mysore Palace system of yoga. Singleton argues that Krishnamacharya was familiar with the gymnastics culture of his time, which was influenced by Scandinavian gymnastics; his experimentation with asanas and innovative use of gymnastic jumping between poses may well explain, Singleton suggests,
4905-417: The 19th century, is from Sanskrit : आसन āsana "sitting down" (from आस् ās "to sit down"), a sitting posture, a meditation seat. The eight limbs are, in order, the yamas (codes of social conduct), niyamas (self-observances), asanas (postures), pranayama (breath work), pratyahara (sense withdrawal or non-attachment), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (realization of
5014-610: The 1st-century CE, in texts such as the Hindu Sanskrit epics and Buddhism's Pali canon . The oldest dated text so far found to describe hatha yoga, the 11th-century Amṛtasiddhi , comes from a tantric Buddhist milieu. The oldest texts to use the terminology of hatha are also Vajrayana Buddhist. Hindu hatha yoga texts appear from the 11th century onward. Some of the early hatha yoga texts (11th-13th c.) describe methods to raise and conserve bindu (vital force, that is, semen , and in women rajas – menstrual fluid). This
5123-521: The 20th century, Indian nationalism favoured physical culture in response to colonialism . In that environment, pioneers such as Yogendra , Kuvalayananda , and Krishnamacharya taught a new system of asanas (incorporating systems of exercise as well as traditional hatha yoga). Among Krishnamacharya's pupils were influential Indian yoga teachers including Pattabhi Jois , founder of Ashtanga vinyasa yoga , and B.K.S. Iyengar , founder of Iyengar yoga . Together they described hundreds more asanas, revived
5232-417: 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
5341-834: The British, a belief reinforced by then-current ideas of Lamarckism and eugenics . This culture was taken up from the 1880s to the early 20th century by Indian nationalists such as Tiruka , who taught exercises and unarmed combat techniques under the guise of yoga. Meanwhile, proponents of Indian physical culture like K. V. Iyer consciously combined "hata yoga" [ sic ] with bodybuilding in his Bangalore gymnasium. Singleton notes that poses close to Parighasana , Parsvottanasana , Navasana and others were described in Niels Bukh 's 1924 Danish text Grundgymnastik eller primitiv gymnastik (known in English as Primary Gymnastics ). These in turn were derived from
5450-467: 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
5559-487: The Indian and Tibetan traditions, Haṭha yoga integrates ideas of ethics, diet, cleansing, pranayama (breathing exercises), meditation and a system for spiritual development of the yogi. 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
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#17327825717705668-452: The Nath siddhas , and the important early ones (11th-13th c.) are credited to Matsyendranatha and his disciple, Gorakhnath or Gorakshanath (11th c.). Early Nāth works teach a yoga based on raising kuṇḍalinī through energy channels and chakras , called Layayoga ("the yoga of dissolution"). However, other early Nāth texts like the Vivekamārtaṇḍa can be seen as co-opting the hatha yoga mudrās. Later Nāth as well as Śākta texts adopt
5777-522: The Pashupati seal and no obvious way of deciding between these, there is no reliable evidence that it is actually a yoga pose that is depicted in the seal. Asanas originated in India. In his Yoga Sutras , Patanjali (c. 2nd to 4th century CE) describes asana practice as the third of the eight limbs ( Sanskrit : अष्टाङ्ग, aṣṭāṅga , from अष्ट् aṣṭ , eight, and अङ्ग aṅga , limb) of classical, or raja yoga . The word asana, in use in English since
5886-468: The Sanskrit, and at least 11 are merely mentioned without any description, their appearance known from other texts. The Gheranda Samhita (late 17th century) again asserts that Shiva taught 84 lakh of asanas, out of which 84 are preeminent, and "32 are useful in the world of mortals." The yoga teacher and scholar Mark Singleton notes from study of the primary texts that "asana was rarely, if ever,
5995-881: 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 , and by 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. Haṭha yoga practice
6104-526: The West, yoga is practiced mainly by women. For example, in Britain in the 1970s, women formed between 70 and 90 percent of most yoga classes, as well as most of the yoga teachers. It has been suggested that yoga was seen as a support for women in the face of male-dominated medicine, offering an alternative approach for chronic medical conditions, as well as to beauty and ageing, and it offered a way of meeting other women. Singleton notes that women in yoga are in
6213-403: The asanas, Iyengar states, dualities like gain and loss, or fame and shame disappear. Sjoman argues that the concept of stretching in yoga can be looked at through one of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras , 2.47, which says that [asanas are achieved] by loosening ( śaithilya ) the effort ( prayatna ) and meditating on the endless ( ananta ). Sjoman points out that this physical loosening is to do with
6322-517: The asanas. The graph shows the rapid growth in number of asanas in the 20th century. The asanas of hatha yoga originally had a spiritual purpose within Hinduism , the attainment of samadhi , a state of meditative consciousness. The scholar of religion Andrea Jain notes that medieval Hatha Yoga was shared among yoga traditions, from Shaivite Naths to Vaishnavas, Jains and Sufis ; in her view, its aims too varied, including spiritual goals involving
6431-475: The belief that these aerate and assist blood flow to targeted regions of the body. 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
6540-484: 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
6649-556: 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
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#17327825717706758-531: The body involved and in the procedures required, as in Mula Bandha , Mahamudra , Viparita Karani , Khecarī mudrā , and Vajroli mudra . 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
6867-492: The body to a "fine physique which is strong and elastic without being muscle-bound". But, Iyengar states, their real importance is the way they train the mind, "conquer[ing]" the body and making it "a fit vehicle for the spirit". Iyengar saw it as significant that asanas are named after plants, insects, fish and amphibians, reptiles, birds, and quadrupeds; as well as "legendary heroes", sages, and avatars of Hindu gods, in his view "illustrating spiritual evolution". For instance,
6976-445: The body's position (like Utthita Parsvakonasana , "Extended Side Angle Pose"); these are, he suggests, the ones "that have been developed later". A name following this pattern is Shatkonasana, "Six Triangles Pose", described in 2015. Mittra illustrated 908 poses and variations in his 1984 Master Yoga Chart , and many more have been created since then. The number of asanas has thus grown increasingly rapidly with time, as summarised in
7085-547: The changes cannot be undone, whether people use it "as a holier-than-thou tool, as a tactic to balance out excessive drug use, or practised similarly to its origins with the spirituality that comes with it". From a Hindu perspective, the practice of asanas in the Western world as physical exercise is sometimes seen as yoga that has lost its way. In 2012, the Hindu American Foundation ran a "Take Back Yoga" campaign to emphasise yoga's roots in Hinduism. In
7194-601: The contradictory goals of raising Bindu, inherited from the Amritasiddhi , and of raising Kundalini, inherited from the Kubjikamatatantra . Post- Hathayogapradipika texts on Haṭha yoga include: 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
7303-604: The digestive fire, slims the belly and gives good health"; (HYP 1.29) Shavasana "takes away fatigue and relaxes the mind"; (HYP 1.32) Siddhasana "bursts open the door to liberation"; (HYP 1.35) while Padmasana "destroys all diseases" (HYP 1.47) and if done together with retention of the breath in pranayama confers liberation. (HYP 1.44–49) These claims lie within a tradition across all forms of yoga that practitioners can gain supernatural powers , but with ambivalence about their usefulness, since they may obstruct progress towards liberation. Hemachandra 's Yogashastra (1.8–9) lists
7412-455: 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
7521-530: 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
7630-480: The following medical conditions: asthma ; back injury ; carpal tunnel syndrome ; diarrhoea ; headache ; heart problems ; high blood pressure ; insomnia ; knee injury ; low blood pressure ; menstruation ; neck injury ; pregnancy ; and shoulder injury . The practice of asanas has sometimes been advised against during pregnancy , but that advice has been contested by a 2015 study which found no ill-effects from any of 26 asanas investigated. The study examined
7739-673: The fourteenth century, firstly to form a stable platform for pranayama, mantra repetition ( japa ), and meditation, practices that in turn had spiritual goals; and secondly to stop the accumulation of karma and instead acquire ascetic power, tapas , something that conferred " supernatural abilities ". Hatha Yoga added the ability to cure diseases to this list. Not all Hindu scriptures agreed that asanas were beneficial. The 10th century Garuda Purana stated that "the techniques of posture do not promote yoga. Though called essentials, they all retard one's progress," while early yogis often practised extreme austerities (tapas) to overcome what they saw as
7848-470: The goals of bubhukshu (seeker of enjoyment, bhoga). 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
7957-429: 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,
8066-499: The lion pose, Simhasana , recalls the myth of Narasimha , half man, half lion, and an avatar of Vishnu , as told in the Bhagavata Purana . The message is, Iyengar explains, that while performing asanas, the yogi takes the form of different creatures, from the lowest to the highest , not despising any "for he knows that throughout the whole gamut of creation ... there breathes the same Universal Spirit." Through mastery of
8175-428: The magical powers, which include healing, the destruction of poisons, the ability to become as small as an atom or to go wherever one wishes, invisibility, and shape-shifting. The asanas have been popularised in the Western world by claims about their health benefits, attained not by medieval hatha yoga magic but by the physical and psychological effects of exercise and stretching on the body. The history of such claims
8284-568: 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
8393-482: The mid-20th century, asanas have been used, especially in the Western world , as physical exercise . In this context, their "overtly Hindu" purpose is masked but its "ecstatic ... transcendent ... possibly subversive" elements remain. That context has led to a division of opinion among Christians , some asserting that it is acceptable as long as they are aware of yoga's origins, others stating that hatha yoga's purpose
8502-435: The mind's letting go of restrictions, allowing the natural state of "unhindered perfect balance" to emerge; he notes that one can only relax through effort, "as only a muscle that is worked is able to relax (that is, there is a distinction between dormancy and relaxation)." Thus asanas had a spiritual purpose, serving to explore the conscious and unconscious mind. Heinz Grill considers the soul in our human existence to be
8611-422: The obstacle of the body in the way of liberation. The yoga scholar and practitioner Theos Bernard , in his 1944 Hatha Yoga: The Report of a Personal Experience , stated that he was "prescribed ... a group of asanas calculated to bring a rich supply of blood to the brain and to various parts of the spinal cord .. [and] a series of reconditioning asanas to stretch, bend, and twist the spinal cord" followed when he
8720-470: The origin of the 84 classic asanas said to have been revealed by the Hindu deity Lord Shiva . Observing that there are as many postures as there are beings and asserting that there are 84 lakh or 8,400,000 species in all, the text states that Lord Shiva fashioned an asana for each lakh, thus giving 84 in all, although it mentions and describes only two in detail: Siddhasana and Padmasana . The number 84
8829-417: 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
8938-506: The physical practice of asanas. It became a bestseller, selling three million copies, and was translated into some 17 languages. In 1984, Dharma Mittra compiled a list of about 1,300 asanas and their variations, derived from ancient and modern sources, illustrating them with photographs of himself in each posture; the Dharma Yoga website suggests that he created some 300 of these. The asanas have been created at different times,
9047-566: The popularity of yoga and brought it to the Western world. In 1960, Vishnudevananda Saraswati , in the Sivananda yoga school, published a compilation of sixty-six basic postures and 136 variations of those postures in The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga . In 1966, Iyengar published Light on Yoga : Yoga Dipika , illustrated with some 600 photographs of Iyengar demonstrating around 200 asanas; it systematised
9156-637: The popularity of yoga, and brought it to the Western world. Many more asanas have been devised since Iyengar's 1966 Light on Yoga which described some 200 asanas. Hundreds more were illustrated by Dharma Mittra . Asanas were claimed to provide both spiritual and physical benefits in medieval hatha yoga texts. More recently, studies have provided evidence that they improve flexibility, strength, and balance; to reduce stress and conditions related to it; and specifically to alleviate some diseases such as asthma and diabetes. Asanas have appeared in culture for many centuries. Religious Indian art depicts figures of
9265-427: 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. According to Mallinson, in
9374-417: 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
9483-416: The practices of hatha yoga mudras into a Saiva system, melding them with Layayoga methods, without mentioning bindu. These later texts promote a universalist yoga, available to all, "without the need for priestly intermediaries, ritual paraphernalia or sectarian initiations." In the 20th century, a development of hatha yoga focusing particularly on asanas (the physical postures) became popular throughout
9592-474: 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
9701-493: The presence of known contraindications. A 2014 study indicated that different asanas activated particular groups of muscles, varying with the skill of the practitioners, from beginner to instructor. The eleven asanas in the Surya Namaskar sequences A and B (of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga ) were performed by beginners, advanced practitioners and instructors. The activation of 14 groups of muscles was measured with electrodes on
9810-426: The primary feature of the significant yoga traditions in India." The scholar Norman Sjoman comments that a continuous tradition running all the way back to the medieval yoga texts cannot be traced, either in the practice of asanas or in a history of scholarship. From the 1850s onwards, a culture of physical exercise developed in India to counter the colonial stereotype of supposed "degeneracy" of Indians compared to
9919-457: 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." The Haṭhayogapradīpikā
10028-634: The resemblances between modern standing asanas and Scandinavian gymnastics. Krishnamacharya, known as the father of modern yoga, had among his pupils people who became influential yoga teachers themselves: the Russian Eugenie V. Peterson, known as Indra Devi ; Pattabhi Jois , who founded Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in 1948; B.K.S. Iyengar , his brother-in-law, who founded Iyengar Yoga ; T.K.V. Desikachar , his son, who continued his Viniyoga tradition; Srivatsa Ramaswami ; and A. G. Mohan , co-founder of Svastha Yoga & Ayurveda. Together they revived
10137-494: 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
10246-577: The scholar Joseph Alter a "profound" effect on the evolution of yoga. In 1925, Paramahansa Yogananda , having moved from India to America, set up the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles, and taught yoga, including asanas, breathing, chanting and meditation, to tens of thousands of Americans, as described in his 1946 Autobiography of a Yogi . Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888–1989) studied under Kuvalayananda in
10355-500: The skin over the muscles. Among the findings, beginners used pectoral muscles more than instructors, whereas instructors used deltoid muscles more than other practitioners, as well as the vastus medialis (which stabilises the knee). The yoga instructor Grace Bullock writes that such patterns of activation suggest that asana practice increases awareness of the body and the patterns in which muscles are engaged, making exercise more beneficial and safer. Medieval hatha yoga texts make
10464-434: The table. Sjoman notes that the names of asanas have been used "promiscuous[ly]", in a tradition of "amalgamation and borrowing" over the centuries, making their history difficult to trace. The presence of matching names is not proof of continuity, since the same name may mean a different pose, and a pose may have been known by multiple names at different times. The estimates here are therefore based on actual descriptions of
10573-564: 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
10682-519: 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
10791-416: The tradition of Mollie Bagot Stack 's 1930 League of Health and Beauty, influenced by Stack's visit to India in 1912 when she learnt some asanas, and in turn of Genevieve Stebbins 's Harmonic Gymnastics. Asanas have, or are claimed to have, multiple effects on the body, both beneficial and harmful. These include the conscious usage of groups of muscles, effects on health, and possible injury especially in
10900-452: The true Self or Atman , and unity with Brahman , ultimate reality). Asanas, along with the breathing exercises of pranayama , are the physical movements of hatha yoga and of modern yoga . Patanjali describes asanas as a "steady and comfortable posture", referring to the seated postures used for pranayama and for meditation , where meditation is the path to samadhi, transpersonal self-realization. The Yoga Sutras do not mention
11009-526: 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
11118-468: The undying moment by restraining the bindu [i.e. semen] of the bodhicitta in the vajra [penis] when it is in the lotus of wisdom [vagina]. 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
11227-409: The undying moment does not arise because the breath is unrestrained [even] when the image is seen by means of withdrawal ( pratyahara ) and the other (auxiliaries of yoga, i.e. dhyana , pranayama , dharana , anusmrti and samadhi ), then, having forcefully ( hathena ) made the breath flow in the central channel through the practice of nada , which is about to be explained, [the yogi] should attain
11336-586: The world as a form of physical exercise . This modern form of yoga is now widely known simply as "yoga". 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
11445-407: Was able to describe some 200 asanas, consisting of about 50 main poses with their variations. Sjoman observes that whereas many traditional asanas are named for objects (like Vrikshasana , tree pose), legendary figures (like Matsyendrasana , the sage Matsyendra 's pose), or animals (like Kurmasana , tortoise pose), "an overwhelming eighty-three" of Iyengar's asanas have names that simply describe
11554-454: 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 use the breath to force bindu upwards through the central channel . In contrast to these, early Nāth works like the Gorakṣaśataka and
11663-571: Was reviewed by William J. Broad in his 2012 book The Science of Yoga . Broad argues that while the health claims for yoga began as Hindu nationalist posturing, it turns out that there is ironically "a wealth of real benefits". Physically, the practice of asanas has been claimed to improve flexibility, strength, and balance; to alleviate stress and anxiety, and to reduce the symptoms of lower back pain . Claims have been made about beneficial effects on specific conditions such as asthma , chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , and diabetes . There
11772-517: Was seen as the physical essence of life that was constantly dripping down from the head and being lost. Two early hatha yoga techniques sought to either physically reverse this process of dripping by using gravity to trap the bindhu in inverted postures like viparītakaraṇī , or force bindu upwards through the central channel by directing the breath flow into the centre channel using mudras (yogic seals, not to be confused with hand mudras , which are gestures). Almost all hathayogic texts belong to
11881-602: Was strong enough by the meditation asanas. Bernard named the purpose of Hatha Yoga as "to gain control of the breath" to enable pranayama to work, something that in his view required thorough use of the six purifications . Asanas work in different ways from conventional physical exercises, according to Satyananda Saraswati "placing the physical body in positions that cultivate awareness, relaxation and concentration". Leslie Kaminoff writes in Yoga Anatomy that from one point of view, "all of asana practice can be viewed as
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