Hatha yoga
Hatha yoga (Sanskrit: hahayoga, 
listen (help·info) IPA: [jo]), also called hahavidya (), is a branch of yoga. The word haha (lit. "force") denotes a system of physical techniques supplementary to a broad conception of yoga.[1][2]
Hindu tradition believes that Shiva himself is the founder of hatha yoga.[3][4][5]
In the 20th century, hatha yoga, particularly asanas (the physical postures), became popular throughout the world as physical exercises, and is now colloquially termed "yoga".
Origins
Legendary
According to legend, Lord Shiva is credited with propounding hatha yoga.[3] It is said that on a lonely island, assuming nobody else would hear him, he gave the knowledge of hatha yoga to the Goddess Parvati, but a fish heard the entire discourse, remaining still throughout. The fish (Matsya) later became a siddha and came to be known as Matsyendranath. Matsyendranath taught hatha yoga to his disciple Gorakshanath and to a limbless man, Chaurangi. Hatha Yoga Pradipika mentions many other famous hatha yogis. Hatha yoga was thus passed down in disciplic succession.
Earliest textual references
Some of its techniques can be traced back to the epics and the Pali canon.[1] 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.[6] However there is no mention of the tongue being inserted into the nasopharynx as in true khecar mudr. The Buddha used a posture where pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, similar to even modern postures used to stimulate Kundalini.[7]
Many believe that Patañjali, a siddha of the 2nd century BCE, in his treatise on Raja Yoga, Yoga Sutras, professed asanas and pranayama as two limbs of the practice of Raja Yoga,[8] while others assert that Patanjali's sutras do not support the practice of asanas as physical exercise at all.[9]
The Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati is a very early extant Hatha Yoga Sanskrit text which contains much content on the avadhuta, as Feuerstein (1991: p. 105) relates:
One of the earliest hatha yoga scriptures, the Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati, contains many verses that describe the avadhuta. One stanza (VI.20) in particular refers to his chameleon-like capacity to animate any character or role. At times, it is said, he behaves like a worldling or even a king, at other times like an ascetic or naked renunciant.[10]
Medieval systematization
In medieval times, teachings on Yoga were systematized in several texts:
- The Amtasiddhi, which dates to the 11th century CE, teaches mahbandha, mahmudr, and mahvedha.[1]
- The Datttreyayogastra, probably composed in the 13th century CE.[1]
- The rgadharapaddhati is an anthology of verses on a wide range of subjects compiled in 1363 CE, which in its description of Hatha Yoga includes the Datttreyayogastras teachings on five mudrs.
- The Vivekamrtaa, which is contemporaneous with the Datttreyayogastra, teaches mahmudr, nabhomudr (i.e. khecarmudr), the three bandhas, and vipartakara.[1]
- The Goraksaatak, which is also contemporaneous with the Datttreyayogastra, teaches the three bandhas and akticlanmudr.[1]
- The Khecarvidy teaches only khecarmudr.[1]
The practices of the Amtasiddhi and Datttreyayogastra are used to raise bindu or prevent it from falling.[1] The mudrs of the Vivekamrtaa work on bindu, not kualin, even though raising it is an important part of the yoga it teaches.[1] The mudras of the Goraksaataka and Khecarvidy are used to raise kualin (they mention bindu only in passing).[1]
Datttreyayogastra
In its section on Hatha Yoga, after teaching a traditional eightfold yoga that it attributes to Yajnavalkya and others, the Datttreyayogastra describes ten Hatha Yoga practices that it says were undertaken by the rishi Kapila and other ishis in addition to those of Yjñavalkya (DYa. 5261).[1] These practices, which will be examined in more detail below, are of the variety that came to be known collectively as mudras (lit. seals) in later Hatha Yoga.[1] The Datttreyayogastra teaches the following such mudrs: mahmudr, mahbandha, khecarmudr, the three bandhas (lit. locks; jlandharabandha, uiyabandha, and mlabandha), vipartakara, vajrol, amarol, and sahajol.[1]
Goraksha Samhita
The Goraksha Samhita was authored by Yogi Gorakshanath of the 11th century. Gorakshanath is widely considered to have been responsible for popularizing hatha yoga as we know it today.[11][12][13] He authored several texts on the practice of yoga, such as the Goraksha Samhita, Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati, Gorakshataka, Yoga Martanda and Yoga Chinatamani.[14]
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 three 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)
Hathapradpik
The Hathapradpik was composed by Svtmrma in the 15th century CE as a compilation of the earlier hatha yoga texts.[1]
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Gheranda samhita are derived from older Sanskrit texts. In Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Swatmarama introduces his system as preparatory 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, Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath. It includes information about shatkarma (purification), asana, pranayama (subtle energy control), chakras (centers of energy), kundalini (instinct), bandhas (muscle force), kriyas (techniques; manifestations of kundalini), shakti (sacred force), nadis (channels), and mudras (symbolic gestures) among other topics.
The only other texts older than the Hathapradpik to teach Hatha Yoga mudrs are the Shiva Samhita, Yogabja, Amaraughaprabodha, and rgadharapaddhati.[1]
Post-Hathapradpik Texts
Post-Hathaprakipika texts include Hathasa ketacandrik, the Yogacintmai, the Hathatattvakaumud, the Yogabja anthologies, the Yoga Upanisads, and Brahmnandas Jyotsn commentary on the Hathapradpik', the Amaraughasana, the Hatharatnval, the Bhatkhecarpraka, the Hathapradpik Siddhntamuktval, the Gorakhb, the Gheranda Samhita and the Jogpradpak.[1]
Modern popularization
Many modern schools of hatha yoga in the West derive from the school of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who taught from 1924 until his death in 1989. Among his 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, Indra Devi and Krishnamacharya's son T. K. V. Desikachar.
Another major stream of influence within and outside India has been Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh (18871963) 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. In India, yogacharya chandra sekhar of Hyderabad has popularized Pranava yoga among the Institutionalised in the 21st century. In India, Baba Ramdev of Haridwar has popularized yoga among the masses in the 21st century.
In Sierra Leone, the "Yoga Strength" organization headed by Tamba Fayia, a former child soldier who has become "the country's first qualified yoga teacher", focuses 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 other methods of yoga, such as subtle physiology, dhra (fixation of the elements), and ndnusandhna (concentration on the internal sound).[1]
Eight limbs
Hatha yoga consists of eight limbs focused on attaining samdhi. In this scheme, the six limbs of hatha yoga are defined as asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samdhi. It includes disciplines, postures (asana), purification procedures (shatkriya), gestures (mudra), breathing (pranayama), and meditation. The hatha yoga predominantly practiced in the West consists of mostly asanas understood as physical exercises. It is also recognized as a stress-reducing 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 constantly dripping downward from a store in the head and being expended.[1] The female equivalent, mentioned only occasionally in our sources, is rajas, menstrual fluid.[1] The preservation and sublimation of semen was associated with tapas (asceticism) 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 techniques of early Hatha Yoga work in two ways: mechanically, in practices such as vipartakara, the reverser, in which by standing on ones head one uses gravity to keep bindu in the head; or by making the breath enter the central channel of the body, which runs from the base of the spine to the top of the head, thereby forcing bindu upward.[1]
Kundalini
In later formulations of Hatha Yoga, the Kaula system of the visualization of the serpent goddess Kualini rising as kualin energy through a system of chakras, usually six or seven, is overlaid onto the bindu-oriented system.[1] The same techniques, together with some specifically kualin-oriented ones, are said to effect kualins rise up the central channel (which is called the sushumn in these traditions) to a store of amta (the nectar of immortality) situated in the head, with which kualin then floods the body, rejuvenating it and rendering it immortal.[1]
Siddhis
The aims and results of Hatha Yoga are the same as those of other varieties of yoga 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 grey hair to divine sight or the ability to levitate.[1] In common with earlier formulations of yoga, in particular Kaula ones, the techniques of Hatha Yoga can be used to effect klavañcana (cheating death), utkrnti (yogic suicide), or parakyapravea (entering anothers body).[1] As in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, siddhis are usually said to be a hindrance to or distraction from Hatha Yogas ultimate aim liberation but in some Kaula-influenced texts, the pursuit of specific siddhis through specific techniques is taught.[18]
Health benefits ascribed to yogsana practice
Yoga's combined focus on mindfulness, breathing and physical movements brings health benefits with regular participation. Yoga participants report better sleep, increased energy levels and muscle tone, relief from muscle pain and stiffness, improved circulation and overall better general health. The breathing aspect of yoga can benefit heart rate and blood pressure.[19]
The 2012 "Yoga in America" survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Yoga Journal, shows that the number of adult practitioners in the US is 20.4 million, or 8.7 percent. The survey reported that 44 percent of those not practicing yoga said they are interested in trying it.[20]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z James Mallinson, Hatha Yoga (accessed 6 January 2014)
- ^ http://www.academia.edu/1539699/Meaning_of_ha%E1%B9%ADha_in_Early_Ha%E1%B9%ADhayoga, "The Meaning of Haha in Early Hahayoga" (accessed 11 January 2015)
- ^ a b c See Burley, page 73.
- ^ See Ganga White, pages 2829.
- ^ See Introduction of Daniélou, pp 1617.
- ^ Mallinson, James. 2007. The Khecarvidy of Adinath. London: Routledge. pg.17-19.
- ^ James Mallinson, "Sktism and Hathayoga," 6 March 2012. <URL> [accessed 10 June 2012] pgs. 20-21 "The Buddha himself is said to have tried both pressing his tongue to the back of his mouth, in a manner similar to that of the hathayogic khecarmudr, and ukkutikappadhna, a squatting posture which may be related to hathayogic techniques such as mahmudr, mahbandha, mahvedha, mlabandha, and vajrsana in which pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, in order to force upwards the breath or Kundalin."
- ^ See Introduction of Tola, Dragonetti, Prithipaul.
- ^ See White, page 4.
- ^ Feuerstein, Georg (1991). 'Holy Madness'. In Yoga Journal May/June 1991(accessed: February 29, 2011)
- ^ On page 140, David Gordon White says of Gorakshanath: "... hatha yoga, in which field he was India's major systematizer and innovator."
- ^ Bajpai writes on page 524: "Nobody can dispute about the top ranking position of Sage Gorakshanath in the philosophy of Yoga."
- ^ Eliade writes of Gorakshanath on page 303: "...he accomplished a new synthesis among certain Shaivist traditions (Pashupata), tantrism, and the doctrines (unfortunately, so imperfectly known) of the siddhas that is, of the perfect yogis."
- ^ See Maehle, page 45.
- ^ See Introduction by Rosen, pp 12.
- ^ See translation by Mallinson.
- ^ "Yoga in Sierra Leone". BBC News - In pictures. 2014-06-10. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
- ^ Mallinson, J., Siddhi and Mahsiddhi in Early Hathayoga, in: K.A. Jacobsen, ed., Yoga Powers, Leiden, 2011a, 327344.
- ^ Jaloba, A. Nursing Standard. 2011. Vol 25, Iss. 48, pp. 2021.
- ^ "Yoga in America Study 2012". Yoga Journal. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
Sources
- Mikel Burley, Haha-Yoga: Its Context, Theory, and Practice, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publ., (Jan 1, 2000)
- Mallinson, James, The Shiva Samhita, A critical edition and English translation by James Mallinson. Woodstock, NY: YogVidya (2007), ISBN 9780971646650.
- Alain Daniélou, Yoga: The Method of Re-integration, London:Johnson Publications (1949), ISBN 0892813016.
- Bajpai, R.S. The Splendours And Dimensions Of Yoga 2 Vols. Set, New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Distri (2002), ISBN 9788171569649
- Eliade, Mircea. Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, translated edition. Translated by Willard Ropes Trask, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (2009), ISBN 9780691142036.
- Fernando Tola, Carmen Dragonetti, K. Dad Prithipaul, The Yogastras of Patañjali on concentration of mind. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass (1987).
- Maehle, Gregor. Ashtanga Yoga The Intermediate Series: Mythology, Anatomy, and Practice, Novato, CA: New World Library (2012), ISBN 9781577319870.
- White, Ganga. Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice, Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books (2007), ISBN 9781556436468.
- Richard Rosen, Original Yoga: Rediscovering Traditional Practices of Hatha Yoga, Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications (2012), ISBN 9781590308134.
- Swami Sivananda Radha, Hatha Yoga: The Hidden Language, Secrets and Metaphors, Timeless Books (May 1, 2006), ISBN 1-932018-13-1.
- White, David Gordon. The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press (1998 reprint), ISBN 9780226894997.
External links
Learning materials related to Yoga oracle#83. How to practice Yoga? at Wikiversity
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Hatha yoga (Sanskrit: hahayoga , ) IPA: [jo]), also called hahavidya (), is a branch of yoga . The
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Hatha yoga (sanskrit: hahayoga , ) ipa: [jo]), also called hahavidya (), is a branch of yoga . the.