haṭha yoga

Devanāgarī: हठयोग Translation: the yoga of force Similar words:haṭha, yoga Opposite words:rāja yoga Related concepts:yoga rahasya, yoga yājñavalkya, śiva saṃhitā, haṭha pradīpikā, yoga tārāvalī, gheraṇḍa saṃhitā, nāḍī, prāṇa, agni, cakra, bhūta, kuṇḍalinī, mantra yoga, bhakti yoga, laya yoga, amanaska, amanas, kriyā yoga, karma yoga

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“Haṭha Yoga is Prāṇāyāma.”
– T Krishnamacharya

“Another Siddhi is Haṭha Yoga.
Instead of energy going here and there,
it is right where it should be in the top of the head.
Haṭha Yoga – Equipoise of energy.”
– TKV Desikachar France 1983

“In Āsana, the Antar Kumbhaka is easier to
attempt and is usually more attainable than
the same count within the Bāhya Kumbhaka.
Although, one of the hallmarks for the uniqueness
of T Krishnamacharya’s insights into the theory
underpinning the Viniyoga of Haṭha Yoga centred
around the importance of the Bāhya Kumbhaka.
However, both the Antar Kumbhaka and the
Bāhya Kumbhaka should be approached very
gradually and in some cases are contra-indicated.
By contrast, extending the exhale by the use of
sound in Āsana will produce particular effects,
as well as being less exacting on the practitioner.”
– 108 Postural Practice Pointers

“As with Prāṇāyāma, the role and practice of Mudrā
needs to be considered from two distinct, but
complementary and developmental viewpoints.
In other words, there are Mudrā that are primarily
utilised within the context of Haṭha Yoga and there are
Mudrā that are utilised within the context of Rāja Yoga.
Within these two viewpoints, there are also those Mudrā
that can be applied in either context, depending on the
Saṃkalpa and Bhāvana employed by the practitioner.”
– 108 Mudrā Practice Pointers

“There are those Mudrā that are utilised
within Haṭha Yoga to stimulate Agni.
There are those Mudrā that are utilised
within Rāja Yoga to pacify the Citta Vṛtti.
Both work on containment, but with a
different focus and intentional outcome.”
– 108 Mudrā Practice Pointers

“From a Haṭha Yoga viewpoint,
Mudrā are utilised to
break through a blockage.
From a Rāja Yoga viewpoint,
Mudrā are utilised to
break down distractions.”
– 108 Mudrā Practice Pointers

“A common reference point between the
Haṭha Yoga Mudrā and Rāja Yoga Mudrā
is in the breath, particularly in the role of
the exhalation and the Bāhya Kumbhaka.
Within this, the shared starting point is
the exploration of the relationship of the
exhalation and the Bāhya Kumbhaka and
their interplay within the Apāna Sthāna.”
– 108 Mudrā Practice Pointers

“All the practice techniques of Prāṇāyāma,
can be learned through and within Āsana,
except for one primary Haṭha technique.
This distinction can also help differentiate
Prāṇāyāma within Haṭha Yoga Texts, from
Prāṇāyāma within Patañjali‘s Rāja Yoga.”
– 108 Prāṇāyāma Practice Pointers

“According to T Krishnamacharya,
we must consider the effects of food on
the state of the mind as well as the body.
In that, he saw food as something which
can nourish you or, that which can eat you.
Interestingly, Haṭha Yoga texts also talk of
the need to examine and refine our eating
habits before we begin taking up Prāṇāyāma,
rather than before we begin practicing Āsana.
Thus, it is a triangle of food, breath and mind.
So, seemingly it is not enough to just hold the
nose and do Nāḍī Śodhana without considering
the influence of Āhāra on the long-term outcome.”
– 108 Prāṇāyāma Practice Pointers

“Haṭha Yoga is about Nāḍī Śodhana.
Rāja Yoga is about Citta Śodhana.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“Within the energetic processes in Haṭha Yoga
the concept of Candra is that which can direct
Prāṇa and Apāna in order to influence the activities of Sūrya.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“One of the potentials in the Haṭha Yoga teachings of
Krishnamacharya and Desikachar is the understanding
around the Viniyoga or application of Bṛṃhaṇa Kriyā
and Laṅghana Kriyā in terms of their potential to enhance
sensory stimulation or to diminish sensory stimulation.
Both approaches can be used where appropriate to impact
on how we are stimulated by the world through the senses and
thus be more drawn to interact with it in a more extravert way,
or how our sensory stimulation is quietened and thus we are
more easily able to withdraw from the activities of the senses.
Both approaches are valid and applied according to our changing age,
life situation and life stage. Here the role of a teacher is helpful in
learning the skills of self application within our practice planning.
We can learn how we can fine-tune our practice according to our basic
nature and where it needs to be within day to day living and its demands.
This alchemical process would also be difficult to explore other
than in some very generalised way within a weekly group class
given the mix of the age, gender, interests, needs, potentials and
core physiological, energetic and psychological natures of the students.
Let alone where they are in their life circumstances, external demands,
work roles and life stage or even the teacher having time and situation to
explore each student personally to gain some insight into what is happening
at that life moment within the small window offered by time and group size.
Hence, throughout Krishnamacharya and Desikachar’s teaching life,
apart from formalised group classes for children and young adults,
they taught personal practice only through individual lessons.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“Bṛṃhaṇa Kriyā and Laṅghana Kriyā, as
expansive and contractive activities, are two
potentials explored through Āsana and the Breath.
Alongside the practice of Āsana, Mudrā and Prāṇāyāma,
they are actualised through a theoretical understanding of
the primary principles that inform Haṭha Yoga and Āyurveda.
The alchemical process underpinning this understanding
is the relationship between the two primary principles of
Prāṇa and Agni in order to influence Haṭha Yoga concepts such
as Prāṇa, Apāna, Sūrya, Candra, Nāḍī, Cakra and Kuṇḍalinī.
In terms of Bṛṃhaṇa Kriyā and Laṅghana Kriyā, the
Viniyoga of Bṛṃhaṇa effects a dispersion of Agni from
the core to the periphery and the Viniyoga of Laṅghana
effects a concentration of Agni from the periphery to the core.
Integrating the application of these two specific processes
facilitates access, through the Merudaṇḍa, Prāṇa and Agni,
to either energising or cleansing potentials, or as collaborative
outcomes within the practice of Āsana, Mudrā and Prāṇāyāma.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers”

“Freedom of, or in movement, is obviously an asset
and of course is a useful health and fitness pursuit in
the world of homo-sedens that abounds these days.
However, movement according to the subtle energetic
principles inherent in Haṭha Yoga, implies further roles.
Common to all of which is that Haṭha Yoga involves much
more than merely freedom of movement as an end in itself.
Thus, in Haṭha Yoga the purpose of freedom in movement,
even embedded with useful anatomical tips and insights,
is not the priority that appears to dominate the forms of
Āsana utilised today within many popularist Yoga styles.
Of course, freedom in movement is obviously a support in
helping us embrace and apply the principles of Haṭha Āsana
practice, but it is not the end in itself that it seems to have
become, under the guise of branding it all as if it’s Yoga.
For example, it can help with facilitating an exploration
of the subtle energetic processes that ultimately define,
guide and differentiate Haṭha Yoga from the movement
forms that use, imply or imitate an Āsana content, such
as is found within exercise, fitness, flow, yogalates, et al.
Thus, these days it increasingly seems to be that, on
the journey towards the deeper purpose inherent in
Haṭha Yoga and its relationship to what is Rāja Yoga,
we are more and more being sidetracked by what is
proffered within the myriad of movement forms that
proliferate, or even ‘pose’ as if Āsana practice today.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“For me, still to this day, one of the simplest,
direct and most succinct definitions on the
purpose of Āsana within the processes and
practices of Haṭha Yoga, is the one offered in
Chapter One verse 17 of the Haṭha Pradīpikā .
It is a definition valid for any situation,
discussion or presentation, or as a response
to questions from any background, or level
of interest around why we practice Āsana.
It can also be a springboard to linking
the bodies physiological qualities, such as
the relationship of Agni, to the energetic
qualities of health and lightness of limb.
Or, an investigation of the commentary by
Brahmānanda, as that explores psychological
qualities such as the relationship of the Guṇa,
Rajas, to mental qualities such as steadiness.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“Prāṇa is the élan vital.
It is the mover and the sustainer of the body in all living beings.
Because of this all pervasive movement and irrepressible vitality,
it is also hard to keep reined in through the ten sensory horses.
When the personalised field of Prāṇa becomes unreined,
it transforms into Vāta and the system becomes disturbed.
The primary practice in Haṭha Yoga to minimise the
conversion of Prāṇa into Vāta is Prāṇāyāma.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“Haṭha Yoga seeks
to stimulate Sūrya
for a quality of action
and to nourish Candra
for a quality of attention.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“A common phrase in modern Yoga language
is the notion of Yoga increasing energy levels.
Yet the theory that underpins the practice of
Haṭha Yoga offers a process by which we learn
to harness and intensify the vitalities of Prāṇa
and Agni rather than just, as if increasing them.
Furthermore, when looking at Yoga practice from
a Cikitsā and Rakṣaṇa perspective, the concept of
harnessing becomes even more relevant, as we are
often working with an energetic dissipation as a
short-term starting point, perhaps also within a
longer-term point of origin or supporting factors.
Here, harnessing also implies the possibility of a
more skilful relationship with the two polarities of
Sūrya and Candra, so we can better use their energy,
rather than them consuming our self-sense of vitality.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“The Haṭha Yoga processes of
Bṛṃhaṇa and Laṅghana Kriyā
are both energetic applications,
whether within Yoga or Āyurveda,
as in physiological processes that
are nourishing and stimulating,
rather than the more usually seen
adapted psychological processes,
as in provoking mental lethargy or,
as in palliating mental disturbance.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“Krishnamacharya’s teaching on Haṭha Yoga
presented the notion that each of us has a
Prāṇa Kṣetra, or field of Prāṇa, and that it exists
as if a personal entity with perimeters that can
diffuse or concentrate according to our nature,
both inherited and nurtured, and the influence of
our daily lifestyle activities or habitual attitudes.”
– 108 Yoga Practice Pointers

“Haṭha Yoga is about the vitality of our Prāṇa.
Rāja Yoga is about the clarity of our Citta.
Krishnamacharya’s teachings reflect their
relative importance, in the correlation and
integration of both within our Yoga Sādhana,
as beacons for our outer and inner journey.”
– 108 Yoga Study Path Pointers

“The ancient model of the Pañca Maya from the
Taittirīya Upaniṣad can be used as a skillful
therapeutic paradigm in terms of its view of
five aspects of the human beingness as Physical,
Energetic, Mental, Personality and Emotional.
Though we can apply this paradigm within
the Western medical models for disease,
it’s associative roots are found within the
common energetic principles underpinning
Haṭha Yoga and Āyurveda and the psychological
principles inherent within the Yoga Sutra.
The Viniyoga of Yoga approach explores the
potentials of the Pañca Maya, by applying
these principles as diagnostic & prognostic
tools, in terms of recovery, lifestyle support
or developmental modalities. All of which is
framed within a wider consideration of a person’s
starting point, potential and personal goals.”
– 108 Yoga Teaching Path Pointers

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