The Art of Haṭha Energetics

Vitalize your Energy Understanding Nāḍī Prāṇa Agni Cakra Bhūta

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From Paul’s Haṭha Texts Studies in India with TKV Desikachar and AG Mohan.

When I started my involvement with Yoga practice in 1972 the term Haṭha Yoga was used as a generic catch-all to describe the physical aspect of Yoga. Equally, when it came to the theory of Haṭha Yoga this usually meant quoting a verse or so from the few English translations that existed at the time around a few of the more well known medieval texts.

By the way of contrast from 1979, my own studies in both traditional and contemporary Haṭha Texts became primarily focused around exploring in some detail the:

• Haṭha Pradīpikā
• Gheraṇḍa Saṃhita
• Yoga Yājñavalkhya
• Yoga Rahasya

In other words, it wasn’t until I started my studies in India with TKV Desikachar in 1979 that I was introduced to the notion of Haṭha Yoga as a process with a rich and complex history expressed through a number of texts spanning a thousand years. Not only that, within these texts there was a progressive and subtly developmental practice that formed and informed the core principles in T Krishnamacharya’s teachings on Haṭha Yoga.

This exposure to the potential that Haṭha Yoga included both techniques to be practiced and a complex underpinning theory to be studied coincided with AG Mohan offering a small study group in 1980 at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram focused on a verse by verse examination of the Haṭha Pradīpikā.

From here I studied the Yoga Yājñavalkhya with TKV Desikachar within a small study group and then within personal lessons, the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā, before moving onto a Śloka by Śloka study of Krishnamacharya’s Yoga Rahasya. As the Yoga Rahsaya was not yet published and computers were not yet portable, this meant writing out every verse by hand in conjunction with my lessons.

From these studies the Haṭha Texts Freenotes aspect of the Yoga Studies website will be developed over time through added notes and commentaries from my studies of these four Haṭha Texts with these two long-serving students of Krishnamacharya, especially my root Yoga teacher Desikachar.

They are offered with gratitude for what this learning has helped lead me towards.