What is Hatha Yoga?

Hatha Yoga is a practice of using the body to transcend the body. In the approximate 7,000 year history of Yoga, there was an evolution, or a branch, in the Yoga tradition that started about 1,000 years ago - Tantra, followed by Hatha Yoga. Up until that point Yoga was more oriented toward working with the mind for transcendence and union with the divine.

Hatha Yoga brought more of a focus toward working with the body through physical Asanas (postures), Pranayama (breath), Mudras (gestures), Bandhas (energetic locks), and Kriyas (cleansing techniques), eventually culminating in Samadhi (enlightenment), or in other words the same goal as the 8 limbs of Yoga from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras through Raja Yoga.

Historically, up until that point, there were only a handful of documented Asanas, which were primarily seated positions used for meditation. Later, a text called the Hatha Yoga Pradapika (11th to 15th century) documented 15 Asanas.

Asana documented through history

Of course, Asanas have evolved tremendously since then (with well over 1,000 documented Asanas nowadays!), but essentially ALL of the physical Asanas we do today are derived from Hatha Yoga.

In modern studios, you will see classes called Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, etc, which tend to describe a certain style, pace, or energetic output of practicing Asana. We tend to associate Hatha Yoga nowadays as a more gentle, slow-paced style of Asana, Vinyasa as a more energetic flowing style of Asana, and Yin as a slow, restorative, and nurturing style of Asana.

However, the word Hatha has been defined as ‘Ha’ representing the sun, and ‘tha’ the moon and Hatha yoga is about balancing the body and mind with the duality of energies. Literally, Hatha actually means ‘force’ and is more traditionally defined as ‘the yoga of force’, or ‘the means of attaining a state of yoga through force’.

The Subtle Body

One of the primary aims of Hatha Yoga, or in other words, where this 'force' is directed, is with an intention to purify all of the systems of the body, through each of the Koshas that form what is called the Subtle Body (Sukshma Sharira). This includes the physical body (anamayakosha), the energetic body (pranamayakosha), and the heart-mind (manomayakosha), so that the Yogi can access the subtlest layers of Self, from inner wisdom and intuition (vijnanamayakosha), into the bliss of the true Self (anandamayakosha).

While the practices of Hatha Yoga work with all of the layers of the Koshas, much of the practice and methodology is actually focused more specifically on the Pranamayakosha, or the Energy Sheath. Many of the practices are intended to help awaken Kundalini (translated as coiled snake from Sanskrit) which is a vast reservoir of prana that exists at the base off the spine, and encourage that Prana to ascend and flow through the system of energetic pathways that the ancient yogis and mystics mapped out called the Nadis.

Kundalini Energy

It is said that humans have about 72,000 nadis, but they are all essentially governed by three primary channels, the Ida (on the left side), the Pingala (on the right side), and the Shushumna Nadi (the primary channel through the center). As the Ida and Pingala Nadis oscillate and intersect through the central axis of the Shushumna Nadi, these intersections correspond with the system of the Chakras.

Nadis & Chakras

So in purifying the various systems of the body, the Hatha yogi makes their vessel primed for the process of maximizing, regulating, and directing Kundalini through the Shushumna Nadi. In practice this includes various asanas that both prepare the body, as well as aligning the body (the majority of the Asanas documented in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika were seated positions), breathwork to activate, and purify the nadis, as well as the practice of engaging Bandhas (translated from Sanskrit as Locks), including the Muladhara Bandha (root lock), Uddiyana Bandha (solar plexus lock), and the Jalandara Bandha (throat lock), to maximize, retain, and direct prana upwards through the Shushumna Nadi.

Something interesting about Hatha Yoga, is how this activation and direction of Prana eventually culminates in the same state of Samadhi described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (using the system of Raja Yoga, or meditation). One key difference with the state of Samadhi through Hatha Yoga, is an experience called "Nada" which is translated as "an unstruck sound" or in other words, a vibrational experience unlike anything we have through the physical senses. It's said that Nada attracts and subdues the roaming mind, Karma is burnt by Nada, and it is an experience that only occurs when the mind is not externalized.

Hatha into Raja Yoga through Nada

According to Sadhguru, "Hatha yoga is just one more doorway to ultimate liberation, but it is physical in nature. If you are in good physical condition, it is an effortless and beautiful way to go. If you have asana siddhi, which means you can stay in a posture comfortably and stably for long periods of time, meditation will be effortless. If you struggle with meditation, it is because certain parts of the body and certain aspects of the mind do not cooperate as they should."

There are so many styles and modalities to practice Yoga, but one thing they all have in common is an intention to connect with the deepest levels of the Self.

About the Author:

Jason Wright

Jason has been an educator for over 20 years and is passionate about the wisdom and transformational power of Yoga. Jason facilitates 200hr Yoga Teacher Trainings in Sydney, Australia, specializing in Yoga history and philosophy. As a lifelong learner himself, he has completed trainings all over the world, including 18 months of full-time Yoga studies in college.