Hatha yoga
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Hatha yoga is a branch of yoga that uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठcode: san promoted to code: sa literally means "force", alluding
Haṭha yoga's components include from top left to bottom right Shatkarmas (purifications, here Nauli), Asanas (postures, here Mayurasana, Peacock Pose), Mudras (manipulations of vital energy, here Viparita Karani), Pranayama (breath control, here Anuloma Viloma).
Tibetan depiction of Tummo (candali, inner heat) practice showing the central channel, the sushumna
A folio of a medieval copy of the Amṛtasiddhi, written bilingually in Sanskrit and Tibetan
18th century yoginis in Rajasthan
Yoga as exercise
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Yoga as exercise is a physical activity consisting mainly of postures, often connected by flowing sequences, sometimes accompanied by breathing exercises, and frequently ending with relaxation lying d
Women in an outdoor yoga community class, Texas, 2010
Yoga was originally a spiritual practice based on meditation. Statue from Java, 13th century.
Postures in Niels Bukh's 1924 Primary Gymnastics resembling Parighasana, Parsvottanasana, and Navasana, supporting the suggestion that Krishnamacharya derived some of his asanas from the gymnastics culture of his time
"The father of modern yoga" Krishnamacharya teaching yoga in Mysore, 1930s