Hatha yoga is a branch of yoga that uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ haṭha literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some hatha yoga style techniques can be traced back at least to the 1st-century CE, in texts such as the Hindu Sanskrit epics and Buddhism's Pali canon. The oldest dated text so far found to describe hatha yoga, the 11th-century Amṛtasiddhi, comes from a tantric Buddhist milieu. The oldest texts to use the terminology of hatha are also Vajrayana Buddhist. Hindu hatha yoga texts appear from the 11th century onward.
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 is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciousness untouched by the mind (Chitta) and mundane suffering (Duḥkha). There is a wide variety of schools of yoga, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and traditional and modern yoga is practiced worldwide.
Statue of Shiva performing yoga in the lotus position
A statue of Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, meditating in the lotus position
Bas-relief in Borobudur of the Buddha becoming a wandering hermit instead of a warrior
Krishna narrating the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna