Hatha Yoga is one of the oldest branches of yoga, but its deep roots go back long before its formal development in the Middle Ages. The Sanskrit word "Hatha" means "strength" or "effort", but in the context of yoga, it also represents the union of two polarities: "Ha" (sun) and "Tha" (moon). This duality symbolizes the balance between masculine (active) and feminine (receptive) energy, a central aspect of Hatha Yoga, which seeks to harmonize these opposing forces to promote spiritual awakening.

The history of Hatha Yoga begins in the Vedas (around 1500 BC), India's oldest sacred texts, where references to seated postures and breathing techniques are mentioned in the context of spiritual practices. However, the practice of Hatha Yoga only really took shape centuries later, in a context influenced by Tantric teachings. Tantrism, a spiritual movement that emerged in India around the 6th century, played a key role in the emergence of Hatha Yoga, integrating the idea that the body is a vehicle for spiritual transformation, and that its purification and strengthening are essential to enlightenment.

The first codifications of Hatha Yoga appear in ancient texts such as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (15th century) written by Swami Swatmarama. This text is considered one of the founding manuals of Hatha Yoga, bringing together the teachings of the Tantric and Ascetic schools. It describes in detail the asanas (postures), pranayamas (breathing techniques), mudras (symbolic gestures) and bandhas (energy locks) designed to purify the physical and subtle body. The Shiva Samhita and the Gheranda Samhita (17th century) are other essential Hatha Yoga texts that expand on these techniques and the internal purification practices known as Shatkarma. These texts also insist on mastering the vital energy, or prana, to awaken the kundalini, a spiritual energy lying dormant at the base of the spine.

Hatha Yoga developed as a rigorous, spiritual discipline designed to prepare the body for more advanced meditative practices. Ascetics, sadhus and yogis practiced Hatha Yoga with the aim of transcending physical and mental limitations and attainingenlightenment (samadhi). Controlling the body through postures (asanas) and breathing (pranayama) purified the energy channels (nadis) and released blockages, facilitating the flow of prana.

The importance of kundalini in Hatha Yoga should not be underestimated. The awakening of this serpentine energy through intense practice was intended to awaken the major energy centers (chakras) and lead the practitioner to higher states of consciousness. With this in mind, Hatha Yoga stands out for its bodily approach to the spiritual, making the body a tool for transformation and elevation.

In the 20th century, masters such as Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, B.K.S. Iyengar and Swami Sivananda modernized and popularized Hatha Yoga in India and around the world. B.K.S. Iyengar, a disciple of Krishnamacharya, developed a style of Hatha Yoga based on the precise alignment of postures and the use of supports (blocks, straps) to make the practice accessible to all, whatever their physical level. Swami Sivananda, for his part, propagated a Hatha Yoga integrating meditation and devotion, with particular emphasis on respect for the moral principles of yoga (yamas and niyamas) and the overall health of the practitioner.

Today, Hatha Yoga is practiced throughout the world, not only as a form of physical conditioning, but also as a spiritual practice that harmonizes body, breath and mind. Although it is the basis of many modern styles of yoga, such asIyengar Yoga, Bikram Yoga and Vinyasa Yoga, traditional Hatha Yoga remains true to its roots, emphasizing slowness, precision and inner concentration.