1000–1100 CE, emphasizing the physical aspects of the transformative path, notably postures
(asana), cleansing techniques (shodhana) and breath (pranayama); literally, sun/moon yoga (ha =
sun, tha = moon), it emphasizes balancing the solar and lunar energy channels in the body. Hatha
Yoga shifted the focus away from the mysticism and philosophy of the older Upanishadic types of
yoga toward using the body as a tool; combines opposing forces to achieve balance, sighting the
soul through the restraint of energy, yoga concerned with mastering control over the physical body
as a path to enlightenment (self-realization)
Hatha Yoga Pradipika = a celebrated treatise on yoga compiled in the 12th century by the sage
Svatmarama
himsa = violence, killing
Hindola = cradle or swing; also Hindu Religious Festival associated with baby Krishna being rocked
in a decorated swing
I
ida = a nadi, a channel through which prana moves, starting from the left nostril, then moving to the
crown of the head and then descending to the base of the spine on the left side; in its course it
conveys lunar energy and so is called chandra nadi, “channel of the lunar energy”; associated with
pale or blue (left/feminine)
Indra = ruler, lord of thunder, king of the heavens
indudala = crescent moon
Ishvara = God, the Supreme Being, Brahman, with form
ishvara pranidhana = one of the niyamas; centering on the divine, devotion or surrender to God,
dedication to the Lord of one’s actions and one’s will
J
jalandhara bandha (jalandharabandha) = a bandha that locks the throat, chin lock; straightening the
back of the neck by keeping your head straight while slightly receding your chin; a yoga pose where
the neck and throat are contracted and the chin is rested in the notch between the collarbones at the
top of the breast-bone
janu = knee
jatara = stomach, belly, or the interior of anything
jatara-parivartana = an action of an asana (yoga pose) in which the abdomen is made to move to
and fro
Jnana Yoga = the emphasis is on questioning, contemplation, and meditation as a path to
enlightenment, yoga that seeks to teach the identity of the individual self (atman) and the infinite
consciousness (brahman)
K
kaka = crow
Kala Bhairava = Shiva in his terrible or gruesome form as Destroyer of the Universe
Kali = Hindu Goddess of Time and Change