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Yoga in Practice

The hatha manuals, read and practised

179 readings

Yoga in Practice — The Path and Its Rules

• Salute to Adinatha · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.1
• Roll of Masters · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.5
• Hatha as a Shelter · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.10
• Where the Practitioner Lives · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.12
• Six Ways Yoga Is Lost · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.15
• Why Posture Comes First · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.17
• Four Essential Asanas · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.33
• From Seat to Breath · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.55
• One Year, Four Vows · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.57
• Habits to Keep Away From · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.61
• Open to Every Age · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.64
• Yoga of the Body · Gheranda Samhita 1.1
• Deeds Make the Vessel · Gheranda Samhita 1.6
• Seven Gains of Practice · Gheranda Samhita 1.9
• Preparing for Pranayama · Gheranda Samhita 5.2
• Seasons to Avoid Starting · Gheranda Samhita 5.8
• Moderate Food First · Gheranda Samhita 5.16
• Begin gently: the first month · Gheranda Samhita 5.33

Yoga in Practice — The Old Seats

• Svastikasana — the auspicious seat · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.19
• Gomukhasana — the cow's face · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.20
• Virasana — the hero's seat · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.21
• Kurmasana — the tortoise · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.22
• Kukkutasana — the rooster · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.23
• Uttana Kurmasana — the upturned tortoise · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.24
• Dhanurasana — the bow · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.25
• Matsyendrasana — the seat of Matsyendra · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.26
• Paschimottanasana — the west side stretched · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.28
• Mayurasana — the peacock · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.30
• Shavasana — the corpse, which rests the mind · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.32
• Siddhasana — the accomplished seat, chief of them all · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.35
• Padmasana — the lotus · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.44
• Lotus Seat With Breath · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.48
• Simhasana — the lion · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.50
• Bhadrasana — the gracious seat · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.53
• The Count of Asanas · Gheranda Samhita 2.1
• Heels Stacked, Spine Level · Gheranda Samhita 2.11
• Vajrasana — the thunderbolt · Gheranda Samhita 2.12
• Matsyasana — the fish · Gheranda Samhita 2.21
• Utkatasana — the raised seat · Gheranda Samhita 2.27
• Vrikshasana — the tree · Gheranda Samhita 2.36
• Garudasana — the eagle · Gheranda Samhita 2.37
• Shalabhasana — the locust · Gheranda Samhita 2.39
• Makarasana — the crocodile · Gheranda Samhita 2.40
• Ushtrasana — the camel · Gheranda Samhita 2.41
• Bhujangasana — the serpent · Gheranda Samhita 2.42
• Yogasana — soles and palms up · Gheranda Samhita 2.44

Yoga in Practice — Asanas as Taught Today

• Tadasana — mountain pose · Asanas as Taught Today 1
• Uttanasana — standing forward bend · Asanas as Taught Today 2
• Trikonasana — triangle pose · Asanas as Taught Today 3
• Utthita Parsvakonasana — extended side angle · Asanas as Taught Today 4
• Parsvottanasana — intense side stretch · Asanas as Taught Today 5
• Prasarita Padottanasana — wide-legged forward bend · Asanas as Taught Today 6
• Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana — standing big-toe hold · Asanas as Taught Today 10
• Chaturanga Dandasana — four-limbed staff · Asanas as Taught Today 11
• Urdhva Mukha Svanasana — upward-facing dog · Asanas as Taught Today 12
• Adho Mukha Svanasana — downward-facing dog · Asanas as Taught Today 13
• Janu Sirsasana — head-to-knee pose · Asanas as Taught Today 24
• Upavistha Konasana — wide-angle seated bend · Asanas as Taught Today 25
• Tiryang Mukha Ekapada Paschimottanasana — one leg folded back, forward bend · Asanas as Taught Today 26
• Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana — half-bound-lotus forward bend · Asanas as Taught Today 27
• Marichyasana — marichi's pose · Asanas as Taught Today 28
• Setu Bandhasana — bridge pose · Asanas as Taught Today 35
• Paripurna Navasana — full boat pose · Asanas as Taught Today 39
• Ardha Navasana — half boat pose · Asanas as Taught Today 40
• Bakasana — crane pose · Asanas as Taught Today 41
• Bhujapidasana — shoulder-press pose · Asanas as Taught Today 44
• Supta Padangusthasana — reclining big-toe pose · Asanas as Taught Today 45
• Supta Parsva Padangusthasana — reclining side leg stretch · Asanas as Taught Today 46
• Supta Konasana — reclining angle pose · Asanas as Taught Today 47
• Halasana — plough pose · Asanas as Taught Today 48
• Sarvangasana — shoulder stand · Asanas as Taught Today 49
• Salamba Sirsasana — supported headstand · Asanas as Taught Today 51

Yoga in Practice — Surya Namaskar

• Surya Namaskar — salute to the sun · Surya Namaskar 1

Yoga in Practice — Pranayama

• Conditions for Breath Practice · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.1
• Why Clogged Channels Block Stillness · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.4
• Nadi shodhana — the alternate breath · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.7
• Four times a day; the sweat; slowly, as one tames a lion · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.11
• Rightly used, wrongly used · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.16
• Even the gods practised · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.39
• Eight Kinds of Kumbhaka · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.44
• Surya bhedana — the sun-piercing breath · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.48
• Ujjayi — the victorious breath · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.51
• Sitkari — the hissing breath · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.54
• Sitali — the cooling breath · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.57
• Bhastrika — the bellows · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.59
• Bhramari — the bee · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.68
• The Swooning Hold · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.69
• Three Parts, Two Holds · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.71
• Kumbhaka Wakes Kundalini · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.75
• Two Kinds of Nadi Cleansing · Gheranda Samhita 5.36
• Eight Named Breath Holds · Gheranda Samhita 5.46
• Seed Sound or Silence · Gheranda Samhita 5.47
• Bhramari at night: the sounds heard within · Gheranda Samhita 5.78
• Kevali — the breath that says hamsa, so'ham, by itself · Gheranda Samhita 5.84

Yoga in Practice — Cleansing

• Who Needs Cleansing First · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.21
• The Wet Cloth Swallowed · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.24
• Squatting Navel-Deep in Water · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.26
• Neti, the Nose Thread · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.29
• Trataka — the steady gaze · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.31
• Nauli, the Churned Belly · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.33
• Kapalabhati — the shining skull · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.35
• Breath Alone Is Enough · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.37
• The six cleansings · Gheranda Samhita 1.12
• Air, water, fire, outside · Gheranda Samhita 1.14
• Two kinds of basti · Gheranda Samhita 1.45
• Neti: the thread cleansing · Gheranda Samhita 1.50
• Trataka: gaze until the tears come · Gheranda Samhita 1.53
• Forehead-shine in three ways · Gheranda Samhita 1.55

Yoga in Practice — Mudra and Bandha

• Kundalini, the Support · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.1
• Seven Practices Named · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.6
• Heel, Leg, Hands: The Great Seal · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.10
• Setting the Great Lock · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.19
• Piercing Through Held Breath · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.26
• Tongue Turned Skyward · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.32
• The Raised Tongue's Fruits · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.38
• Flying Up the Middle Channel · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.55
• The Root Lock at the Heel · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.61
• The Throat Lock · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.70
• Outwitting the Sun · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.78
• Vessel of Attainments · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.83
• Seven Names, One Kundalini · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.104
• Stirring Morning and Evening · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.112
• Signs of Success · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 3.121
• The Eight Seals Named · Gheranda Samhita 3.1
• Sun, Moon and Nectar · Gheranda Samhita 3.33
• Closed Gates, Crow's Beak · Gheranda Samhita 3.38
• Shambhavi mudra — the gaze between the brows · Gheranda Samhita 3.64
• Kaki mudra — the crow's beak · Gheranda Samhita 3.86
• Closing words on the seals · Gheranda Samhita 3.94

Yoga in Practice — Hand Mudras

• Chin Mudra — the gesture of consciousness · Hand Mudras 1
• Jnana Mudra — the gesture of knowledge · Hand Mudras 2
• Dhyana Mudra — the gesture of meditation · Hand Mudras 3
• Anjali Mudra — the gesture of offering · Hand Mudras 4
• Shuni Mudra — the gesture of patience · Hand Mudras 5
• Surya Mudra — the gesture of the sun · Hand Mudras 6
• Prana Mudra — the gesture of the life breath · Hand Mudras 7
• Apana Mudra — the gesture of the downward breath · Hand Mudras 8
• Vayu Mudra — the gesture of air · Hand Mudras 9
• Akasha Mudra — the gesture of space · Hand Mudras 10
• Prithvi Mudra — the gesture of earth · Hand Mudras 11
• Varuna Mudra — the gesture of water · Hand Mudras 12
• Hridaya Mudra — the gesture of the heart · Hand Mudras 13
• Linga Mudra — the gesture of the upright thumb · Hand Mudras 14
• Shankha Mudra — the gesture of the conch · Hand Mudras 15
• Yoni Mudra — the gesture of the source · Hand Mudras 16

Yoga in Practice — Pratyahara and Dharana

• Announcing the Five Dharanas · Gheranda Samhita 3.68
• Parthivi dharana — on earth · Gheranda Samhita 3.70
• Ambhasi dharana — on water · Gheranda Samhita 3.72
• Agneyi dharana — on fire · Gheranda Samhita 3.75
• Vayavi dharana — on air · Gheranda Samhita 3.77
• Akashi dharana — on space · Gheranda Samhita 3.80
• Pratyahara: wherever the mind runs, bring it back · Gheranda Samhita 4.1

Yoga in Practice — Dhyana

• Three Kinds of Meditation · Gheranda Samhita 6.1
• Sthula dhyana: the island, the tree, the teacher · Gheranda Samhita 6.2
• Sthula dhyana: the lotus at the crown · Gheranda Samhita 6.9
• Jyotir dhyana: the light at the root and between the brows · Gheranda Samhita 6.15
• Subtle practice, rare fortune · Gheranda Samhita 6.18
• Why the Teaching Begins · Yogatattva Upanishad 1
• Knowing Frees, Not Ignorance · Yogatattva Upanishad 16
• Meditation Splits Wrongdoing · Dhyanabindu Upanishad 1
• Om as the bow, the self as the arrow · Dhyanabindu Upanishad 9
• The lotus of the heart, and the light in it · Dhyanabindu Upanishad 18
• Mahamudra, the great seal · Dhyanabindu Upanishad 93
• Hamsa: the swan in the heart · Hamsa Upanishad 1
• Seer, metre, seed, power, pin · Hamsa Upanishad 10

Yoga in Practice — Nada and Samadhi

• Salutation to the Inner Sound · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 4.1
• Three Rare Things, One Grace · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 4.9
• A Ladder of Lords · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 4.29
• Shambhavi: eyes open, seeing nothing · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 4.35
• Nada anusandhana — listening for the inner sound · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 4.65
• Four stages of the path · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 4.69
• The Mind Made One · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 4.77
• Sound as the Goad · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 4.91
• The Means and the Crown · Hatha Yoga Pradipika 4.103
• Samadhi and the Guru · Gheranda Samhita 7.1
• Four Gestures, Four Fruits · Gheranda Samhita 7.5
• Nadabindu: sit, and listen in the right ear · Nadabindu Upanishad 31
• The bee and the flower · Nadabindu Upanishad 42
• Mind's Two Roots · Yogakundali Upanishad 1.1

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