Hatha Yoga lineage traces back to ancient texts from the 15th century and earlier. Gorakhnath, a 9th or 10th century figure, was an important early teacher of Hatha Yoga. In the 19th-20th centuries, Indian gurus like Swami Sivananda popularized Hatha Yoga in the West by founding yoga centers. Teachers like B.K.S. Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois further developed new styles like Iyengar Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga that have grown popular today, as the Hatha Yoga tradition continues to evolve and inspire practitioners globally.
2. Hatha Yoga Lineage
The Hatha Yoga lineage can be traced back to
the ancient texts of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika
and the Shiva Samhita. These texts were
written in the 15th century and earlier and
served as a guide for the practice of Hatha
Yoga.
One of the most prominent figures in the
Hatha Yoga lineage is Gorakhnath, who is
believed to have lived in the 9th or 10th
century. Gorakhnath is said to have been a
3. disciple of Matsyendranath, another
important figure in the Hatha Yoga lineage.
Later, in the 19th and 20th centuries, several
Indian gurus helped to popularize Hatha Yoga
in the West. One of the most famous of these
gurus was Swami Sivananda Saraswati, who
founded the Divine Life Society in 1936 and
the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta
wrote extensively on yoga and
Swami Sivananda's disciple,
Vedanta.
Swami
Vishnudevananda Saraswati, went on to found
4. evolve and grow, with many new teachers and
Centers in
significant
the 1960s, which played a
role in spreading Hatha Yoga
throughout the world.
Other prominent Hatha Yoga teachers include
B.K.S. Iyengar, who developed the Iyengar
Yoga method, and Pattabhi Jois, who
developed the Ashtanga Yoga method. Both of
these methods have become very popular and
influential in the modern yoga world.
Today, the Hatha Yoga lineage continues to