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Hatha yoga (Sanskrit, ), also called Haṭhavidyā, is a branch of yoga. The word haṭha (lit. "force") denotes a system of physical techniques supplementary to a broad conception of yoga.

Hatha yoga is associated with the Dashanami Sampradaya and the mystical figure of Dattatreya.

In the 20th century, hatha yoga, particularly asanas (the physical postures), became popular throughout the world as a form of physical exercise, and is now colloquially termed as simply "yoga".

Earliest textual references
According to Mallinson, some Hatha Yoga techniques can be traced back to the epics and the Pali canon. The Pali canon contains three passages in which the Buddha describes pressing the tongue against the palate for the purposes of controlling hunger or the mind, depending on the passage. However there is no mention of the tongue being inserted into the nasopharynx as in true khecarī mudrā. The Buddha used a posture where pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, similar to even modern postures used to stimulate Kundalini.

Medieval systematization
In medieval times, teachings on Yoga were systematized in several texts:
 * The Amṛtasiddhi, which dates to the 11th century CE, teaches mahābandha, mahāmudrā, and mahāvedha.
 * The Dattātreyayogaśāstra, probably composed in the 13th century CE, teaches an eightfold yoga that it attributes to Yajnavalkya and others as well as ten Hatha Yoga practices that it says were undertaken by the rishi Kapila and other ṛishis. The Dattātreyayogaśāstra teaches mahāmudrā, mahābandha, khecarīmudrā, jālandharabandha, uḍḍiyāṇabandha, mūlabandha, viparītakaraṇī, vajrolī, amarolī, and sahajolī.
 * The ̣Śārṅgadharapaddhati is an anthology of verses on a wide range of subjects compiled in 1363 CE, which in its description of Hatha Yoga includes ̣the Dattātreyayogaśāstra’s teachings on five mudrās.
 * The Vivekamārtaṇḍa, which is contemporaneous with the Dattātreyayogaśāstra, teaches nabhomudrā (i.e. khecarīmudrā), mahāmudrā, viparītakaraṇī and the three bandhas.
 * The Goraksaśatakạ, which is also contemporaneous with the Dattātreyayogaśāstra, teaches śakticālanīmudrā along with the three bandhas.
 * The Khecarīvidyā teaches only the method of khecarīmudrā.

The methods of the Amṛtasiddhi, Dattātreyayogaśāstra and Vivekamārtaṇḍa are used to conserve bindu, although the Vivekamārtaṇḍa also involves raising kundalini. The Goraksaśatakạ and Khecarīvidyā involve raising kuṇḍalinī.

The only other texts older than the Hathapradīpikạ̄ to teach Hatha Yoga ̣ mudrās are the Shiva Samhita, Yogabīja, Amaraughaprabodha, and Śārṅgadharapaddhati.

Hathapradīpikạ̄
The Hathapradīpikạ was composed by Svātmārāma in the 15th century CE as a compilation of the earlier hatha yoga texts.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Gheranda samhita are derived from older Sanskrit texts. In Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Swatmarama introduces his system as preparatory stage for physical purification that the body practices for higher meditation or Yoga. It is based on asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing techniques).

Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists 35 great Hatha Yoga siddhas or masters; Adi Natha, Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath. It includes information about shatkarma (purification), asana (postures), pranayama (subtle energy control), chakras (centers of energy), kundalini (instinct), bandhas (muscle force), kriyas (techniques; manifestations of kundalini), shakti (sacred force), nadis (channels), and mudras (symbolic gestures) among other topics.

Post-Hathapradīpikạ̄ Texts
Post-Hathapradipika texts include Hathasaṃ̣ ketacandrikā, the Yogacintāmaṇi, the Hathatattvakaumudị̄, the Yogabīja anthologies, the Yoga Upanisads, and ̣ Brahmānanda’s Jyotsnā commentary on the Hathapradīpikạ̄', the Amaraughaśāsana, the Hatharatnāvalī, the Bṛhatkhecarīprakāśa, the Hathapradīpikạ̄ Siddhāntamuktāvalī, the Gorakhbāṇī, the Gheranda Samhita and the Jogpradīpakā.

Modern popularization
Many modern schools of hatha yoga in the West derive from the school of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who taught from 1924 until his death in 1989. Among his students prominent in popularizing yoga in the West were K. Pattabhi Jois famous for popularizing the vigorous Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga style, B. K. S. Iyengar who emphasized alignment and the use of props, Indra Devi and Krishnamacharya's son T. K. V. Desikachar.

Another major stream of influence within and outside India has been Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh (1887–1963) and his many disciples including, among others, Swami Vishnu-devananda – founder of International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres; Swami Satyananda – of the Bihar School of Yoga; and Swami Satchidananda of Integral Yoga. In India, Baba Ramdev of Haridwar has popularized yoga among the masses in the 21st century.

In Sierra Leone, the "Yoga Strength" organization headed by Tamba Fayia, a former child soldier who has become "the country's first qualified yoga teacher", focuses on "taking yoga to the people who need it ... on the streets, in the slums, in the schools."

False association with the Nath
According to British indologist James Mallinson, some scholars have been falsely associating hatha yoga with the Nath, Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath. In actuality hatha yoga is associated with the Dashanami Sampradaya and the mystical figure of Dattatreya.

Preservation of bindu
Early hatha yoga was used to prevent the dripping of bindu (semen) from the heads of men. The two early hatha yoga techniques were to stand on one's head (viparītakaranī) or make breath flow into the center channel which forces bindu up.

Kundalini
In later Hatha Yoga, the Kaula visualization of Kuṇḍalini rising through a system of chakras is overlaid onto the body. This accesses amṛta (the nectar of immortality) situated in the head which floods the body.

Goals
The goals of Hatha Yoga are siddhis and an immortal body.

Health benefits ascribed to yogāsana practice


Yoga's combined focus on mindfulness, breathing and physical movements brings health benefits with regular participation. Yoga participants report better sleep, increased energy levels and muscle tone, relief from muscle pain and stiffness, improved circulation and overall better general health. The breathing aspect of yoga can benefit heart rate and blood pressure.

The 2012 "Yoga in America" survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Yoga Journal, shows that the number of adult practitioners in the US is 20.4 million, or 8.7 percent. The survey reported that 44 percent of those not practicing yoga said they are interested in trying it.