Ishavasya Upanishad: Mantra 8

स पर्यगाच्छुक्रमकायमव्रणमस्नाविर शुद्धमपापविद्धम्। कविर्मनीषी परिभूः स्वयम्भूर्याथातथ्यतोऽर्थान् व्यदधाच्छाश्वतीभ्यः समाभ्यः ॥ ८॥ sa paryagāc chukram akāyam avraa¹‡am asnāviram śuddham apāpa-viddham kavir manÄ«a¹£Ä« paribhÅ«a¸¥ svayambhÅ«r yāthātathyato 'rthān vyadadhāc chāśvatÄ«bhyaa¸¥ samābhyaa¸¥ Translation: The Ātman pervades everything. It is radiant, incorporeal, devoid of muscles, pure, immaculate, self-created and all-embracing. It is the omniscient seer and it is self- sufficient. It has established the laws and duties since time immemorial. Commentary: This exquisite mantra allows an intuitive glimpse of the Self by trying to describe It, although it clearly fails... All religious and spiritual literature, all discussions of God, all descriptions of God, of the Self, of the Truth, have been and will be a failure... All masters, saints, and enlightened beings have experienced the inability to explain the Truth with words because it is before words, before thoughts, before us... Nevertheless, in his attempt, the a¹›a¹£i manages to give us some flavor, some scent of the transcendental experience... Paryagāt... "The Ātman pervades everything..." in order to indicate to us that It is limitless... Remember that while speaking about the Ātman, we are speaking about life, about existence, about the reality situated in you... as you... Every so often, I make sure to remember this, because words like Brahman, Ātman, etc. tend to make us feel separate from such truths; they allow us to doubt their existence.

Pūrṇa-yoga is a path that leads us to transcend mental activity and awaken to the sole reality, a situation in which consciousness perceives without necessarily being limited, without creating an illusory world of dual opposites.

aratalābhyāṁ dharāṁ dhṛtvā ūrdhvaśīrṣaḥ phaṇīva hidehāgnir vardhate nityaṁ sarvarogavināśanamjāgarti bhujagī devī bhujaṅgāsanasādhanāt“Allow the body to touch the ground from the navel to the toes; rest the palms on the floor and raise the head (the upper part of the body), like a snake. This is the cobra posture, which always increases the bodily heat and destroys all disease. Practicing this posture awakens the serpent power of the Goddess (the kuṇḍalinī energy)”. Gheraṇḍa-saṁhitā (2.42-43)Recline on the belly, facing down. Place the forehead on the ground and relax the body. Join the legs and the heels, toes extended, with the instep on the ground (Photo Number 50). Place the palms on the ground, aligning the fingertips with the shoulders. See that your elbows stay close to the sides of the body. Extend the shoulders upwards and backwards, opening the chest (Photo Number 52).As you inhale, raise the head slowly (Photo Number 53), the chin, the shoulders (Photo Number 54), the chest (Photo Number 55 ) and the abdomen(Photo Number 56), slowly arching backwards. The head and chest remain above the ground while the lower abdomen and the pelvis maintain in contact with the ground. Raise the trunk with the help of the abdominal and dorsal muscles, without pushing with the hands, which only serve as support. Keep the chest, shoulders and back open (Photo number 57). While inhaling, extend the entire body, each time further lifting the ājñā-cakra (located at the space between the eyebrows). As you exhale, further arch the back. Keep the legs and the heels together on the ground. Lift yourself as much as you can, breathing profoundly. When you reach the final posture, stop moving and try to relax.Keep the posture for ten seconds in the beginning and progressively increase its duration for up to 30 seconds. If you have difficulties in maintaining the posture for the indicated time, repeat bhujaṅgāsana three times, resting for a few breaths in between.(

This traditional tale suggests to us that yoga is not only a matter of information, but that it also implies a complete transformation.Among the disciples of Matsyendranātha on the path of haṭha-yoga, was Cauraṅgī, a cripple without limbs, to whom the master miraculously gave arms and legs by his sacred glance. However, his most famous disciple was Gorakṣanātha, one of the greatest and most important masters of haṭha-yoga.A few of the most notable masters within this rich tradition were: Śābarānanda, Minanātha, Bileśaya, Bhairava, Manthāna, Kākacaṇḍiśvara and others.Another important master of haṭha-yoga was Gheraṇḍa, a great vaiṣṇava and the master of Canda Kāpālī.However, one cannot summarize the history of haṭha-yoga without mentioning the great sage Svātmārāma. It was the great similarity between the haṭha-yoga of Gorakṣanātha and the aṣṭāṅga-yoga of Patañjali Maharṣi that led Svātmārāma to create a fusion of the two; as he describes in his famous work, the Haṭha-yoga-pradīpikā (2.76):haṭhaṁ vinā rāja-yogorāja-yogaṁ vinā haṭhaḥna sidhyati tato yugmamāniṣpatteḥ samabhyaset“Without haṭha-yoga the perfection of rāja-yoga is impossible, the same is true for haṭha-yoga without rāja-yoga. One should practice both until granted complete success.”También elŚiva-saṁhitā (5.181) se refiere a este punto:haṭhaṁ vinā rāja-yogorāja-yogaṁ vinā haṭhaḥtasmāt pravartate yogīhaṭhe sad-gurum ārgataḥ“Haṭha-yoga cannot be obtained without rāja-yoga, nor can rāja-yoga be attained without haṭha-yoga. Therefore, let the yogi first learn haṭha-yoga from the instructions of the wise guru.”Haṭha-yoga and the classic scripturesThe scriptures that serve as the foundation of haṭha-yoga are three: the Haṭha-yoga-padīpikā, the Gheraṇḍa-saṁhitā and the Śiva-saṁhitā.The Haṭha-yoga-padīpikā was written by Svātmārāma in the the XIV century A.D. It is divided in four sections, and consists of a 383 ślokas or verses in total. Some manuscripts contain an additional fifth chapter, containing another 24 ślokas. This addendum does not pertain to the original text, but to a later period.