RAJA YOGA   HATHA YOGA  JNANA YOGA  BHAKTHI YOGA KARMA YOGA  MANTRA YOGA HATHA YOGA  Hatha yoga is the first step of raja yoga.   Hatha is considered to be compound word derived from two words, ‘ha’ and ‘tha’. Ha means the Moon, left nostril. ‘Tha’ means the Sun, the right nostril.  The balance of these two is by a process known as Hatha Yoga.  Lord Shiva is the founder of Hathayoga.   Hathayoga pradipika, Gheranda Samhita, Hatharatnavali are the famous Hathayoga texts.  The aim of hatha yoga is like a ladder to attain the raja yoga.            Hatha Yoga pradipika written by Svatmarama explains about all the aspects of Yoga in four chapters.  This includes the concepts of Matha, Pathyapathya, Satkriyas, Asanas, Pranayamas, Mudras, Bandhas, and Nadanusandhana.   In Hatha pradipika Svatmarama explains 15 Asanas, out of them four asanas are good for the meditative purposes.  They are Siddhasana, Padmasana, Simhasana and Bhadrasana.            According to this text, the foods which are suitable for Yoga practitioners are wheat, rice, barlies, purified food, milk, ghee, butter, sugar candy, honey, dry ginger, snake guard, jivanti, vastmulya and punarnava. The Satkriyas and Pranayamas are also explained in the second chapter of Hatha pradipika.  According to Svatmarama the Pranayamas are very useful to control the thoughts.  Eight pranayamas are explained in this text. The third chapter explains Bandhas and mudras, which are useful for purifying the nadis and awakening the kundalini.  The last chapters of this book explain about the samadhi, and the process of attaining the samadhi through Nadanu sandhana.            Gheranda Samhita is another text of Hatha Yoga, consists of seven chapters in which the seven limbs of the Yoga are explained with their uses.  They are as below.            1.        Shat karmas               -          Purifies the body.            2.        Asanas            -                    Strengthens the body            3.        Mudra             -                    Brings steadiness.            4.        Pratyahara                -           Gives Bravery            5.        Pranayama                 -          Gives lightness            6.        Dhyana                      -          Brings Realization of Soul            7.        Samadhi                     -          Leads to liberation.  In general the practice of Hatha Yoga practice is essential to lead a healthy life.