Verse by verse · Hatha Yoga Pradipika
HYP 2.2
When the breath moves, the mind moves; when the breath is still, the mind is still. So the yogi should restrain the breath.
Written and reviewed by The Kriya Yogi · Updated 21 September 2026
Sanskrit, in transliteration
cale vāte calaṃ cittaṃ niścale niścalaṃ bhavet / yogī sthāṇutvam āpnoti tato vāyuṃ nirodhayet
Our own plain rendering, checked against the standard published translations.
What the verse says
The single most quoted line in the hatha literature, and the reason breath sits at the centre of the whole system. Breath and mind are treated as one instrument with two handles.
In practice
Modern research on slow breathing and the autonomic nervous system rhymes with this observation, though it does not test the text's larger claims. Slow, even breathing reliably calms most people; that much is well documented.
How it gets misquoted
Used to support claims that breath control cures disease. This verse says something narrower and more defensible: breath and mental state move together.
This verse sits in Hatha Yoga Pradipika, chapter 2 — read our commentary on the whole chapter.