The Gorakshashataka – or “Hundred Verses of Goraksha” – is one of the earliest texts to teach the physical methods of hatha yoga. Among the text’s innovations are dynamic ways of controlling the breath such as ujjayi, whose rasping sound is widely heard in modern classes. Less often taught today are such esoteric methods as sarasvatichalana, by which the coiled serpent goddess Kundalini is roused from her slumber and made to ascend the practitioner’s spine. A recent reading with James Mallinson at SOAS included the verses that teach this technique.