Excerpted from Women's Health
Yoga Jargon Defined: A Yoga Dictionary For the Rest of Us
Yogi speak can be intimidating—get up to speed with this thumbnail guide
We know, yogi speak can be intimidating—especially if, like most of us,
you don't know squat when it comes to Sanskrit (the ancient Indic
language used in many yoga books and studios). And how should you
unless you were born in an ashram? The language has been dead for a
thousand years or so, and you don't see many American teenagers carting
Sanskrit texts around as they do Latin ones. Yogis, however, are a
different story. The exotic-sounding terms are commonplace inside the
walls of yoga studios. And this can be an obstacle; you wouldn't jump
at the chance to take a kickboxing class in Swahili, would you? Skim
our dime-sized dictionary and see if you find yourself feeling a bit
more fluent—or at least faking it convincingly—by your next class.
asana (AH-sah-nah)
Literally, it means "seat," but it's any yoga posture. A series of
asanas, or poses, makes up a
vinyasa, or flow.
chakras (CHA-kruhz)
The Sanskrit term
chakra
literally translates as "wheel" or "disc," referring to the shape of
these whirling energy centers that control the body's vital organs.
They correspond to nerve plexes, ganglia, and glands. When one's organs
are malfunctioning, yogis believe it is because they lack sufficient
life energy (hence, "My
chakras are out of balance"). The seven principal
chakras
are situated along the spinal cord, from the base to the cranium and
relate to reason, cognition, memory, willpower, divine love, divine
sight, and illumination. Seven others exist below the spine and relate
to fear, anger, envy, selfishness, and other unenlightened traits.
Chakras are typically depicted as colorful and resembling a lotus flower.
kundalini (kun-duh-LEE-ni) Literally, "coiled up."
Kundalini
energy is the life force that lies dormant in our bodies. It is often
depicted as a coiled up serpent at the base of the spine; the theory is
that practicing certain spiritual disciplines can cause the serpent to
spring awake. The
kundalini style of yoga focuses on the centers in the body (chakras) that can release
kundalini energy.
namaste (NAH-MAH-STAY) Means "May the divine light in
me greet the divine light in you." You know it's coming at the end of
class when your teacher puts her hands in prayer position and bows her
head. Students say it back to convey, "Thank you for class."
om (OH-MMMM) A long and loud sigh or hum chanted at
the beginning and end of a yoga practice. This is intended to warm up
the lungs and focus and quiet the mind. The sound of om is said to be
"the sound of all things," all the noise and music in the universe
combined.
prana (PRAH-nah)
The "life energy" that keeps us alive and thriving. The ancient Greeks called it
pneuma and the ancient Hebrews,
ruah. The three major sources of
prana are air, sun, and ground.
pranayama (PRAH-nah-yah-mah) Controlled breathing
technique. These exercises regulating the breath are intended to calm
and focus the mind for
asana practice or seated meditation.
savasana (SHA-vass-ah-nah) Translates as "
corpse pose." This is the full-body relaxation pose done lying on the back, completely still with eyes closed, usually as the last
asana in the practice. Focus is on relaxing every part of the body from toes to jaw muscles.
shakti (SHOCK-tee) In Sanskrit, it means "power" or "energy." Different from the life force that
prana refers to,
shakti
typically refers to the power of the god Shiva, which pervades all of
existence; the pure consciousness of all form. Manifestations include
kriya shakti (action) and
icha shakti (desire, love). No worries if you don't quite grasp this one—you won't be missing much in class.
surya namaskara (SUE-ree-ah NAH-mas-car-ah)
aka
sun salutation. A series, or
vinyasa (see below), of poses that warm up the body. There are multiple variations; the common A series includes
mountain pose (tadasana), standing
forward bend (uttanasana),
low pushup (chaturanga),
upward-facing dog pose (urdhva mukha svanasana) or
cobra pose (bhujangasana), and
downward-facing dog pose (adho mukha svanasana).
tadasana (TAH-dah-sah-nah) Meet
mountain pose.
This pose looks like the old-school diving board move known as
"pencil." Just stand up straight with your feet together, arms at your
side, shoulders back, and head aligned with your spine.
virabhadrasana (vi-ra-BAH-dras-ah-nah)
Warrior pose,
a standing posture with a burn-inducing bent-knee and raised-arm
position. There are multiple common variations of this classic pose; in
vira II (as the initiated sometimes shorten it) arms are extended out to the sides (instead of overhead);
vira III is a one-legged, no-armed balancing act (the Sanskrit term for "face plant" is unknown).
vinyasa (vin-YAH-sah) Commonly translated as
step-by-step or breath-by-breath. This term describes a series of poses
linked together smoothly, such as
surya namaskara. A
vinyasa is also often referred to as a "flow."
