My first few months as a yoga student, I felt a bit like a foreigner in a new land. Teachers often used the Sanskrit terminology to name a pose or a concept, and I was hardly fluent in Sanskrit, an old Indic literary language. While yoga jargon can feel alienating and annoying if you don’t receive a clear English definition of the Sanskrit words or other unusual terms, using yoga language can also be a great way to provide more depth and richness to your practice. (Not to mention, it can be fun to learn new terminology.) Start by getting to know these common yoga terms:
1. Asana
The word asana literally translates to “seat” and refers to the physical shape or container that your body makes in any given pose. In yoga class, each posture is referred to as an asana. Teachers will also to refer to the physical practice of yoga as your “asana practice.”
[See: The 10 Best Exercises You Can Do for the Rest of Your Life.]
2. A Comfortable Seat
Yoga teachers will usually ask students to find a comfortable seat at the beginning and end of class. When the teacher said this in my first class, the first thing I noticed was that there wasn’t any furniture at the yoga studio on which to sit. How do you sit comfortably on the floor? Well, I learned that you can sit cross-legged on your mat, but most students find that doing so is painful and awkward. If your knees go above your hips while you sit, for instance, it cuts off the blood circulation to your feet and they quickly become numb. If this is the case for you, sit on a prop like a block or a blanket. You can also sit on your calves to stay comfortable.
3. Meditation
Meditation describes allowing your mind to have an experience without having an agenda. While you do not want your mind to make a mental grocery list of thoughts, you also will not be able to shut your mind off completely. You want to concentrate on your breath by counting them up to 10 and then back down to one. If you lose count, you just start again at one. A common misconception is that you are meant to not think about anything during meditation. As far as I know, that is impossible. Trying to achieve that is frustrating and disheartening, and it makes it easy to give up on meditation. Instead, when your mind wanders, notice the thoughts that come up, acknowledge them and draw your attention back to counting your breaths.
[See: 8 Ways Meditation Can Improve Your Life.]
4. Namaste
Namaste — pronounced “nah-mah-stay” — is usually part of a ritual at the end of class where you sit on your mat, close your eyes and bring your palms to touch in front of your chest. You say “namaste” as you bow your head toward your heart. This is a gesture to honor yourself, those around you and your commitment to your practice.
5. Om
This sound is often chanted at the beginning and end of class. Om is broken up into three parts — “ahh,” “ooh” and “mm” — to signify three stages of life: creation, maintenance and destruction. The om represents the cyclical nature of our existence. So, when you chant this sound in class and hear everyone’s voices blend together to make one sound, the idea is to create a sense of wholeness and to signify the completion of a cycle.
6. Pranayama
There are many different variations of pranayama (say “praw-nee-yaw-mah”), or breathing techniques. Ujayii pranayama, or ujayii breath, is the most common style of breathing used in yoga. Pranayama allows you to bring awareness to the subtleties in your breath, mind and body. Each type of breathing has a different focus and accomplishes different results. Pranayama helps to achieve more of an inward experience rather than a physical expression.
7. Savasana
This posture, pronounced “shaw-vah-saw-nah,” is typically the final pose in a yoga practice. It allows you to draw inward and let your practice sink in. Savasana translates to “corpse pose” since it involves lying on your back in an active rest. You practice this pose after you have moved your body and fully connected with your breath so that your mind is more capable of being rested and at peace.
8. Ujayii
This is the most common breathing technique used throughout your yoga practice. Ujayii (“oo-jah-yee”) is when you take deep, prolonged breathes in and out through your nose. Your breath should be intentional and full, but it should not be harsh or forced. Your neighbor should not be able to hear it. Your breath helps keep you relaxed and gives your practice a cadence, like a metronome. If you are breathing too heavily, or if you cannot maintain ujayii breath, you are pushing yourself too hard and it is no longer considered yoga.
[See: 8 Ways to Relax — Now.]
9. Yoga
In Sanskrit, yoga means to yoke or unite. Yoga is a relationship between the physical practice, breath, meditation and philosophy. Yoga is always a conversation between these different modalities. While the goal in traditional yoga is liberation or transcendence, a more progressive philosophy suggests that enlightenment is found in everyday life. Yoga is a means to love your life with all its imperfections and to flourish in it.
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9 Yoga Terms Every Beginner Yogi Needs to Know originally appeared on usnews.com
