Yoga Glossary


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A
Abhaya mudra– gesture of fearlessness
Abhinivesha– fear of death
Adhara mudra– perineal mudra
Adharas– 16 bases which support the body
Adharmic– not fulfilling one's natural role in life
Advaita– non-dual experience; unity of the individual soul
Agni– fire, in all its aspects. Agni encompasses all fires, from the densest (the power of digestion) to the most rarefied (the essence of cosmic fire).
Agni mandala– 'zone of fire'; visualizing entire body in the form of agni
Agnisar kriya– practice of emptying the lungs and pumping the stomach to strengthen the diaphragm and lower stomach region
Agocharam– beyond sensory perception
Agochari mudra– another name for nasikagra drishti
Aham Bhramasmi– vedic mantra, I am Brahman'
Ahamkara– ego
Ahimsa– absence of violence from within; non-violence
Ajapa japa– continuous, spontaneous repetition of mantra
Ajna chakra– 'third eye'; command center
Ajna mandala– ajna chakra symbol at the eyebrow center
Akhanda kirtan– ongoing, unbroken kirtan
Akara– form, link, continuity
Akasha– space; ether
Akasha tattwa– ether element
Akashi mudra– awareness of the inner space; practice of the external stage of dharana; gazing into space with the head tilted back
Amaroli– auto-urine procedure; drinking of one's own urine in order to detoxify the body and develop stamina and vitality
Anadi– endless
Anahada nada– unheard, unstuck sound
Anahata chakra– heart chakra or emotional center
Anahata kshetram– trigger point of anahata chakra
Ananda– everlasting bliss
Ananda samadhi– fourth state of samadhi; blissful absorption
Anandamaya kosha– sheath or body of bliss, beatitude
Annamaya kosha– sheath or body of matter
Antah– inner
Antah karana– inner instrument; experienced or manifest mind which includes the four aspects of manas, buddhi, chitta and ahamkara
Antar kumbhaka– internal breathe retention
Antar lakshya– internal aim to be aspired for in dharana
Antar mouna– inner silence; meditative technique
Antaranga yoga– four internal stages of raja yoga
Anuman– inference
Anusandhana– discovery
Apah– water
Apana– sub-prana, which is located in the lower abdominal region, responsible for elimination and reproduction
Aparigraha– non-possessiveness
Ardhanareshwara– form of Shiva, which is half male and half female
Arjuna– one of the five Pandava back brothers; he to whom Lord Krishna addressed the Bhagavad Gita
Artha– material need; wealth
Asamprajnata samadhi– transitional stage of samadhi where the traces of the mind become active according to their intensity
Asamprayoge– 'not coming into contact'
Asana– a physical posture in which one is at ease and in harmony with oneself
Asevitah– faith
Ashrama– four stages of life
Ashtanga yoga– eightfold path of yoga
Ashwini mudra– contraction of anal sphincter
Asmita– state where the ego and the sense of individuality are completely transcended and there is only pure awareness
Asmita klesha– feeling of 'I' identified with an action
Asmita samadhi– fifth state of samadhi; dissolution of ego; merging of body, mind and soul
Asteya– honesty
Asthi– bone found in the body tissues
Atadroop pratishtha– knowledge of false identity; inability to link name with form
Atma– individual soul; spirit
Aum– primordial sound; mantra
Avachetan– subconscious
Avidya– ignorance; lack of conscious awareness; mistaking the non-eternal for the eternal; confined cognition
Avyakta– unmanifest; unseen
Awarohan– descending passage to the subtle body; spinal passage
Ayurveda– vedic system of medical diagnosis and treatment


B
Bahir– external
Bahir kumbhaka– external breath retention
Bahir lakshya– external aim to focus on in order to achieve concentration
Bahiranga yoga– four external stages of raja yoga
Baikhari– audible sound produced by striking two objects
Bandha– psychic lock that concentrates the flow of energy in the body at one point or plexus; postural contraction of the body
Basti– excretory cleansing technique for the intestines and colon
Beeja– 'seed'
Bhadrasana– gentleman's pose
Bhagavad Gita– Lord Krishna's discourse to Arjuna delivered on the battlefield of Kurukshetra during the great Mahabharata war
Bhaja Govindam– ode to Shakti by Adi Shankaracharya
Bhakti– devotion
Bhal bhati– forehead bellows
Bhastrika pranayama– 'bellows' breathing technique
Bhati– to shine
Bhava samadhi– absorption' in meditation due to emotional cause, e.g. kirtan
Bheda– to pass through, pierce, purify
Bhoochari mudra– practice of the external stage of dharana; gazing into space after focusing on the finger nail of the hand held in front of the face
Bhoota– element
Bhrumadhya– eyebrow center
Bhrumadhya drishti– eyebrow center gazing
Bindu visarga– center or source of individual creation from where the psychic vibrations first emanate
Brahma– Lord of creation; manifest force of life and creation; potentiality of mooladhara chakra
Brahma dhyana– meditation on the concept of Brahma
Brahma granthi– perineal knot or psychic block
Brahma nadi– subtle pranic flow within sushumna nadi through which kundalini ascends
Brahmacharya– one who lives in higher consciousness; sexual control; redirection of sexual energy towards spiritual or meditational practices
Brahmacharya ashrama– first stage of life up to 25 years, which is devoted to study and learning
Brahman– absolute reality; 'ever-expanding consciousness'
Buddha– the enlightened one
Buddhi– discerning, discriminating aspect of mind; from the root 'bodh', 'to be aware of', 'to know'; intellect.


C
Chaitanya jyoti– eternal flame of spirit
Chakra– psychic center in the subtle body; circle, wheel or vortex of energy; conjugation point of the nadis
Chakrasana– wheel pose
Chandra bheda pranayama– breathing technique that pierces and purifies the ida nadi
Chandra mandala– another name for ajna mandala
Charvak– one of the six darshana or systems of Indian thought; philosophy which accepts only the perceivable phenomena as valid, not the unperceivable
Chaturmas– four months of the rainy season
Chetana– consciousness; unmanifest aspect of consciousness and energy
Chidakasha– space of consciousness experienced in the head region
Chidakasha dharana– technique of meditation involving awareness of the chidakasha
Chin mudra– attitude of chitta or consciousness; upward hand position with thumb and first finger touching
Chit– eternal consciousness
Chit shakti– mental force governing the, subtle dimensions
Chitta– individual consciousness, including the subconscious and unconscious levels of mind; memory, thinking, concentration, attention, enquiry
Chitta vritti– mental modification


D
Daharakasha– lower or deep space; encompassing mooladhara, swadhisthana and manipura
Daharakasha dharana– concentration on the symbols of chakra and tattwa within the lower space
Dakshina nadi– another name for pingala nadi
Danta dhauti– method of cleaning the teeth
Darshana– to glimpse; to see; to have a vision
Deerghakaala– for a long period of time
Dehasamya– body stillness
Desha– place
Deva tattwa– first tattwa: the divine element
Devadutta– minor prana
Devata– deity
Devi– female deity; goddess
Dhananjaya– minor prana
Dhara– stream, flow
Dharana– holding or binding of the mind to one point; concentration
Dharma– the natural role we have to play in life; ethical law; duty
Dhatu– layers of tissue in the body
Dhauti– cleansing practices for the stomach region involving gentle washing with air, water, cloth or stick
Dhyana– meditation
Divya– divine
Divya loka– plane of divine or transcendental experience
Divyabhava– divine feeling
Doshas– humors of the physical body
Drashta– seer, observer; awareness
Dridha bhoomihi– solid foundation
Drishti– vision, eyesight
Drishtisamya– stillness of vision
Drona– teacher of the Pandava and Kaurava princes from the Mahabharata epic
Durga– devi; goddess; representing energy
Dwesha– repulsion, aversion


G
Garbha– womb Ida
Gayatri mantra– vedic mantra of 24 matras or syllabes
Gherand Samhita– traditional yogic text by Rishi Gherand
Gomukasana– cow face pose
Granthis– psychic knots
Grihastha ashrama– second stage of life from 25-50 years; householder
Guna– attribute, quality or nature of the phenomenal world
Guna rahita akasha– one of the five mental spaces of vyoma panchaka; attributeless space
Gupta nadi– runs from the knees along the inside of the thighs into the perineum
Guru– one who dispels darkness


H
Hasta uttanasana– a pre-pranayama exercise
Hatha yoga– yoga of attaining physical and mental purity, and chanelling of the pranas in the body
Hatha Yoga Pradipika– yogic text, 'light on hatha yoga'
Himsa– anything which disrupts the natural flow of human perception and consciousness
Hiranya– 'golden'
Hiranyagarbha– golden womb; golden egg
Hreem– beeja mantra
Hridayakasha– space of the heart, experienced between manipura and vishuddhi chakra
Hridayakasha dharana– vedic meditative process involving concentration on the heart space


I
Ida nadi– major pranic channel in the body; passive aspect of prana manifesting as mental force, chit shakti; lunar force governing the manifest subtle dimension
Indra– king of the vedic gods
Indriyas– sensory organs
Ishwara– higher reality; non-decaying principle of Samkhya philosophy; unmanifest existence; being; non-changing principle or quality
Ishwara pranidhana– cultivation of faith in the higher reality
Iti– `through' or 'thus'


J
Jagriti– wakefulness
Jala– water
Jala neti– nasal cleansing using warm and saline water, or oil, ghee, milk, yogurt or amaroli
Jalandhara bandha– chin lock; technique that frees ' the blockages of rudra granthi; controls the network of nadis, nerves and blood vessels flowing to the brain
Janma chakra– wheel of life
Japa yoga– yoga of mantra repetition
Jaya– victory, success
Jiva– individual identity
Jnana– intuitive knowledge
Jnana kanda– path of knowledge
Jnana mudra– hand position that joins fingers and thumb; gesture of intuitive knowledge
Jnana yoga– yoga of knowledge and wisdom attained through spontaneous self-analysis and investigation of abstract or speculative ideas
Jnanendriyas– five sensory organs
Jyoti mandir– temple of light


K
Kagra– tip
Kaivalya– state of consciousness beyond duality
Kala– time
Kala loka– plane that comes under the influence of time and its secondary aspect, space
Kama– emotional need or fulfillment
Kapalbhati pranayama– frontal brain bellowing technique used to raise the pranic energy of the body and center it at ajna chakra
Kapalshodhan– variation of kapalbhati
Kapha– phlegm, one of the three humors described in ayurveda
Karana– cause
Kari– that which produces
Karma– action; law of cause and effect, which shapes the destiny of each individual
Karma kanda– path of ritual
Karma shaya– deep layers of consciousness where the karma are stored in the form of impressions, symbols or archetypes
Karma yoga– yoga of action; action performed with meditative awareness; yoga of dynamic meditation
Karmendriyas– five physical organs of action (feet, hands, speech, excretory and reproductive organs)
Kama dhauti– ways to clean the ears
Khechad mudra– tongue lock
Kirtan– singing of God's name
Kleem– beeja mantra
Koorma– tortoise
Koormasana– tortoise pose
Kosha– sheath or body
Krishna– incarnation of Vishnu
Kriya– action or motion
Kriya yoga– practices of kundalini yoga
Kukkutasana– cockerel pose
Kumbha– a pot
Kumbhaka– internal or external retention of breath
Kundalini– 'serpent power'; spiritual energy; evolutionary potential
Kundalini yoga– path of yoga, which awakens the dormant spiritual force
Kunjal kriya– cleansing the stomach by voluntary vomiting using warm saline water
Kuru princes– opponents of the Pandava princes in the Mahabharata epic


L
Laghoo– 'short form'
Lakshya– aim; stage
Lalana upa chakra– minor chakra at the back of the throat
Lam– beeja mantra of mooladhara chakra
Laya– to dissolve
Laya yoga– yoga of conscious dissolution of individuality
Lokas– seven planes of consciousness


M
Madhya– intermediate
Madhya lakshya– intermediate stage
Maha– great
Maha bheda mudra– great piercing attitude
Mahamrityunjaya mantra– a long universal mantra
Maha mudra– great attitude
Maha samadhi– final liberation experienced on the departure of the spirit from the body
Mahabandha– great lock
Mahabharata– great epic of ancient India
Mahakasha– one of the five mental spaces of vyoma panchaka; bright like the middle of the sun
Mahaprana– prana in its cosmic, unmanifest aspect
Mahat– greater mind
Majja– nerves found in the body tissues
Mala– garland
Mananat– bondage of mind
Manas– mind
Manasi– mental
Mandala– zone; area; pictorial representation
Manduki– frog
Manduki mudra– frog attitude
Mandukya Upanishad– one of the major Upanishads, which describes the three states of consciousness, represented by the three syllables of AUM
Manipura chakra– psychic center behind the navel, associated with vitality and energy; 'city of jewels'
Manomaya kosha– mental sheath or body Mantra? – sound or vibration of power, which liberates the mind from bondage
Mantra yoga– path of yogawhich liberates the mind through sound vibration
Mantraha– force of vibration
Maya– illusion; partial understanding; wrong or false notions about self-identity
Mayurasana– peacock pose
Medha– fat found in the body tissues
Mehdra– plexus of the pranic body; nadi plexus located just a few centimeters below the nave
Mitahara– balanced diet
Moksha– liberation; freedom
Moola– `root'
Moola bandha– perineal lock; technique for locating and awakening mooladhara chakra; used to release brahma granthi
Mooladhara anusandhana– discovery of mooladhara chakra
Mooladhara chakra– root chakra, situated at the perineum; seat of the primal energy
Mooladhara dhyana– practice involving visualization of mooladhara chakra and sensing the vortex of energy at this point
Mouna– silence
Mrityu tattwa– decay able element; manifest aspect of tattwa
Mudra– psychic gesture; psycho-physiological posture, movement or attitude.
Mukti– liberation
Mumsa– muscle found in the body tissues
Mumukshutva– desire for liberation


N
Nabho mudra– another name for khechari mudra
Nada– psychic or internal sound
Nada Yoga– yoga of internal sound
Nadi– prana flow or channel
Nadi shodhana– purification of nadis
Nadi shodhana pranayama– practice of alternate nostril breathing by which the pranic channels are purified
Naga– one of the five minor pranas
Nairantarya– continuously without a break
Nara– decaying principle
Nashwara– decaying principle described in Samkhya philosophy; manifest existence; becoming; changeable
Nasi– nose
Nasikagra drishti– nose tip gazing
Nasikagra upa chakra– minor chakra at the nose tip
Natya mudras– dance mudras that express different attitudes or moods, such as love or anger
Nauli– practice of rotation of the abdominal muscles
Neti– cleansing practice for the head; nasal cleaning
Nidra– deep sleep
Nigraha– control
Nirbeeja samadhi– final state of samadhi where there is absorption without seed; total dissolution
Nirguna dhyana– meditation without gunas or qualities
Nirvichara samadhi– transitional stage of samadhi; absorption without reflection
Nirvichara dhyana– meditation without special attributes
Nirvichara samadhi– transitional stage of samadhi involving purification of memory which gives rise to true knowledge of the object of perception
Niyama– inner discipline
Nyaya– one of the six darshana or systems of Indian philosophy; `logic'; recognition of the real spiritual experience by the omniscient mind


O
Om Namah Shivaya– Shiva mantra; `I salute Shiva (consciousness)'
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudeva– Krishna mantra; `I salute Krishna (consciousness)'
Om Namo Narayana– Narayan or Vishnu mantra; 'I salute Narayan (consciousness)'


P
Padmasana– lotus pose
Pancha klesha– five afflictions (ignorance, ego, attraction, aversion and fear of, death)
Panchaka– five
Pandavas– the five brothers in the Mahabharata epic
Para nada– transcendental sound
Param– supreme
Paramakasha– one of the five mental spaces of vyoma panchaka; 'deep, dark space with a twinkling star-like light'; state of shoonya, nothingness
Parigraha– collection
Pashubhava– instinctive personality
Pasyanti– mental
Patanjali– ancient rishi who codified the meditative stages and states into the system of raja yoga
Pawanmuktasana– series of wind releasing postures; preliminary asana series
Pingala nadi– major pranic channel in the body which conducts the dynamic force manifesting as prana shakti
Pitta– bile,. One of the three humors described in ayurveda
Pooraka– inhalation
Poorna– full
Poorna dhanurasana– full bow pose
Poorva Mimamsa– one of the six darshana or systems of Indian philosophy in the form of answers; contains theory of karma kanda or ritual
Prajna– knowledge with awareness; the seer who observes the state of nidra; the all knowing; what is known; represents the 'M' of AUM; awareness of the 'one without a second'
Prakasha– light
Prakasha mandala– white light at the center of ajna chakra
Prakriti– individual nature
Pramana– direct knowledge; knowledge based on direct experience
Prana– vital energy; inherent vital force pervading every dimension of matter
Prana mudra– a technique of raising the prana
Prana nigraha– control of prana
Prana shakti– dynamic solar force governing the dimension of matter
Prana tattwa– third element representing the vital or life giving force
Prana vidya– knowledge and control of prana
Pranamaya kasha– energy sheath or body
Pranava– mantra Aum; primal sound vibration
Pranava dhyana– meditation on the mantra Aum
Pranayama– expansion of the range of vital energy
Pranidhana– 'to believe in'
Pranothana– awakening of the pranas in the different chakras
Pratishtha– awareness of identity
Pratyahara– withdrawal of the mind from the senses
Pratyaya– seeds or impressions in the field of consciousness, which do not disappear even in samadhi
Pravrittis– four instincts; (i) desire for food, (ii) desire for sleep; (iii) desire to procreate and (iv) fear of death
Prithvi– earth or matter
Purusha– totality of consciousness
Purusharthas– four efforts which man must make in order to fulfill his individual existence: (i) artha (wealth), (ii) kama (love), (iii) dharma (duty), (iv) moksha (liberation)


R
Raga– attraction
Rahita– without
Raja yoga– yoga of awkening the psychic awareness and faculties through meditation
Rajas– one of the three gunas; dynamism; state of activity and the creativity combined with full ego involvement
Rakta– blood found in the body tissues
Rasa– serum found in the body tissues
Rechaka– exhalation
Rishi– seer; realized sage; one who contemplates or meditates on the Self
Rityam– the changing principle
Roodan– the cry
Roopa– form
Rud– to cry
Rudra– howling energy
Rudra granthi– psychic knot or block between ajna and sahasrara chakras


S
Sabeeja samadhi– absorption with seed where the form of awareness remains
Sadhaka– spiritual aspirant
Sadhana– spiritual practice
Saguna dhyana– meditation to develop awareness of the ttranscendental qualities
Sah– with
Sahaja– spontaneous; easy
Sahaja samadhi– spontaneous meditative experience where the mind is totally withdrawn from the external world
Sahajoli mudra– contraction and release of the urinary passage in the female body to stimulate Swadhisthana chakra and promote brahmacharya
Sahasrara chakra– abode of Shiva or superconsciousness; 'the thousand petalled lotus'; highest chakra or psychic center, which symbolizes the threshold between the psychic and spiritual realms; located at the crown of the head
Sahita– 'combined with something'
Sakama karma– ego-inspired actions
Sakshi– witness; drashta aspect
Sam– perfect, balanced
Samadhi– culmination of meditation; state of unity with the object of meditation and the universal consciousness
Samana– one of the five sub-pranas; situated between the navel and diaphragm
Samapatti– complete absorption; samadhi
Samkhya– one of the six darshana or systems of Indian philosophy; associated with yoga; based on the division of existence into purusha, prakr;ti and a number of elements
Samprajnata samadhi– first sate of samadhi; transcendental state where there is knowledge with awareness
Samskara– unconscious memories; impressions that do not fit into the known categories of our present personality
Samya– stillness
Samyam– harmonious control; culmination of pratyahara, dharana and samadhi
Sanatan– eternal
Sankalpa– resolve
Sannyasa– renunciation; dedication
Sannyasa ashram– fourth stage of life from 75 years onwards; total renunciation
Sanskrit– `language of the gods": original vedic language
Santosha– contentment
Sapta– seven
Saptavatan– awareness of seven things simultaneously
Saraswati– goddess of learning
Sat– true
Satchitananda– three divine attribrates of truth, consciousness and bliss
Satkaara– with faith
Satsang– gathering in which the ideals and principles of truth are discussed
Sattwa– one of the three gunas; pure, unadulterated quality; state of luminosity and harmony
Sattwic– pertaining to sattwa
Satya– truth, reality
Satyam– the unchanging principle
Savdhan– attention; alert
Savichara samadhi– third state of samadhi where the mind alternates between time, space and object
Savishesha dhyana– meditation with special qualities: awareness of the concept of Shakti as a powerful force equal to that of Brahman
Savitarka samadhi– second state of samadhi where there is alternating association of the consciousness between word, knowledge and sensory perception
Shaiva– one who worships Shiva as the supreme reality
Shaivism– practice of worshipping Shiva
Shakta– one who worships the various manifestations of Shakti in the form of Kali, Saraswati, Durga etc.
Shakti– primal energy; manifest consciousness
Shaktism– practice of worshiping Shakti as the supreme reality
Shambhavi– name for Parvati, consort of Shiva
Shambhavi mudra– eyebrow center gazing
Shambhu– name for Shiva
Shankhaprakshalana– cleaning the conch; shatkarma that uses saline water to clean the small and large intestines
Shankha mudra– conch Mudra
Shanmukhi mudra– closing the seven gates
Shat– six
Shatkarmas– group of six purificatory techniques of hatha yoga
Shaucha– cleanliness of the body
Sheetali pranayama– 'cooling breath'; breathing principle technique where the breath is drawn in through the folded tongue
Sheetkan pranayama– 'hissing breath'; practice of object drawing the breath in through clenched teeth
Shiva– pure consciousness
Shodhana– purification
Shoonya– nothingness; void
Shuddha– pure in nature
Shuddhata– virtue; purity
Shuddhi– to purify
Shukra/arthata– reproductive tissues in the body
Siddha– perfected being
Siddha yoni asana– female version of siddhasana
Siddhasana– accomplished pose
Siddhi– paranormal or supernormal accomplishment
Simhasana– lion pose
Smashan bhoomi– cremation ground
Smritti– memory; memory field
Soham– mantra of the breath; used in the practice of ajapa japa
Sthiti– condition
Sthoola– gross
Sukha poorvaka– 'simple preliminary practice'
Sukhasana– easy pose
Sukshma– subtle dimension
Sumeru– mountain; tassle on mala
Surya– sun
Surya bheda– pranayama that pierces and purifies the pingala nadi
Surya mandala– image of the sun visualized at the eyebrow center
Surya namaskara– 'salute to the sun'; series of 12 asanas for revitalizing prana
Surya tantra– path of realization through visualization and evocation of the vital energy within the sun
Surya vijnana– another name for surya tantra
Suryakasha– one of the five mental spaces of vyoma panchaka; luminous space of the sun or the soul
Sushumna– central nadi in the spine, which conducts the kundalini or spiritual force from mooladhara to sahasrara
Sutra– threads of thought which outline the ancient spiritual texts
Sutra neti– nasal cleansing using a catheter
Sva, Swa– one's own
Swadharma– acceptance of one's own duty in life
Swadhisthana chakra– 'one's own abode'; second chakra associated with the sacral plexus
Swadhyaya– self study
Swami– master of the self
Swapna– dream state
Swara yoga– science of the breathing cycle
Swastikasana– auspicious pose


T
Tabla– Indian drums
Tadroop pratishta– knowledge of true identity; linking of name with form
Tamas– one of the three gunas; state of inertia or ignorance
Tamasic– pertaining to tamas
Tanmatra– nature, quality or essence of the five elements the sun visualized at
Tantra– ancient, universal science and culture which deals with the transcendence of human nature from the present level of evolution and understanding to transcendental level of knowledge, experience and awareness
Tapas– austerity; heat; process of burning impurities
Tarka– process of understanding through discussion and analysis
Tat– 'that'
Tattwa– element
Tattwakasha– one of the five mental spaces of vyoma panchaka; elemental space of perfect stillness
Tattwamaasi– 'Thou Art That'; vedic mantra
Teerthasthan– holy places of India
Tejas– luminosity; golden light or flame; the seer who observes the state of swapna
Tham, ksham– syllable or sound representing the sun or solar force
Trataka– to gaze steadily; dharana practice of gazing steadily at one point to focus the mind
Trayate– freed, liberated
Trimoorti dhyana– meditation on the three aspects of personality: sattwa, rajas and tamas
Turiya– fourth dimension of consciousness; super consciousness; simultaneous awareness of all three states of consciousness
Tyaga– renunciation or gradual dissociation of the mind from worldly objects and from the seed of desire


U
Udana– one of the five sub-pranas; energy located in the extremities of the body arms,legs and head
Uddiyana– 'to raise up', 'to fly up'
Uddiyana Bandha– lock applied to the abdomen which causes the diaphragm to rise into the chest, thereby directing prana into sushumna
Ujjayi pranayama– psychic breathing performed by contracting the epiglottis, producing a light sonorous sound
Upa-pranas– five minor pranas responsible for such actions as sneezing, yawning, itching, belching and blinking
Upanishads– vedantic texts conveyed by ancient sages and seers containing their experiences and teachings on the ultimate reality
Upanshu– whispered sound
Upasana kanda– ritual of worship
Usha pan– drinking water through the nose; traditional form of cold water neti
Uttara Mimamsa– one of the six darshana or systems of Indian philosophy which deals with the knowledge of ritual in the form of questions
Utthita Lolasana– 'swinging while standing pose'; a pre-pranayama exercise


V
Vacha– speech
Vairagya– non-attachment
Vaisheshika– a treatise on the subtle, causal and atomic principles in relation to the five elements
Vaishnava– one who worships Vishnu in the form of Rama, Krishna, Narayana etc.
Vaishnavism– sect of Vishnu
Vaishwa– manifest universe
Vaishwanara– seer who observes the manifest universe or the, external, waking consciousness
Vajrasana– thunderbolt pose
Vajroli Mudra– contraction and release of the urinary passage in the male body to stimulate swadhisthana chakra and promote brahmacharya
Vama dhauti– method of cleaning the stomach by voluntary vomiting; includes kunjal kriya and vyaghra Kriya
Vanaprastha ashrama– third stage of life from 50-75 years; retirement from worldly life in order to practise sadhana in relative seclusion
Vashishtasana– balancing asana invented by Sage Vashishta
Vastra dhauti– cleansing of the stomach and esophagus, using a cloth
Vata– wind, one of the three humors described in ayurveda
Vata nadi– nadi running along the back of the neck and head into the brain; controls gas formation and elimination
Vatsara dhauti– form of stomach cleansing performed by drinking air through the mouth and belching
Vayu– wind, prana
Vedanta– one of the six darshana or systems of Indian philosophy; 'the end of perceivable knowledge'; the mind experiencing its own limits and going beyond them; gaining realization and understanding of that exploration
Vedas– ancient spiritual texts of the Sanatan Dharma
Veerabhava– warrior personality
Veerasana– warrior pose (also known as the philosopher's pose or the thinker's pose)
Vichara– reflection
Vidya– knowledge
Vidyut mandala– visualization of lightning within the white light of prakash mandala
Vijnana– intuitive ability of mind; higher understanding
Vijnanamaya kosha– higher mental sheath or body
Vikalpa– fancy; unfounded belief; imagination
Vikshepa– dissipation
Vipareeta– inverted
Vipareeta karani mudra– inverted psychic attitude
Viparyaya– wrong knowledge
Vishaya– object
Vishnu granthi– psychic knot or block between manipura, anahata and vishuddhi chakras, symbolizing the bondage of personal and emotional attachment
Vishuddhi chakra– psychic center located at the level of the throat; center of purification
Vishwa– eternal
Vitara– reasoning
Viveka– right knowledge or understanding
Vrischikasana– scorpion pose
Vritti– circular movement of consciousness; mental and modifications described in raja yoga
Vyaghra kriya– cleansing the stomach by voluntary vomiting using warm saline water (performed on a full stomach)
Vyakta– manifest; seen
Vyakta prang– manifest life force
Vyana– one of the sub-pranas; reserve of pranic energy pervading the whole body
Vyoma– space
Vyoma Panchaka– the five subtle spaces


Y
Yam– beeja mantra of anahata chakra
Yama– self-restraint, first step of ashtanga or raja yoga
Yantra– visual form of mantra used for concentration and meditation
Yoga angas– parts or aspects of yoga
Yoga mudra– psychic union pose
Yoga mudras– gestures, which help to channel the flow of prana in the body
Yoga nidra– technique of yogic or psychic sleep which induces deep relaxation
Yoga Sutras– ancient authorative text on raja yoga by Patanjali
Yoni– womb, source
Yoni mudra– attitude by which the primal energy inherent in the womb, or source of creation, is invoked





Last Modification: Sunday 23 of December, 2018 21:23:04 GMT   -----   ©Padmasambhava 2008


The original document is available at http://padma.org.uk/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=Yoga%20Glossary