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Bikram Yoga - Index of yoga terms Category: Sport and Leisure > Yoga Date & country: 31/08/2013, IN Words: 206

Abhyanga
A specialized oil application and massage.

Agni
Digestive and metabolic fire.

Ama
Poorly digested food material that accumulates in the body.

Ama Visha
An especially harmful, disease-promoting type of ama that contains highly reactive toxins.

Antahkarana
The mind.

Antaratma
The inner self, residing in the heart.

Ardha Chandrasana
In Hatha Yoga, the Half-Moon posture.

Ardha Padmasana
in Hatha Yoga, the Half-Lotus posture.

Arjuna
The hero of the Indian epic Mahabharata, he was the friend and devotee of Lord Krishna, who revealed the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita to him on the eve of the battle.

Artha
Worldly wealth, the pursuit of wealth and social status.

Artharya Veda
Knowledge of Incantations, the fourth Veda.

Aryans
The migrant invaders of India from approximately 1500 b.c; people of spiritual values.

Asampranjata
The highest super-conscious state where the mind is completely stilled and Reality is experienced.

Asana
Originally an immobile body posture; a seat or sitting posture that was used for meditation and to help facilitate perfect concentration. Hatha yoga developed this practice into a series of asanas or postures.

Ashram
A spiritual settlement or community, a peaceful retreat. A place to meditate or study the philosophy of Yoga.

Ashramas
Nearly 2,000 years ago, the dharma texts described the four ashramas (stages of life). It taught that a man should first be a chaste student, then become a married householder who honors his ancestors by begetting sons, then devote himself to spiritual contemplation, and finally, become a homeless wandering ascetic.

Asthi
One of the seven bodily constituents, mainly bone and bone metabolism.

Asthi Soshirya
Porous or brittle bones; osteoporosis.

Atmajnana
Knowledge of the Self.

Atman
The self as Spirit which is eternal and super-conscious; our true nature or identity, or spiritual essence. Sometimes a distinction is made between the atman as the individual self and the Parame-Atman, as the transcendental self

Atmiyata
The feeling of oneness.

Avadhuta
An enlightened being who lives in a state beyond body-consciousness.

Avatar
A divine incarnation of God, usually incarnations of Vishnu and his wife Laksmi. Krishna and Rama are the two principal ones, while Buddha is considered the ninth avatar of Vishnu.

Baba
A term of affection and respect for a saint or holy man.

Bala
Strength or immunity.

Bandha
Binding, a muscular lock.

Bandha Padmasana
The bound lotus posture.

Basti
An herbal enema.

Bhagwan
One endowed with spiritual power, righteousness, knowledge, and renunciation. A term and title of great honor.

Bhakt
The path of devotion; an intense love of God. When a man gets it, he loves all, hates none; and becomes satisfied forever.

Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti Yoga is the practice of devotional disciplines. It is union through devotion.

Bhastra
Breath control. Hatha Yoga uses eight different kinds of breath control. Bhastra is one of them. Bhranti Darshana

Bhuja
Arm or shoulder.

Bhujangasana
The cobra posture.

Bikram Yoga
A rigorous form of Yoga performed in a room heated to at least 95 degrees. Each posture in the sequence is designed to safely stretch and open the body, in preparation for the next posture.

Bindi
A mark (usually round and red), worn on the centre of the forehead to show that a woman is married, typically now a days it is worn as makeup.

Bodhi
Enlightenment; the pursuit of pure truth without any attachment. Prince Gautama, the Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree (actually a fig tree), determined to stay there until he experienced supreme enlightenment.

Bodhisattva
A being who has developed the aspiration to attain the state of Buddhahood and devotes his life to the task of achieving it for the sake of all sentient beings.

Brahma
As part of the Hindu Trinity of Vishnu and Shiva, Brahma is the creator of the Universe.

Brahmacharya
Literally means practicing conduct that leads one to God. Mostly it is used to describe self-restraint, especially over sexual desire, the first stage in the fourfold Hindu life cycle.

Brahmadvara
The opening where kundalini enters the spine.

Brahmanda Prana
Cosmic breath.

Brahmin
A priest or scholar; a member of the most privileged of the four social classes of Hinduism.

Brihaspati
The Hindu Deity of Wisdom; the chief of all the priests. Buddha

Buddhi
Wisdom, the higher mind or intellect.

Chaitanya
The fundamental, all-pervasive, divine Consciousness. When used in reference to a mantra, the capacity to draw one's mind spontaneously into meditative stillness.

Chakra
Literally, the wheel of a wagon; it is a term used to represent the energetic centers of the body. In Hindu Yoga there are seven such centers that store and release life force (prana)

Charaka Samhita
A classical text of Ayurveda.

Chela
A pupil, as student who studies spirituality.

Chiti
The power of universal Consciousness; the creative aspect of God.

Dahl
A small lentil.

Dakshina
An offering or gift to God or the Guru. Traditionally, when one seeks the teachings or blessings of a saint, one brings an offering; this act of giving invites grace. The practice of giving dakshina is an expression of gratitude and love for what has been received on the spiritual path.

Dalit
A person outside the class system of Hinduism who was formerly termed as Untouchable.

Dandayamana-Dhanurasana
Standing bow pulling posture, This posture frims the abdominal wall and upper thighs, and tightens upper arms, hips and buttocks.

Darshama
A visit to a great person, viewpoint or vision.

Daya
Compassion for all creatures.

Deva
Male deity; literally 'shining one'.

Devi
Female deity.

Dharana
Concentration. The sixth limb of the Ashtanga or Raja Yoga system.

Dharma Sastra
Law Books forming part of the scriptures of Hinduism.

Dhi
The mind's ability to learn or acquire knowledge.

Dhriti
The mind's ability to process and store what it has learned.

Dhyana
Meditation. The seventh limb of the Ashtanga or Raja Yoga system.

Dirgha Svasam
A comprehensive breathing technique in yoga.

Doshas
Three governing principles in nature that guide the functioning of the mind and body.

Dravidians
The oldest known inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent. Archeological remains of their civilization have been found in the Indus River Valley dating back to 2700 BCE. In some areas, the Dravidians were conquered by the Aryans when they migrated from the West around 1500 BC.

Durga
One of the wives of Shiva. She is the goddess of retribution and justice. She is both beautiful and fierce, and usually appears with eight arms carrying weapons and riding upon a tiger or a lion.

Eka
or Ek, meaning One, single.

Eka Pada Hastasana
The one leg posture.

Eka Pada Kakasana
The one leg crow posture.

Flow Yoga
Flow Yoga is about linking the breath with the pose. One moves from pose to pose in a smooth, easy manner, like Meditation in Motion and on a deeper level, as resistance is released and tension is shed, you flow with the present moment.

Ganesha
An elephant-headed God, son of Shiva who takes away all obstacles and is the God of good fortune.

Ghee
Clarified butter.

Govinda
Another name for Krishna, who is also referred to as Gopala.

Grihastha
A person at the second of the four stages of life, the stage of the householder.

Gunam
Inner beauty.

Gunas
The three (raja, tamas, sattva) basic qualities of nature that determine the inherent characteristics of all created things. They are

Guru
A personal spiritual teacher or guide who has himself achieved spiritual insight. From at least the time of the Upanisads, India has stressed the importance of the tutorial method in religious instruction. Classically, the pupil lived at the home of his guru and served him with obedience and devotion.

Guru Gita
A sacred text consisting of mantras that describe the nature of the Guru, and the Guru-disciple relationship.

Gurukul
Traditional Hindu residential schools of learning; typically the teacher's house or a monastery.

Hanuman
The monkey king, and one of the heroes of the Ramayana. He was devoted to Lord Rama, for whom he performed many acts of magic and daring.

Hatha
Force or overcoming will.

Hatha Yoga
A branch of Yoga, perhaps the most practiced style of Yoga, emphasizing the physical aspects of the spiritual path, with postures and breath control.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika
The oldest significant manuscript devoted specifically to the exposition of Hatha Yoga, which was not established as a separate form until sometime around 700 - 1000 B.C.

Hinduism
It is both a civilization and a community of religions; it has no beginning or founder, nor a central authority, hierarchy, or organization. Every attempt to define Hinduism has proved to be unsatisfactory in one way or another. It embraces one god and many gods, it is unique, but acknowledges many paths to one truth.

Hridayam
That which is especially nourishing and healing for the heart.

Indra
Vedic God of being or life.

Iyengar Yoga
This is probably the best known and widely practiced system of Hatha Yoga today. Iyengar is unique for its use of props such as cushions, straps, blankets and blocks to assist in doing the postures.

Jainism
Non-orthodox form of Vedic/Aryan teaching, emphasizing non-violence.

Japa
Reciting sacred texts, practiced verbally and mentally.

Jiva
Life. The individual soul; at one with the universal soul.

Jiva-mukti
A person who lives in the flesh, but has found spiritual freedom. A Yoga practice that is intellectual and physically rigorous.

Jnana Yoga
The yoga of wisdom; the path to liberation based on wisdom, through the ability to distinguish between the Real and the unreal, and rejecting what is unreal.

Kama
Pursuit of desire. Also, the Hindu God of desire.

Kama Sutra
An epic tale of love and desire infused with all the pageantry, passion and vibrant color of 16th century India. An ancient Sanskrit text giving instruction on the art of lovemaking.

Kapalabhati
A breathing technique designed to stimulate and energize the body and the brain.

Kapha
The dosha governing all strength, substance, and structure of the body.

Karma
One of the central ideas of Hindu philosophy, Karma is literally action of any kind, including ritual acts. But Karma also includes the concept of cause and effect, the spiritual equivalent of Newton's law that every action has an equal an opposite reaction. Karma itself is the action and bad or good karma refers to past actions.

Karma Yoga
Yoga of service or work.

Kichari
A nourishing, easily digested porridge made of rice and dahl.