ABHYANGA: Daily oil massage.
AKASHA: Space or ether.
AMA: A toxic residue caused by undigested food, experiences, and emotions. The term translates as “toxins in the body and mind.”
ARTHA: Material wealth, gain, or prosperity. One of the four goals in life that are known, in Vedic morality, as the purusharthas.
ASANA: A yoga pose.
AYURVEDA: The science of life; the name is derived from the Sanskrit words ayus, meaning “life,” and veda, meaning “science or knowledge.”
CHAKRAS: The energy centers in the body, related to the nerve plexus centers. There are seven main chakras, which together align the spine.
CHARAKA SAMHITA: An early text on Ayurveda. The Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita are the two foundational texts of this field; both date to the early centuries of the common era.
DHARMA: An individual’s purpose in life.
DOSHA: The three main psychophysiological principles of the body (Vata, Pitta, Kapha), which determine a person’s individual mind-body constitution.
JALA: Water.
KAPHA: One of the three doshas, it combines the elements water and earth. It is responsible for bodily structure.
KARMA: Action or deed. It is also the principle of causality, in which a person’s intent in taking an action in the present equals a particular result in the future.
MAHABHUTAS: The great elements: space, air, fire, water, and earth.
MANTRA: Derived from two Sanskrit words: man, meaning “mind,” and tra, meaning “instrument.” This instrument of the mind is a sound or series of sounds used to connect body, mind, and spirit.
NASYA: Method of administering oil or herbalized oil to the nostrils. It is one of the five parts of panchakarma.
OJAS: Healing chemicals in the body that are by-products of properly digested food, emotions, and experiences.
PITTA: The biological humor in Ayurveda composed of the elements fire and water.
PRAKRUTI: The biological constitution of an individual. It is determined at conception and is composed of certain proportions of the three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
PRANA: Vital life energy, or life force.
PRANAYAMA: Yogic breathing techniques; also, the fourth branch of yoga.
PRITHIVI: The earth element.
RISHIS: Ancient sages, or seers, from India.
SURYA NAMASKAR: Sun Salutations, a series of yoga poses that coordinate with the breath.
TEJAS: Fire.
VATA: Composed of space and air, this is one of the three doshas, or Ayurvedic mind-body types.
VIKRUTI: The current state of an individual, in contrast to a person’s natural state, or prakruti. This state may indicate imbalances in an individual’s mind-body constitution.
YOGA: Derived from the Sanskrit word yuj, which means “to yoke” or “to join together.” In yoga, we join together our mind, body, soul, and spirit.