ABHYANGA: Daily oil massage.
AGNI: Fire; in Ayurveda, digestive fire.
AJNA: The sixth chakra; Ajna translates as “to perceive or command” or “beyond wisdom.”
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.”
ANAHATA: The fourth chakra; Anahata translates as “unstruck” or “unhurt.”
ARTHA: Material wealth, gain, or prosperity. One of the four goals in life that are known, in Vedic morality, as the purusharthas.
ASANA: Physical postures; the third limb of yoga.
AYURVEDA: The science of life; the name is derived from the Sanskrit words ayus, meaning “life,” and veda, meaning “science or knowledge.”
BANDHA: Bond or arrest; in Hatha yoga, translated as “body locks.”
BIJA: Seed; or the seed syllable contained within a mantra.
BRAMACHARYA: Celibacy or sexual restraint; the fourth of the yamas in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
CHAKRAS: The energy centers in the body. There are seven main chakras from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.
DHARANA: One-pointed attention or fixed concentration on something internal or external; the sixth limb of yoga.
DHARMA: An individual’s purpose in life.
DHYANA: Meditation; the seventh limb of yoga.
DIRGHA: Also called the three-part or complete breath, a yogic breathing exercise that trains the body to breathe from the diaphragm.
DOSHA: The three main psychophysiological principles of the body (Vata, Pitta, Kapha), which determine a person’s individual mind-body constitution.
DRISHTI: To view or gaze; in relation to yoga, it means “focal point.”
GHEE: Clarified butter.
GUNAS: The three fundamental forces or qualities of nature: sattva, rajas, and tamas.
GURU DARSHANA: Auspicious sight given to a devotee by an enlightened teacher (guru).
IDA NADI: The left subtle channel, which is feminine and lunar in nature.
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.
KUNDALINI: Divine female energy that lies latent at the base of the spine.
KUNDALINI SHAKTI: The awakening of Kundalini as it uncoils and makes its way up the spine toward Shiva (male) energy.
MAHABHUTAS: The great elements: space, air, fire, water, and earth.
MANIPURA: The third chakra; Manipura translates as “lustrous gem.”
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.
MOKSHA: Liberation or freedom.
MULADHARA: The first chakra; Muladhara translates as “root” or “support.”
NADI: A subtle circulatory channel running through the body that carries energy and information. The three main nadis are Ida, Pingala, and Shushumna.
NASYA: Method of administering oil or herbalized oil to the nostrils. It is one of the five parts of panchakarma.
NIYAMAS: Internal observances or duties; the second limb of yoga.
OJAS: Healing chemicals in the body that are by-products of properly digested food, emotions, and experiences.
PANCHAKARMA: “Five Actions”; a program of detoxification of the body in Ayurvedic medicine.
PINGALA NADI: The right subtle channel, which is masculine and solar in nature.
PITTA: The dosha in Ayurveda composed of the elements fire and water.
PRAKRUTI: Physical matter; also, the biological constitution of an individual, determined at conception and composed of certain proportions of the three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
PRANA: Vital life energy, or life force.
PRANA VATA: One of the five subdoshas of Vata in Ayurveda; controls inhalation, consumption, perception, and the intake of knowledge.
PRANAYAMA: Yogic breathing techniques; the fourth limb of yoga.
PRATYAHARA: Withdrawal of the senses; the fifth limb of yoga.
PRITHIVI: The earth element.
PURUSHA: The cosmic Self (soul), cosmic consciousness, or the universal principle; unbounded universal energy that has not yet taken form into prakruti.
RAJAS: Activity, energy, passion, restlessness; one of the three primary qualities of nature in yoga philosophy.
RISHIS: Ancient sages, or seers, from India.
SAHASWARA: The seventh chakra; Sahaswara translates as “thousand-petal lotus.”
SAMADHI: An advanced state of meditation, marked by oneness or absorption of the self; the eighth limb of yoga.
SATTVA: Purity, one of the three primary qualities of nature in yoga philosophy.
SHAKTI: Energy, power, movement, or change; the female principle of divine energy, especially in mythology when referring to a deity.
SHUKRA: Lucid, clear, bright.
SHUKRA DHATU: In Ayurvedic medicine, reproductive tissue in both men and women.
SHUSHUMNA: The central nadi in the body aligning along the spine; translates as “very gracious” or “kind.”
SIDDHI: Supernatural power; realization, attainment.
SUBDOSHAS: The five subdivisions of each of the three doshas in Ayurveda with physiological structures in the human body.
SURYA NAMASKAR: Sun Salutations, a series of yoga poses that coordinates with the breath.
SVADHISTHANA: The second chakra; Svadhisthana translates as “the dwelling place of the self.”
TAMAS: Inertia, lethargy, darkness, or dullness, one of the three primary qualities of nature in yoga philosophy.
TANMANTRAS: Subtle elements. In Ayurveda, refers to the five senses: hearing, touch, taste, sight, and smell.
TANTRA: An ancient set of esoteric texts originally from Hindu or Buddhist tradition dating from the sixth to the thirteenth centuries of the common era; translated as “to weave.”
TEJAS: Fire.
TRIPHALA: A rejuvenating herbal remedy in Ayurvedic medicine composed of three herbs: amalaki, bibitaki, and haritaki.
VATA: Composed of space and air, one of the three doshas, or Ayurvedic mind-body types.
VAYU: Wind or air.
VISHUDDHA: The fifth chakra; Vishuddha translates as “purity.”
YAMAS: Moral, ethical, and social guidelines for the practicing yogi; the first limb of yoga, outlined in the first of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
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.
YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI: The basic philosophical writings of yoga, compiled around 400 CE, containing four chapters or books separated into 196 sutras, or aphorisms. It outlines the eight limbs of yoga: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi.