As a writer, I am word-obsessed. I love not only definitions and variations but origins and associations. Because yoga is such an old, layered, multi-faceted thing developed in an ancient, foreign language, I find I can lose myself in the words alone.
This is a spot where I hope to catch some of the language like butterflies in a net.
Asana: posture (pose)
Bandha: bond / lock
As a verb: to lock, hold, or tighten.
- Mūla Bandha: contraction of the perineum (Mūla =root/base/beginning/foundation)
- Uḍḍīyana Bandha: contraction of the abdomen
- Jalandhara Bandha: tucking the chin to the chest
- Maha Bandha: combining all three bandhas
Hatha: force
Hatha yoga is one part (or branch) of yoga: the physical part that incorporates movement (ansanas) and breathing. Mostly when Westerners think of “yoga,” they’re thinking of hatha yoga.
Krama: succession
Steps/ stages / progression to work towards asana
Mudra: seal/ mark/ gesture
Prana: life force
Pranayama: the conscious awareness of breath: prana, meaning “life force,” and ayama, meaning “extension”
Vayus: winds
- Apana Vayu; flow: grounding
- Udana Vayu; flow: lifting
- Samana Vay; flow: coiling
- Vyana Vayu; flow: outward
- Prana Vayu; flow: inward and upward
Vinyasa: to place in a special way
Vinyasa uses the breath to guide the movement that connects asanas. I think of “vinyasa flow” as being a bit of a redundancy: vinyasa, by definition, is flowing.
Ujjayi: victorious breath
More literally, this is the type of breathing that is in and out through the nose, with a bit of a force vibration in the throat so that it sounds like Darth Vader.
Yoga: union or connection (yolk)
Yoga is not just the movement and breathing. It’s a whole system of physical, mental, and spiritual practices developed in a far-away place, dating back a super-long time ago.
It can be a religion for some people. For me, it’s not, at least not in the way that there is any supernatural belief I have about what’s coming from my mind and body or anyone else’s mind and body.
The closest thing to “spirituality” I get from yoga is that it helps me practice how to not to be an asshole.
I do connect with energy and qualities in myself and the world around me, in the way that any living thing has energy and any thing has qualities.
Breath. Posture. Cue. 