Yoga Articles Dictionary

A Yoga Dictionary from Asanas to Zerosis

Note that all words in grey (like the following examples; Yoga, Kundalini, Enlightenment) in the dictionary are links to archives with articles related to that word or expression.

From "Easy Steps to Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Jnana yoga is the yoga of knowledge - not knowledge in the intellectual sense-but the knowledge of Brahman and Atman and the realization of their unity. Where the devotee of God follows the promptings of the heart, the jnani uses the powers of the mind to discriminate between the real and the unreal, the permanent and the transitory.

Read more here: » Jnana Yoga: The Path of Knowledge - Jnana Yoga

Bhakti Yoga

Type of yoga or spiritual exercise involving devotion to a god or a guru.

(See also: Bhakti Yoga , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

A Yoga Dictionary from Abhyasa to Yukti.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

raja yoga: (Sanskrit) "King of yogas."

Also known as ashtanga yoga, "eight-limbed yoga." The classical yoga system of eight progressive stages to Illumination as described in various yoga Upanishads, the Tirumantiram and, most notably, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

The eight limbs are as follows.

1)    yama: "Restraint." Virtuous and moral living, which brings purity of mind, freedom from anger, jealousy and subconscious confusion which would inhibit the process of meditation.

2)    niyama: (Sanskrit) "Observance." Religious practices which cultivate the qualities of the higher nature, such as devotion, cognition, humility and contentment- giving the refinement of nature and control of mind needed to concentrate and ultimately plunge into samadhi.

3)    asana: "Seat or posture." A sound body is needed for success in meditation. This is attained through hatha yoga, the postures of which balance the energies of mind and body, promoting health and serenity, e.g., padmasana, the "lotus pose," for meditation. The Yoga Sutras indicate that asanas make the yogi impervious to the impact of the pairs of opposites (dvandva), heat-cold, etc.

4)    pranayama: "Mastering life force." Breath control, which quiets the chitta and balances ida and pingala. Science of controlling prana through breathing techniques in which lengths of inhalation, retention and exhalation are modulated. Pranayama prepares the mind for deep meditation.

5)    pratyahara: "Withdrawal." The practice of withdrawing consciousness from the physical senses first, such as not hearing noise while meditating, then progressively receding from emotions, intellect and eventually from individual consciousness itself in order to merge into the Universal.

6)    dharana: "Concentration." Focusing the mind on a single object or line of thought, not allowing it to wander. The guiding of the flow of consciousness. When concentration is sustained long and deeply enough, meditation naturally follows.

7)    dhyana: "Meditation." A quiet, alert, powerfully concentrated state wherein new knowledge and insight pour into the field of consciousness. This state is possible once the subconscious mind has been cleared or quieted.

8)    samadhi: "Enstasy," which means "standing within one's self." "Sameness, contemplation." The state of true yoga, in which the meditator and the object of meditation are one.

See: yoga, asana, samadhi, raja yoga.

(See also: Raja Yoga , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

L'Chaim Yoga: Variation of hatha yoga taught by Kay Abrahams, of New York City. It involves guided relaxation, Hebrew prayer, and makko-ho. (L'Chaim is a Hebrew expression that means to life and is used as a toast.)

(See also: L'Chaim Yoga , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Sanskrit dictionary. From Advaita to Yoga.

Please note that all words in grey, like "enlightenment" or "kundalini" are hyperlinked to archives further explaining the term. At the corresponding archive you will also find articles related to the term.

Kriya Yoga (Kriya): Ancient yogic method rediscovered, renamed, expounded, and revived by Babaji, the guru of Lahiri Mahasaya. Lahiri Mahasaya popularized it in modern India, and Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) advanced it in the United States.

Kriya theory posits apana (eliminating current), prana (the life force), an omniscient spiritual eye, and the transmutation of oxygen atoms into life current.

(See also: Kriya Yoga , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

During the Spiral Twists yoga position (Ardha Matsyendrasana) your vertebrae are mobilized; the exercises also allow more nourishment to reach the roots of the spinal nerves and the sympathetic nevous system.

Read more here: » Yoga Positions: Spinal Twisting - Yoga Position

The Bow yoga position (Dhanurasana) works all parts of your back simultaneously. In this asana, your head, chest, and legs are lifted, while your body rests on your abdomen. The pose is so named because as you hold it, your body is bent back like a bow and your arms are held straight and taut like a bowstring.

Read more here: » Yoga Poses: The Bow Pose - Yoga Poses

hatha yoga: (Sanskrit) "Forceful yoga."

Hatha yoga is a system of physical and mental exercise developed in ancient times as a means of rejuvenation by rishis and tapasvins who meditated for long hours, and used today in preparing the body and mind for meditation.

Its elements are

1)    postures (asana),

2)    cleansing practices (dhauti or shodhana),

3)    breath control (pranayama),

4)    locks (bandha, which temporarily restrict local flows of prana) and

5)    hand gestures (mudra), all of which regulate the flow of prana and purify the inner and outer bodies.

Hatha yoga is broadly practiced in many traditions. It is the third limb (anga) of Patanjali's raja yoga. It is integral to the Saiva and Shakta tantra traditions, and part of modern ayurveda treatment. In the West, hatha yoga has been superficially adopted as a health-promoting, limbering, stress-reducing form of exercise, often included in aerobic routines.

Esoterically, ha and tha, respectively, indicate the microcosmic sun (ha) and moon (tha), which symbolize the masculine current, pingala nadi, and feminine current, ida nadi, in the human body. The most popular hatha yoga manuals are Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Gheranda Samhita.

See: hatha yoga, asana, kundalini, nadi, yoga, raja yoga.

(See also: Hatha yoga , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

bhakti yoga: n (Sanskrit) "Union through devotion." Bhakti yoga is the practice of devotional disciplines, worship, prayer, chanting and singing with the aim of awakening love in the heart and opening oneself to God's grace. Bhakti may be directed toward God, Gods or one's spiritual preceptor.

Bhakti yoga seeks communion and ever closer rapport with the Divine, developing qualities that make communion possible, such as love, selflessness and purity. Saint Sambandar described bhakti as religion's essence and the surest means to divine union and liberation. He advised heartfelt worship, unstinting devotion and complete surrender to God in humble, committed service. From the beginning practice of bhakti to advanced devotion, called prapatti, self-effacement is an intricate part of Hindu, even all Indian, culture.

Bhakti yoga is embodied in Patanjali's Yoga Darshana in the second limb, niyamas (observances), as devotion (Ishvarapranidhana). Bhakti yoga is practiced in many Hindu schools, and highly developed in Vaishnavism as a spiritual path in itself, leading to perfection and liberation. In Saiva Siddhanta, its cultivation is the primary focus during the kriya pada (stage of worship).

See: bhakti yoga, prapatti, sacrifice, surrender, yajna.

(See also: Bhakti yoga , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Balancing Body Energy

The energy of your body will not be balanced and free flowing if you do not have good emotional balance, good physical health, and good relationships with your surroundings and yourself.

Almost no one is ever perfectly balanced. If you could do this, you would be able to rise from the dead, have a body transformed into a cosmic molecular structure and commune with the gods as an equal.

Read more here: » Body Energy: Balancing Body Energy

siddha yoga: (Sanskrit) "Yoga of perfected attainment, or of supernatural powers."

1)    A term used in the Tirumantiram and other Saiva scriptures to describe the yoga which is the way of life of adepts after attaining of Parasiva. Siddha yoga involves the development of magical or mystical powers, or siddhis, such as the eight classical powers. It is a highly advanced yoga which seeks profound transformation of body, mind and emotions and the ability to live in a flawless state of God Consciousness.

2)    The highly accomplished practices of certain alchemists.

See: siddha yogi, siddhi.

(See also: Siddha yoga , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Kriya Yoga

The yoga of cleansing or purification.

(See also: Kriya Yoga , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

acu-yoga: Combination of self-applied acupressure and a group of yogic postures and stretches. It activates the points and energy pathways of acupuncture.

(See also: Acu-yoga , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

YOGA

(Sanskrit for "union," related to our "yoke.") Conquering the self is known as Yoga, the esoteric Eastern teaching of human perfection that lies behind all occult wisdom. It is a thread that binds the individual to the "Supreme Reality" (or, as Watts would say, "The Supreme Identity"). In the Upanishads is written:

"By Vayu, the Inner Controller, as by a thread, O Gautama, are  this world, the other world, and all beings held together.

"Quite so... Now describe the Inner Controller.

"He who inhabits the earth, yet is within the earth, whom the earth does  not know, whose body the earth is, and who controls the earth from within --  he is your Self, the Inner Controller, The Immortal."

A teacher of Yoga is called a guru and a student is called a chela, a practitioner of Yoga is called a Yogi or Yogin. Yoga reveals the beginning yogi's weaknesses and also what transcendent strengths are available to him. There are 12 essential types of Yoga, here presented in arbitrary order:

Hatha-Yoga (The Breath: physical vitality). Bhakti-Yoga (Loving: The way of Devotion of Religion). Shakti-Yoga (Energy: The way of nature). Mantra-Yoga (Sound: Power through sound vibrations). Laya-Yoga (The Will: Mental powers). Yantra-Yoga (Formation: Powers through the use of geometric forms). Dhyana-Yoga (Thinking: Way of thought). Raja-Yoga (Methodology: Power to discriminate and develop consciousness). Jnana-Yoga (Knowledge: Intellectual power). Kundalini-Yoga (Kundalini energy: Development of psychic nerve energy). Samadhi-Yoga (The Self: The way of ecstasy). Karma-Yoga (Action: The way of right action). To these we must also add the esoteric Martya Yoga (willed death).

(See also: YOGA , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

Power Yoga (Ashtanga): Astanga yoga or a variation thereof. Power Yoga includes ujjayi and a series of postures designed to effect therapeutic bodily alignment and to release stress, tightness, and toxins from the body-mind.

(See also: Power Yoga , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Karma -

(1) any activity performed in the course of material existence.

(2) pious activities leading to material gain in this world or in the heavenly planets after death.

(3) fate; former acts leading to inevitable results.

(See also: Karma , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

jnana yoga: (Sanskrit) "Union of knowledge."

Describes the esoteric spiritual practices of the fully enlightened being, or jnani. An alternative meaning, popularized by Swami Vivekananda, is the quest for cognition through intellectual religious study, as one of four alternate paths to truth, the other three being bhakti yoga, karma yoga and raja yoga.

See: jnana, yoga.

(See also: Jnana yoga , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)