What’s Sanskrit?
Sanskrit is an ancient classical language (like Latin) and is not a mother tongue from a single country. It originates from South Asia thousands of years ago. The first written examples are from around 1500 and 1200 BCE.
It was used to document many important and sacred religious, historical and philosophical teachings. There are several versions of Sanskrit. The Yogic version has around 50 sounds, and they relate to the Chakras, which are represented by the lotus flower. When the sounds are made they resonate with the Chakras and energy within the body.
Many important Yogic teaching have been written in Sanskrit including Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, The Upanishads, The Bhagavad Gita, The Dhammapada, Hatha Yoga Pradipika and many more!
Sanskrit is used for all the traditional names of the Yoga postures, the actual word Yoga, comes from the word ‘Yuj’ in Sanskrit, meaning to join, yoke or coming together. Hence working with the body, mind and breath in Yoga.
Below are some common Sanskirt words and their meanings:
Namaste - thank you/I bow to you
Shavasana - corpse pose/laying still
Tadasana - mountin pose/stand upright
Bandha - lock/bind/seal
Ananda - bliss
Asana - pose
Chitta - mind
Dhyana - meditation
Drishti - view/sight/point of focus
Prana - life force
Pranayama - breathing/life force
Guru - a spiritual teacher
Mudra - seal - hand gesture or bodily movement used to affect the flow of prana
Om - universal sound
Chandra - the Moon
Surya - the Sun
Karma – the law of cause and effect
Mandala - circular geometric designs
Mantra – sacred Sanskrit sound or phrase used in meditation
Nadi – a channel of prana or subtle energy in the body
Ujjayi – ocean sounding or victorious breath
Surya/Chandra Namaskar – Sun/Moon salutations are a sequence of postures and movements that flow from one to the next
Sutra – string/thread, refers to a short rule
