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Guru Meaning: What a Guru Is in Yoga and Where the Word Comes From

A guru (Sanskrit: गुरु) is a teacher, and in Indian traditions a spiritual teacher who guides a student through a practice over many years. The word literally means "heavy" or "weighty": someone heavy with knowledge, whose words carry weight. In Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism...

Posted on 28 Jan 2019

Yoga Lingo

Scapula and Yoga: Shoulder Blade Anatomy, Movements and Stability Poses

The scapula, or shoulder blade, is the flat triangular bone on the back of the ribcage that the arm hangs from. It is held to the trunk almost only by muscles, so it can glide up, down, apart, together and rotate. In yoga, a healthy shoulder needs both: the scapula has to move freely when you...

Posted on 23 Jan 2019

Essential Yoga Body Parts

Nadi: What the Nadis Are and the Three Main Channels

A nadi (Sanskrit: नाडी, nāḍī) is a channel in the subtle body of yoga, the pathway prana, the breath or life force, is said to travel along. The Sanskrit word means "tube", "pipe" or "channel". Hatha yoga texts describe thousands of nadis and name three as the most important: ida on...

Posted on 21 Jan 2019

Yoga Lingo

Yoga Meaning in Sanskrit: Yuj, Union and the Classic Definitions

Yoga (Sanskrit: योग) comes from the root yuj, which means "to yoke" or "to join". The word is usually translated as "union", but the classic texts define it in different ways: Patanjali calls yoga the stilling of the mind, and the Bhagavad Gita calls it evenness of mind and skill in...

Posted on 21 Jan 2019

Yoga Lingo

Core and Yoga: Core Muscles and the Best Yoga Poses for Core Strength

Your core is the group of muscles that wraps the trunk between the ribs and the pelvis: the abdominal wall, the deep back muscles, the diaphragm on top and the pelvic floor underneath. In yoga its main job is to hold the spine and pelvis steady while the arms and legs move. You work it in poses...

Posted on 18 Jan 2019

Essential Yoga Body Parts