Yoga Sanskrit Terms: A Glossary of Yoga Words

Ahimsa (Non-Harming): Meaning, Examples and How to Practise It

Ahimsa (Sanskrit: अहिंसा) means "non-harming" or "non-violence": not causing harm to any living being in action, word or thought. It is the first of the five yamas, the ethical restraints that open Patanjali's eight-limbed path in the Yoga Sutras, and it is the central vow of...

Posted on 16 Dec 2022

Yoga Sanskrit terms

Granthi: The Three Knots in Yoga Explained

Granthi (Sanskrit: ग्रन्थि) means "knot". In Hatha and Tantric yoga it names three knots in the subtle body, Brahma granthi, Vishnu granthi and Rudra granthi, that are said to block prana on its way up the central channel. The practices of Hatha yoga, above all the bandhas, breath...

Posted on 15 Apr 2020

Yoga Sanskrit terms

Goraksha (Gorakhnath): The Yogi Behind Hatha Yoga

Goraksha (Sanskrit: Gorakṣa, also Gorakshanatha, or Gorakhnath in Hindi) was a medieval Indian yogi, remembered as the disciple of Matsyendranath and the founder of the Nath order of yogis. Hatha yoga texts name him among its first teachers, and several early works on hatha yoga carry his...

Posted on 15 Apr 2020

Yoga Sanskrit terms

Duhkha (Dukkha): Meaning of Suffering in Buddhism and Yoga

Duhkha (Sanskrit: दुःख, duḥkha; Pali: dukkha) means suffering, pain or unsatisfactoriness. In Buddhism it is the First Noble Truth: life as we usually live it never fully satisfies, because everything we hold on to changes. The same word opens the philosophy of yoga, where Patanjali's...

Posted on 15 Apr 2020

Yoga Sanskrit terms

Atman: Meaning of the True Self in Yoga and Hinduism

Atman (Sanskrit: आत्मन्, ātman) means "self". In Hindu philosophy it is the true self: the awareness in you that stays the same while your body, thoughts and moods change. The Upanishads teach that this inner self is one with Brahman, the ground of everything that exists. How close...

Posted on 04 Feb 2020

Yoga Sanskrit terms