Diary of a Happy Yogi: Yoga Lingo

Posted: March 19, 2015 at 4:07 pm, Last Updated: July 29, 2016 at 7:43 am

By Ashley Whimpey

Despite any significant amount of hours spent in a yoga class, even the most practiced individuals can be halted right in the middle of their Sun Salutation at some unfamiliar jargon getting thrown around. Hopefully this revelation allows for a little less time spent deciphering the language and more time spent deciphering how your teacher gets their toes all the way up there.

Yogi: a male yoga practitioner.

Yogini: a female yoga practitioner. Obviously this means the title of this running log should be changed, since I am a female and thus would be a yogini, not a yogi. Nonetheless, yogi works all the same and is typically interchangeable.

Yoga Sutra: a guide book of 195 statements (which are rather philosophical). The statements outline 8 “limbs” of yoga, the third of which is known as Asana.

Asana: physical shapes and poses of yoga.

Om: a sound/vibration meant to be like the “sound of the universe” because it represents the way the universe is always moving. The leaves rustling, the sun rising or setting—om is a sound of movement continuous in the world around us.

Namaste: “The light in me honors the light in you.” Namaste is an acknowledgement of “thank you” from one soul to another.

Savasana: the best pose in the history of yoga. It’s also known as Corpse Pose, or the final resting. Not meant to be morbid, Savasana is the closing posture of a yoga class where yogis and yoginis alike allow their bodies to be supported by the Earth as they reflect on their class, hearts, souls, and lives for a few brief moments while laying supine (face up) on their mat.

Gaim, Lulu, Teeva, WerkShop, YogiToes, HardTail: all of these are yoga brands. Even YogiToes, which are actually just socks with little grippies to prevent sliding all over a sweaty mat. From mats, to bags, to ridiculously expensive leggings, these are just a few of the most commonly referenced yoga brands dominating the markets right now.

The final word I’d like to define here (especially for any unfamiliar yoga goers) is the word flexibility. Claiming not having enough flexibility to join in a yoga class is ludacris. It’s the same as explaining you cannot take tennis lessons because you don’t already play tennis. All humans have flexibility. Albeit, some possess a seemingly inhuman amount of it, but it’s in everyone all the same. The stretching of any inch of muscle or the soul, is flexibility.Hopefully the demystification of these words prove useful as you venture on to another level of yoga-dom. Namaste.

Read more at:

https://www.verywell.com/corpse-pose-savasana-3567112

http://www.everythingyoga.com/brands.htm

http://www.yogajournal.com/article/beginners/yoga-questions-answered/

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