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N
nabhipedasana - the upward ankle-twist posture
nada - an internal sound
nadi - a channel within the subtle body
nadi-shodhana - the purification of the nadis
naga - the vital air that causes burping
naishkaramya karma - actionless action
nakra - a crocodile
namah - a salute
nara - a man
Narasimha - the man-lion, fourth incarnation of Vishnu
Narayana - the supporter of life - Vishnu
Nataraja - Lord of the dancers, a name of Shiva
natarajasana - the Lord of the Dance posture
nauli - an abdominal exercise (lauliki)
nava - a boat
navasana - the boat posture
neti - not so
neti-yoga - cleansing of the nostrils
niddhyasana - meditation and contemplation
nilimpa - a pictured one: a god
niralamba - unsupported
niralamba sarvangasana - the balancing shoulderstand
posture
niranjana - pure, free from falsehood
nirlipta - unstainedness
nirodha - control or restraint
nirvana - freedom of the personal soul from the physical
world
nirvichara - non-investigational meditation
nirvitarka - non-inspectional meditation
niyama - self-purification through discipline
nyaya - one of the schools of Indian philosophy
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O
ojas - concentrated psychic power
omkarasana - the OM posture
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P
pada - part of a book, the foot
padahastasana - the balancing forward bend posture
padangushtha - the big toe
padasana - the foot above posture
padma - a lotus
Padmanabha - a name of Vishnu
padmasana - the lotus posture
palmyrasana - the palm tree posture
para - beyond, higher
paramatma - the supreme spirit
parangmukhi - facing inwards
Parashurama - sixth incarnation of Vishnu
parigha - a bolt for shutting a gate
parighasana - the locked gate posture
parigraha - hoarding
paripurna - complete, whole
parivartana - revolving
parivrajaka - wanderer
parivritta parshvakonasana - the revolved lateral angle
posture
parivritta paschimottanasana - the twisting back-stretching
posture
parivritta sirsasana - the twisting head-knee posture
parivritta trikonasana - the revolved triangle posture
parshva - the side
parshva dhanurasana - the sideways bow posture
parshva halasana - the lateral plough posture
parshva sarvangasana - the sideways shoulderstand posture
parshva sirsasana - the headstand posture
parshvakakasana - the sideways crow posture
parvatasana - the mountain posture
paryanka - a bed
pasasana - the noose posture
pasha - a trap, noose
pashchima - west, the back of the body
pashchimottoanasana - the back-stretching posture
Patanjali - author of the Yoga Sutras
pavanmuktasana - the knee squeeze posture
pida - pain
pincha - the chin, feather
pinda - an embryo
pingala - the channel on the right of the spine
pliha - the spleen
Prahlada - a devotee of Vishnu
Prajapati - Lord of created beings
prajna - wisdom
prakasha - shining, clear
prakriti - eternal nature
pramada - indifference
pramana - authority, an ideal
prana - breath, energy, life
pranava - another name for aum
prana-vayu - a vital air that moves in the chest
pranayama - control of the breath
pranidhana - dedication
prasarita - stretched out
prasarita padottanasana - the spread legs posture
prashvasa - expiration
pratiloma - going against the grain
pratyahara - control of the senses
pratyaksha - direct evidence
punarjanman - rebirth
punya - virtue, merit, good
purakha - inhalation
purnata - perfection
purusha - the spirit or soul
purvottana - the front of the body
purvottanasana - the front-stretching posture
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R
raga - anger, passion
raja - a ruler, king
raja-yoga - the yoga of mastery over the mind
rajas - mobility
Rakini - the goddess in svadhishthana
Rama - the seventh incarnation of Vishnu
rambha - plantain
Ravana - a demon king from Lanka who abducted the wife
of Rama
rechaka - outbreathing
retus - semen
ru - light
Rudra - a form of Shiva
rupa - a form or body
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S
Sadashiva - a form of Shiva
sadhaka - an aspirant, seeker
sadhana - practice, a quest
sah - he, that
sahaja - the karma to which one is born
sahasrara - the thousand-petalled lotus within the cerebral
cavity
sakshatkara - the spirit
sakthi chalini - the nerve-power posture
salabhasana - the locust posture
salamba - supported
salamba sarvangasana - the supported shoulderstand posture
sama - equal, upright
samakonasana - the sideways leg-splits posture
sama-sthiti - standing still
sama-vritti - pranayama where inhalation, exhalation
and suspension of breath are of same length
samadhi - state where the aspirant is one with the object
of his meditation
samana - one of the vital airs, which aids digestion
samasthiti - the upright-sitting posture
sambhava - birth
samkatasana - the dangerous posture
samkhya - one of the schools of Indian philosophy
samkhya yoga - the yoga of science
samshaya - doubt
samskaras - memories
samyama - dharana, dhyana and samadhi taken together
sannyasi - one who has renounced the world
sanjivani - a life-restoring elixir or herb
sansara - the wheel of reincarnation
santosha - contentment
sara - essence
Sarasvati - goddess of speech and learning
sarva - whole
sarvanga - the whole body
sarvangasana - the shoulderstand posture
sat - reality
sat chit ananda - bliss consciousness
Sati - mother of Kartikeya and Ganapati
sattva - orderliness, the quality of goodness in everything
natural
satya - honesty
savasana - the corpse posture
savichara - investigational meditation
savitarka - inspectional meditation
sayanasana - the repose posture
setu - a bridge
setu bandhasana - the bridge posture
shabda - sound, the creative principle
Shakini - the goddess in vishuddha
shakti - female creative power, goddess
shaktichalani - one of the mudras, involves contracting
the rectum
shalabha - a locust
shalabhasana - the locust posture
shama - calming the mind
shambhavi - related to Shiva
shambhavi mudra - gazing between ones eyes
Shambhu - a name of Shiva
shan - six
Shanmukha - with six mouths, a name of Kartikeya
shantih - peace
sharira - a body
shaucha - mental and bodily cleanliness
shava - a corpse
shavasana - the corpse posture
shayana - a bed
shesha - the serpent of eternity, having one thousand
heads
shirsha - the head
shirshasana - the head-stand posture
shishya - the pupil of a guru
Shita - cold
Shiva - the destroyer
shmrti - memory
shodana - purification
shoka - anguish
shraddha - faith and trust
shravana - the act of listening to the doctrines
shrivatsa - the curl on Vishnu's breast
shuddha - clean, pure
shvana - a dog
shvasa - inspiration
svasa-prashvasa - heaving and sighing
siddha - a prophet or adept
siddhasana - the adept's posture
siddhi - a psychic (or occult) power
simha - a lion
simhasana - the lion posture
sirsangusthasana - the deep lunge posture
sirsasana - the headstand posture
Sita - the wife of Rama
Skanda - a name of Kartikeya, god of war
sodhana - purification
steya - robbery
sthirata - steadiness
sthiti - stability
sthula-sharira - the dense body
styana - sloth
sudras - the caste of servants and labourers
sukha - happiness
sukhasana - the easy posture
sukshma-sharira - the astral body
sumanasya - benevolence
supta - sleeping
supta baddha padmasana - the supine bound lotus posture
supta janu sirsasana - the supine head-knee posture
supta padangusthasana - the supine big toe posture
supta paschimottanasana - the supine back-stretching
posture
supta vajrasana - the supine thunderbolt posture
surya - the sun
surya namaskar - the homage to the sun posture
sushumna - the spinal cord
sushupti-avastha - the state of the mind in dreamless
sleep
sutra - a thread
sva - vital force, soul
svadhyaya - education through the study of the divine
texts
svapnavastha - the state of the mind in a dream
svarga - heaven
svarupa - one's true nature
svasamvedana - the understanding of oneself
svastikasana - the prosperous posture
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tada - a mountain
tamas - darkness, inertia, ignorance
tan - to stretch
tandava - violent dance of Shiva
tanmatras - the five potentials or senses
tantras - treatises on ritual, meditation, discipline,
etc.
tap - to burn, shine, suffer
tapas - austerity, purification
tara - crossing over
Taraka - a demon slain by Kartikeya
tat - that
tattva - an element, the twenty-four categories of thatness
tejas - radiant energy, majesty
tirieng - horizontal
tittibha - a firefly
tittibhasana - the firefly posture
tola - a balance
tolangulasana - the balance posture
tolasana - the scales posture
trataka - an exercise to clear the vision
tri - three
trikona - a triangle
trikonasana - the triangle posture
trishna - thirst, desire
Trivikrama - fifth incarnation of Vishnu, who filled
the earth, heaven and hell with his three steps (krama)
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U
ubhaya - both
ubhaya padangusthasana - the buttocks balance posture
udana - the vital air controlling the intake of food
and air
uddiyana - a fetter or binding involving the raising
of the diaphragm
ugra - powerful, noble
ugrasana - the posterior stretch posture
ullola - a large wave
Uma - Shiva's wife, Parvati
unmani - samadhi
Upanishads - the philosophical parts of the Vedas. 'upa'
(near) 'ni' (down) sad (to sit) - the act of sitting
down by one's Guru to receive instruction.
upavishtha - seated
upeksha - disregard
urdhra prasarita ekapadasana - balancing forward posture
urdhva - raised
urdhva hastattanasana - the up-stretched arms posture
urdhva-mukha - face upwards
urdhva-retus - a celibate
ushtra - a camel
ushtrasana - the camel posture
utkata - fierce
utkatasana - the the hunkering posture
uttana - an intense stretch
utthita - stretched
utthita eka pada sirsasana - the balancing leg-behind-head
posture
utthita kurmasana - the balancing tortoise posture
utthita lingamasana - the balancing on the phallus posture
utthita padangusthasana - the balancing big toe posture
utthita parsvakonasana - the stretched lateral angle
posture
utthita paschimottanasana - the balancing back-stretching
posture
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V
vacha - speech
vaikuntha - Vishnu
vairagya - uncolouredness, not desiring physical objects
vaisesika - one of the schools of Indian philosophy
vaisyas - the caste of merchants and professionals
vajra - one of the channels in the spine, a thunderbolt,
diamond
vajrasana - the thunderbolt posture
vajroli - the thunderbolt contraction
vakra - bent
vakrasana - the curved posture
valakhilya - a class of tiny entities, about the size
of a thumb
vama - the left side
vamadevasana - Vamadeva's posture
Vamana - Vishnu's fifth incarnation
vamaprakasha - lovely shiningness
vasana - longing
Vasnata - the deity of Spring
vasti - internal cleansing
Vasuki - a name of Shesha
vatayana - a horse
vatayanasana - the horseface posture
vayus - the vital airs
veda - the sacred scriptures of the Hindus
vedana - feelings
vedanta - one of the schools of Indian philosophy
vedas - the sacred scriptures of the Hindus
vibhuti - divine power
vichara - continued thought
vidya - knowledge, science
vijnana - comprehension
vikalpa - imagination, fancy
vikshepa - confusion
vikshipta - mental aggitation
viloma - against the natural order of things
vipakas - the distressing results of karmas
viparita - reversed, inverted
viparitakarani - the upside-down posture
viparyaya - a mistaken view
vira - brave, a hero
virabhadrasana - the arrow posture
Virancha - name of Brahma
virasana - the hero posture
Virochana - a demon prince
virya - vitality, enthusiasm
vishama-vritti - uneven or strained movement whilst
breathing
vishesha - particular
Vishnu - the preserver of life
vishudda - pure
vitarka - discernment
viveka - discrimination
vriksha - a tree
vrikshasana - the tree posture
vrishchika - a scorpion
vrishchikasana - the scorpion posture
vrit - to turn
vritti - a vortex, an idea, behaviour
vyadhi - illness
vyana - one of the vital airs, circulates energy all
over the body
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Y
yajna - a sacrifice
Yama - the god of death
yamas - the five moral commandments
yantra - a design used in meditation
yastikasana - the stick posture
yoga - union, from 'yuj' - to join
yogadandasana - the yogin's staff posture
yogasana - the anchor posture
yoga-nidra - the sleep of yoga, where the body is resting
but the mind is awake
yogi/yogin - one who practices yoga
yoni - vagina, womb, or source
yuga - an age
yuj - to yoke, join, concentrate on
yukta - joined with, one who has attained the communion
with the supreme spirit
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