Meditative posturesMeditative postures or meditation seats are the body positions or asanas, usually sitting but also sometimes standing or reclining, used to facilitate meditation. Best known in the Buddhist and Hindu traditions are the lotus and kneeling positions; other options include sitting on a chair, with the spine upright. Meditation is sometimes practiced while walking, such as kinhin, doing simple repetitive tasks, as in Zen samu, or work which encourages mindfulness.
Yoga as exerciseYoga as exercise is a physical activity consisting mainly of postures, often connected by flowing sequences, sometimes accompanied by breathing exercises, and frequently ending with relaxation lying down or meditation. Yoga in this form has become familiar across the world, especially in the US and Europe. It is derived from medieval Haṭha yoga, which made use of similar postures, but it is generally simply called "yoga". Academics have given yoga as exercise a variety of names, including modern postural yoga and transnational anglophone yoga.
ShauchaShaucha (शौच) literally means purity, cleanliness and clearness. It refers to purity of mind, speech and body. Shaucha is one of the niyamas of Yoga. It is discussed in many ancient Indian texts such as the Mahabharata and Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. It is a virtue in Hinduism and Jainism. In Hinduism purity is a part of worship, an attitude or purity of mind an important quality for salvation. Purity is a mind pure and free of evil thoughts and behaviors. Shaucha includes outer purity of body as well as inner purity of mind.
Yoga Sutras of PatanjaliThe Yoga Sutras of Patañjali is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras (according to Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sutras (according to others, including BKS Iyengar). The Yoga Sutras was compiled in the early centuries CE, by the sage Patanjali in India who synthesized and organized knowledge about yoga from much older traditions. The Yoga Sutras is best known for its reference to ashtanga, eight elements of practice culminating in samadhi.
AsanaAn āsana (Sanskrit: आसन) is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose, and later extended in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise, to any type of position, adding reclining, standing, inverted, twisting, and balancing poses. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali define "asana" as "[a position that] is steady and comfortable". Patanjali mentions the ability to sit for extended periods as one of the eight limbs of his system. Asanas are also called yoga poses or yoga postures in English.
Hatha Yoga PradipikaThe Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā (, हठयोगप्रदीपिका or Light on Hatha Yoga) is a classic fifteenth-century Sanskrit manual on haṭha yoga, written by Svātmārāma, who connects the teaching's lineage to Matsyendranath of the Nathas. It is among the most influential surviving texts on haṭha yoga, being one of the three classic texts alongside the Gheranda Samhita and the Shiva Samhita. More recently, eight works of early hatha yoga that may have contributed to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika have been identified.
Dhyana in HinduismDhyāna (Sanskrit: ध्यान) in Hinduism means contemplation and meditation. Dhyana is taken up in Yoga practices, and is a means to samadhi and self-knowledge. The various concepts of dhyana and its practice originated in the Sramanic movement of ancient India, which started before the 6th century BCE (pre-Buddha, pre-Mahavira), and the practice has been influential within the diverse traditions of Hinduism. It is, in Hinduism, a part of a self-directed awareness and unifying Yoga process by which the yogi realizes Self (Atman, soul), one's relationship with other living beings, and Ultimate Reality.
Iyengar YogaIyengar Yoga, named after and developed by B. K. S. Iyengar, and described in his bestselling 1966 book Light on Yoga, is a form of yoga as exercise that has an emphasis on detail, precision and alignment in the performance of yoga postures (asanas). The style often makes use of props, such as belts, blocks, and blankets, as aids in performing the asanas. The props enable beginning students, the elderly, or those with physical limitations to perform the asanas correctly, minimising the risk of injury or strain.
PranayamaPrānāyāma (Sanskrit: प्राणायाम) is the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In Sanskrit, prāṇa means "vital life force", and yāma means to gain control. In yoga, breath is associated with prāṇa, thus, pranayama is a means to elevate the prāṇa ṣakti, or life energies. Prānāyāma is described in Hindu texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Later in Hatha yoga texts, it meant the complete suspension of breathing. Prāṇāyāma (Devanagari: प्राणायाम ) is a Sanskrit compound.
Lotus positionLotus position or Padmasana (पद्मासन) is a cross-legged sitting meditation pose from ancient India, in which each foot is placed on the opposite thigh. It is an ancient asana in yoga, predating hatha yoga, and is widely used for meditation in Hindu, Tantra, Jain, and Buddhist traditions. Variations include easy pose (Sukhasana), half lotus, bound lotus, and psychic union pose. Advanced variations of several other asanas including yoga headstand have the legs in lotus or half lotus.
