When I first found myself in a yoga class figuring out how to actually do Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) was a challenge enough,… let alone trying to learn the ancient language of Sanskrit. (the language of yoga)
To say I found Sanskrit intimidating is to put it mildly. All I knew is that all the names of the poses sounded alike since the name of each pose ends in the word asana. (asana means pose, so Trikonasana is Triko which means Triangle followed by asana which means pose.) All I have to say is Yogi rappers have a huge advantage, but I digress….
After deciding I wanted to become a yoga teacher I was a little distraught when I learned I was going to have to learn this ancient language of rhymes whether I liked it or not.
I must admit, at first I didn’t really see the point, however, as a teacher it has become essential for me to have a good grasp on both the Sanskrit names of the poses and basic Sanskrit terminology.
Click below for a few great online resources to acquaint yourself with the Sanskrit names of poses, and commonly used yoga terms from the Sanskrit language.
I found these websites extremely helpful for you “new to Sanskrit” yogis!
This one www.tilakpyle.com is great because it has audio. The guy recorded his voice pronouncing the names of the poses in Sanskrit. If you click on the name of the pose it takes you to a page with photos of the pose and a description.
Also try www.YogaJournal.com for pronunciation and great photos and descriptions as well!
Also check out www.YogaDancer.com which gives you the all of the poses (even ones I’ve never heard of! ) and when you click on the pose it shows you all the different variations as well,…very cool!
Also for the meanings of a lot of commonly used Sanskrit terms check out Yoga Glossary.
Good Luck on your yoga journey!
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