Definition: In Sanskrit, ‘prāṇa’ means breath, and ‘āyāma’ means length, expansion, extension, and “refining”. In a deeper sense, expansion of individual energy into cosmic energy is also called prāṇāyāma. Card Symbology:Prana connects all of life in a web of subtle energy exchange. What we breathe in the trees breathe out. What we breathe out the […]
Pranayama – Breath Control – Card Read More »
Definition: From Sanskrit ‘kóśa’, meaning sheath, vessel, container, layer. Card Symbology: Each triangle represents a different sheath, with the colours moving along the spectrum from longest to the shortest wave-length. The model (Joe Liz) is a living example of how a comfortable relationship with our physical body can also heal us on the emotional level.
Koshas – Sheaths – Card Read More »
Japa is derived from the root ‘jap’, meaning “to utter in a low voice, repeat internally, mutter”. It can be further defined as ‘ja’ “to destroy birth, death, and reincarnation” and ‘pa’ meaning “to destroy one’s sins.” Card Symbology:The sacred symbols spiralling out of the mouth are names of the Divine. According to yoga and
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‘Ishvara’ is a Sanskrit word that can be translated to mean supreme, or personal, God. ‘Pranidhana’ means to dedicate, devote, or surrender. Card Symbology: The feminine and the masculine qualities live within us all and seek integration, which is found by turning towards the Source. To surrender means to reveal our naked form and devotedly
Ishvara Pranidhana – Devotion & Surrender – Card Read More »
Definition: The Sanskrit word guru means ‘weighty, grave’ (compared with Latin gravis ), hence ‘elder, teacher’, or ‘one who is heavy with knowledge’. It can refer to the ‘Spiritual Master’, one who has attained perfection in yoga. Another etymology explains the syllables gu as ‘darkness’ and ru as ‘destroyer’, thus meaning “one who destroys/dispels darkness”.
Guru – Teacher – Card Read More »
Definition: Guna appears in many ancient and medieval era Indian texts. In Samkyha philosophy it means quality, peculiarity, tendency, attribute, property, species Card Symbology: The black triangle is filled with tar, representing the denseness and inertia of tamas, as well as the stickiness in which things become trapped. The blue triangle represents sattva, symbolizing space,
Gunas – Modes of Nature – Card Read More »
Definition: In Sanskrit, ‘dhyana’ means contemplation, reflection, and profound, abstract meditation. The root word is ‘dhi’, referring to imaginative vision. Card Symbology: The light without is a reflection of the light within. When we close our eyes we can merge with the light of awareness, and it may feel that our bodies are floating or
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Dharana is composed of two Sanskrit roots: dha, meaning ‘holding’ or ‘maintaining’ and ana meaning ‘something else’. It is also derived from the verbal root dhar which means ‘to bind together’ or ‘to make stable’. Card Symbology: In the yogic mind-training, concentration moves from the periphery towards the centre and then into absorption. One-pointedness is
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Definition: This word stems from two Sanskrit roots: ‘Brahman’, meaning God or Ultimate Reality in the Vedas, and ‘carya’, which means occupation with, engaging, behaviour, to follow, or going after. Card Symbology: The swan is a mythical symbol of discernment, possessing the ability to separate milk from water, or the real from the unreal. The
Brahmacharya – Divine Conduct – Card Read More »
Definition: Avidyā is a compound of ‘a’ and ‘vidya’. The word vidya is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘Vid’, which means “to know, to perceive, to see, to understand”. Therefore, avidya means to “not know, not perceive, not understand”. Card Symbology:Ignorance is like looking at the world through shaded lenses – it colours everything we
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