Sanskrit

what is Sanskrit?

Sanskrit is the sacred language of India and literally translated Sanskrit means “perfectly constructed speech”.  Sanskrit is the language in which mantras and relevant sacred scripts are written and spoken.  It is also the language of the true names of the asanas (postures), the third stage of yoga.

- Mandukya Upanishad

The Sanskrit symbol for OM, the primordial syllable exemplifying the vibrational power of sound.

OM does not necessarily mean anything.  It is merely the sound of the Sanskrit vowels vocalized.  It is the primordial sound in Sanskrit.  It brings the mind to a calm, primed place, from which a single pointed focus through meditation and asana practices is brought about.  Reciting OM alone is also chanting, but when added to other Sanskrit words or sacred names, which resound in vibrations throughout the body, the possibilities become limitless.  Chanting Sanskrit is yet another tool to reach enlightenment

- Living yoga

A Surya Namaskar sequence offers the perfect balance between strength and flexibility, contraction and expansion, movement and stillness as the body goes from upside down to right side up, moving forward and back and from side to side. Yoga’s salute to the sun awakens and warms the whole body, preparing it for asana practice…the body moves through it s entire range of motion, linking the poses together on the wave of the breath. 

- Yoga Journal