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There is nuanced conversation about when and where the use of Sanskrit is appropriate, and many yogis decide to learn the ancient language in order to better honor yoga’s roots. Beyond knowing the Sanskrit names for yoga poses, learning the ancient and sacred language can lead to deeper understanding of the spiritual concepts that are not easily conveyed in English. For example, Sanskrit has multiple words to express love, from
rati, or passionate love, to
prema, pure love.
In addition to CDs and books, there’s now an app that can help you better grasp Sanskrit. The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (IRCC) created Little Guru, which gamifies Sanskrit to make it easier to learn. The app’s developers say that they “believe that learning Sanskrit is a path to the discovery of Indian culture and heritage. We teach different levels of Sanskrit, starting from alphabets to speaking to reading to writing text, which means you get to learn from Sans
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It has been said that learning a new language is like a spiritual journey in which we discover a new culture. Studying the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit has an added benefit it can assist you in going deeper in your yoga practice to reveal a greater understanding of the poses you’re perfecting.
Whether you’ve just started taking yoga classes or are already an experienced yogi, there’s plenty to discover about this mystical language. Here, we’ve broken down 40 common Sanskrit words and their meanings, so you can broaden your mind and confidently take to your mat.