Ahimsa: Non-harming or non-violence. An important moral discipline.

Ananda: Bliss.

Asana: Physical posture.

Ayurveda: Ancient Indian traditional systems of medicine.

Bandha: Internal lock. There are several types, the most common ones are mula bandha (root lock), uddiyana bandha (abdominal lock) and jalandhara bandha (chin lock).

Chakra: "Wheel". Often refers to the energy centres.

Dhyana: Meditation.The seventh limb of Patanjali's eight-limbed yoga.

Drishti: Yogic gazing, such as at the tip of the nose or the spot between the eyebrows.

Gayatri-mantra: A famous Vedic mantra recited particularly at sunrise.

Guru: A spiritual teacher.

Karma Yoga: "Discipline of action", a selfless service unto humanity, without any attachment or egoism.

Kriya: "Deed, operation, effort", a technique or practice within a yoga discipline, or more generally any practice with the goal of attaining higher knowledge.

Mantra: A sacred sound or phrase, that has a transformative effect on the mind of the individual reciting it.

Mudra: A seal or sealing posture made with the hands or fingers or whole body.

Nadi-shodhana: Alternate nostril breathing or balanced breathing - balances the energy flow in the channels and purifies the energy channels (nadi) by balancing the flow of breath through the right and left nostrils.

Namaskar: "Salutations" in Sanskrit. Can be used as a greeting.

Namaste: "The light in me honours the light in you" in Sanskrit. Traditionally said as a greeting and said at the end of a yoga practice.

Om: The original mantra symbolizing the ultimate Reality, which is prefixed to many mantric utterances.

Patanjali: Compiler of the Yoga Sutra (the most authoritative book on yoga), who lived c. 150 C.E.

Prana: A Sanskrit word meaning 'breath' and is understood as the vital, life-sustaining force of living beings and the vital energy in all natural processes of the universe. It is called Qi in Chinese and Ki in Japanese.

Pranayama: Control of breath. It is the fourth part of the eight-fold Yoga described in the Yogasutra of Patanjali.

Satsanga: "Company of Truth", to be in the company of saints, sages, gurus and yogis.

Shodhana: Cleansing or purification.