Eight Limbs

• Yama: universal morality
• Niyama: personal sensitivity
• Asanas: body postures
• Pranayama: breathing exercises
• Pratyahara: control of the senses
• Dharana: concentration and inner awareness
• Dhyana: meditation
• Samadhi: spiritual or transcendent

Spiritual Terms:

• Moksha: Hinduism freedom from the endless cycle of transmigration into a state of bliss
• Brahman: the one supreme universal spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe
• Om: the sound and symbol for the seventh chakra (crown); represents open mindedness and transcendence

Religious Affiliations:

• Hinduism: a diverse body of religion, philosophy, and cultural practice native to and predominant in India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being of many forms and natures by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly evils
• Jainism: an Indian religion that prescribes a path of nonviolence toward all human beings
• Buddhism: a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Buddha

Practitioners:

• Yogi: a yoga practitioner
• Guru: yogi with a great deal of knowledge, wisdom, and authority