Bikram Teacher Training Fall 2010

A Yogini's Journey to Become a Bikram Yoga Teacher...

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Dialogue Dissection.

Maybe I am a little slow and lack an attention to detail... But I just realized something while studying the Sanskrit names. Something that has made learning the Sanskrit names of each pose much easier (even though I am told we don't need to know them)...

Here is what I have just realized:
  • Ardha means "half."
  • Dandayamana means "standing."
  • Janushirasana means "head to knee."
  • Hasthasana means "hands to feet."
  • Bibhaktapada means "separate leg."
  • Paschimotthanasana means "stretching."
This realization helped me finally remember which pose is "Standing Separate Leg Stretching" pose and which is "Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee" pose.

All I can say to myself is "duh." Took me long enough to realize this.

9 comments:

  1. LOL. Now break it down again. What's "pada"? What's "hasta"? What's "bibhakta" and why the HELL is it spelled that way?!

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  2. THAT is stuff I WILL figure out. I am thinking that "pada" means feet or leg. Thinkings "hastha" means "hands. "Bibhakta" must mean "separate."

    Do you know? Am I even close?

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  3. Yep, you've got it. :) Pada is feet, hasta is hands, as in "hands to feet pose" = padahastasana. If you ever see the full list of 84 asanas with Sanskrit (plus look at other random yoga posture names), the patterns are a lot more obvious. Example, the name for split-arm balancing stick starts with "bibhaktahasta," = separate hand. Bingo...

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  4. YAY! I am kinda getting it!

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  5. After a while it'll be... well... like a second language... :-P Hehe.

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  6. well done girl, all i can say is "duh" too, LOL! there are two girls from my studio going to TT in fall and they still don´t get the standing separate head to knee and the standing separate stretching in sanskrit....mabye coz they are sooo long...although i tried to explain them the logic in it...(i´m a linguist and remembered the sanskrit names like 3 weeks into my practice so i´m not considered "normal" in this).
    anyway, do you have a favorite sounding one? i actually love the names in sanskrit, they are music to my ears, the way how they sound always remind me of something, like my fave: Tuladandasana. TuuulaDANDA-sana...Go on, say it out loud! Doesn´t it sound like a soft toy? like a winnie the poo? something you hold close at night when you are afraid in the dark....?
    it doesn´t sound like balancing stick to me...lol
    ok, i´m not normal, i know :)

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    1. there is no "normal" we are all who we are! your uniqueness is something that I can relate to- a LOT! :)) you gave me a whole lotta inspiration in learning the sanskrit names and teaching its logic! thanx- just be, namaste! <3

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  7. I love the Sanskrit names too... Which is why I have made it a priority to learn them. I want to be able to say them accurately and be able to explain what they mean.

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  8. Oh I love that you made the connection. I haven't made any sort of connection myself, having entirely ignored the Sanskrit names up to this point. I'm having a difficult time as it is memorizing the extremely long dialogue for the postures in the standing series. Seriously... I never realized how dialogue intensive those postures are! Can't wait till I get to the floor series. I've been told there's much less to memorize.

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