Here are the Asana Sanskrit Names and pronunciations organised STANDING poses.

Standing Asanas

Here are the Asana Sanskrit Names and pronunciations organised by the SEATED & FLOOR poses.

Note: The syllable to put the emphasis on is CAPITALISED (e.g. Setu Bandha Sarvangasana which is pronounced “say-too BAHN-duh sar-vuhn-GAHS-uh-nuh” has the emphasis on the fourth and sixth syllable).

Seated & Floor Asanas

Next up, learn to pronounce Asana Sanskrit names organised by their animal name.

Here is a list of yoga asanas names organised by their animal name:

Here is a list of yoga asanas organised by anatomy (Anga, Bhuja, Hasta, and Janu).

When you learn the “single word translations”, the longer names of asanas start to become decipherable.

The names of asanas derive from six main categories:

1. Anatomy
2. Animals
3. Distinguishing Feature Of The Pose
4. Deities & Sages
5. Numbers
6. Objects

There are six well-known memory techniques that can be used to learn and remember Sanskrit words:

Memory Technique 1: Visualization
Creating vivid mental images of the meaning of a Sanskrit word can make it easier to remember.

Memory Technique 2: Word Association
Associating a new Sanskrit word with a familiar word in your own language can help you remember it more easily. For example, associating “Gomukha” (cow face) with the image of a cow’s head can help you remember the meaning of the word.

Memory Technique 3: Repetition
Repeating a Sanskrit word several times, either out loud or in your head, can help commit it to memory.

Memory Technique 4: Grouping
Grouping Sanskrit words by themes, such as anatomy or animals (like I’ve done for you in this blog post), can make them easier to remember together.

Memory Technique 5: Acronyms
Creating an acronym or a sentence using the first letter of each Sanskrit word can help you remember a list of related words.

Memory Technique 6: Mnemonics
Creating a mnemonic device, such as a rhyme or a song, to remember the meaning of a Sanskrit word can make it easier to recall.

This course uses the first four memory techniques, but I wanted to include acronyms and mnemonics in the list above in case you wanted to give them a try.

“I highly recommend the MEMORY PALACE language learning technique used by the world-famous memory champion, Dominic O’Brien because it uses Visualization, Word Association, Repetition & Grouping.”

Below is the Memory Palace technique:

Step 1: Choose a familiar TOWN

The perfect way to store Sanskrit vocabulary is by using a detailed map of a town or village. Think of the sort of words you will be learning in Sanskrit: child, moon, staff, bow, plough, seal, boat. A town can have all these words.

Step 2: Use your IMAGINATION & ASSOCIATION

Let the Sanskrit “pronounced” word suggest a key image to you. For example, the Sanskrit for Cow Face Pose is Gomukhasana which is pronounced go-moo-KAHS-uh-nuh. Your key image might be a cow “go” ing “moo” because “kahs” he thinks your Cow Face pose is sensational. Concentrate on the pronunciation (phonetic sound) of the Sanskrit word, rather than the way it is spelt.

Step 3: Place your Key Image in an Appropriate Location

Place your key image in an appropriate location, as suggested by the English pose name (cow). You are likely to find a cow in a field, so think of a particular field in your chosen town.

Step 4: Combining your Key Image & Location 

Imagine practising Cow Face Pose on the farmer’s field in your town. You unfurl your yoga mat and lots of cows start milling around you observing your technique. Imagine the cows “go” ing “moo” because “kahs” they think your Cow Face pose is sensational.

Pretty cool, heh!

The advantage of using a mental map of your TOWN as a filing system is that you can group various types of words together in different places. For example, all the animal poses can go on the farm, and all the anatomy poses (e.g. “anga” which means limb) can go in your town’s church graveyard, and all the numbers (e.g. “ashta” which means eight) can go outside the town’s accountancy firm

Your town can expand if you need to include areas that don’t exist on the real town map. No planning permission is required. If there isn’t an accountancy firm (for the numbers), add one, or transfer one you know from somewhere else.

Usually, the first association that comes to mind (see step 2 above) is the best one. The more exaggerated and weird the scene is, the more likely you are to remember it.

Okay, let’s get the show on the road. You can use my associations for each pose (see the Memory Palace Cards below), but if you want to ingrain the Sanskrit into my brain even deeper, then I recommend coming up with your own associations.

Boat Pose (Navasana)

Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana)

Cow Pose (Bitilasana)

Cow Face Pose (Gomukhasana)

Here is a glossary of Sanskrit terms from A to Z with memory cues to recall them effortlessly.

Each term has a memory cue where I let the Sanskrit “pronounced” word (e.g. AH-doh) suggest a key image to me (e.g. Ah, dough). The more vivid you make the visualisation, the better the recall. So, read the memory cue, then close your eyes and use all your senses (e.g. smell Homer Simpson’s doughnut breath when recalling Ad-doh, and seeing his doughnut fly out of his hand as he falls downward).

You will still need to use repetition – repeating the memory cue several times in your head to commit it to memory. And, if you really want to improve your recall, muster the discipline to practice the memory cues daily for the next 30 days.

I haven’t completed all the memory cues because they work best when you create your own. Use my memory cues as a guide for creating your own.

The syllable to put the emphasis on is CAPITALISED (e.g. “Asta” which is pronounced “AH-stah” has the emphasis on the first syllable).