Yoga

yoga dictionary

yoga anatomy

ultimate-guide-yoga-lingo

Learn Vocab for the Parts of the Body with Yoga

By taking yoga classes in English you will gain mastery of knowing of all the parts of your body in English. You will know them at a reflex level, where you won’t even have to think about it, because you’ve had so much practice of Real Life English. Then, of course, there’s all the other benefits of attending a yoga class like:

• Stronger, more flexible muscles
• Improved balance
• Better blood circulation and more oxygen in the body (lowers chances of sickness)
• Increased lung capacity (bigger breaths means more oxygen to your body which means your muscles can perform better)
• Increased production of hormones (keeps you happy)
• Reduces stress
• Increases focus and concentration (allows you to get more work done faster, among other things)
• Improves body awareness (naturally leads to healthier lifestyle)
• Meeting other awesome yogis (people who do yoga)!

Learning the vocabulary of yoga before you attend will help you understand what the teacher is saying, and you will learn the parts of the body in the most natural way: through Real Life experience.

But don’t worry if you don’t have everything memorized. You c

an still get a good idea of what to do by looking at what the teacher and other students are doing, and learn the different words at the class.

Just keep attending classes. Remember, practice makes perfect!

Body Parts

Hands – mãos

Wrists – pulsos

Palms – palmas das mãos

Fingers – dedos

Middle finger – dedo medio

Pinky finger – dedo mindinho

Thumb – polegar

Legs – pernas

Feet – pés

Ankles – tornozelos

Toes – dedos de pé

Heels – calcanhars

Knees – joelhos

Shins – canelas

Hips – quadris

Shoulders – ombros

Arms – bravos

Forearms – antebraços

Elbows – cotovelos

Neck – pescoço

Ears – orelhas

Spine – espinha dorsal

Vertebrae – vértebras

Stomach – estômago

Lungs – pulmões

Chest – peito

Heart – coração

Breastbone – esterno

Tailbone – cóccix

Sit bones – sentar ossos

Ribs – costelas

Crown – topo do cabeça

Head – cabeça

Nose – nariz

Many kids learn the main bones with the chorus to this song:

[media url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Zu2LEaanE#t=2m34s” width=”600″ height=”400″]

Common Muscles

Calf – panturrilha

Hamstring – jarretar

Quadriceps (quads) – quadríceps

Thighs – coxas

Groin – virilha

Triceps (tris) – tríceps

Biceps – bíceps

Core – os músculos do núcleo

Abdomen (abs) – abdômen

Intercostal – intercostais

Yoga is the only exercise that stretches AND strengthens EVERY muscle in the body. For the sake of simplicity, not all of the parts of the human body are mentioned here, just the ones that are most commonly talked about during a yoga class.

In most poses, almost every single one of your body parts must be paid attention to, as they all play a part in proper alignment.

For example, in Warrior II your knee is directly above your ankle, your front foot is facing directly forward, while your back foot is at a 90 degree angle or less (from your leg). Your back leg is straight and you’re pushing down with the outside edge of your back foot.

You sink down in the hips so you feel a good stretch in the groin and quads. You want your leg to get as close to a right angle as you can, meaning your thigh is parallel to the ground.

You have an external rotation on your back thigh and an internal rotation on your front thigh. Your tailbone is slightly tucked (pushed forward). Your stomach is slightly sucked in, while your back is straight. You lift up with the crown of your head, creating length in the spine.

Your shoulders are relaxed away from your ears with your arms parallel to the ground, palms facing down, and your fingers are stretching and pulling strongly in opposite directions. Your gaze (where you’re looking) is over your right middle finger.

So as you can see, there is a lot happening in every pose. If this seems intimidating, have no fear! You don’t have to do the pose perfect right from the start and you don’t have to know all the vocab either. It will actually be extremely difficult for you to have great alignment the first few times you do yoga. If you take classes with a teacher, they will help correct you when you need it.

Yogis (people who do yoga) are very open to beginners. Yoga is not competitive, it’s not a sport. It’s a way to heal and strengthen your body. Everyone wins.