Sanskrit

Sanskrit is the language of India and Yoga. It is a sacred language that has been in use for thousands of years. The translation of Sanskrit is "perfectly constructed speech". Sanksrit is said to have been passed to meditating sages thousands of years ago from the Gods. Sanskrit was first passed down orally so it is hard to know exactly how long it has been in existence.

Some believe that Shiva began by beating his drum fourteen times and created the Sanskrit alphabet. The Sanskrit alphabet is designed to fit perfectly the human vocal chords and each word represents the energy of its meaning.

You will hear most yoga teachers using this language as they explain the postures and tell you their names. At the start it can seem confusing, the names of the asanas but quite quickly the names and their sounds will become something very familiar and comforting.

This is the language also used for the mantras and sacred chants in yoga and the Hindu tradition. Evoking all manner of help and kindness, it is this language we use to sing and call to the gods and goddesses.

Sanskrit was first the language used by the upper classes and the learned in India. It dates back to at least 1500 B.C. It is in Sanskrit that nearly all of the literature and philosophical works are written. The Vedic hymns are the first Sanskrit works kept and collated. These were codified by the yogi Panini in approximately 500B.C.E. These hymns are thought by many to be the basis of the Hindu religion and thinking.

Sanskrit eventually evolved and separated into regional vernaculars but was still the language used by the scholarly and holy.

This language is thought to be the representation of the very most basic tones and sounds of nature and the universe itself, therefore resonating these vibrations in a spoken form.

Students and devotees the world over will find themselves chanting the same tones and sounds that thousands of people before them have chanted. Unlocking the magic stored within us all is the work of Sanskrit. Evoking magic on a universal level, uniting people from all over the planet and such different walks of life has become one of the gifts Sanskrit has bestowed on this world.

A person in a loft in Soho, New York will be chanting the same sounds as the person on the beach in Rio but both people will be calling to the same universal pull, the connection is strong and complete.