• About Radiant Being Yoga

Basic yoga terms
Asanas
Asanas are the postures used in all forms of yoga. Kundalini Yoga uses every posture, except the headstand.

Postures, either held or dynamic and often combined with breathing, challenge the body, encouraging it to grow stronger. This applies both to the muscles and the internal organs and nervous and immune systems, ensuring that your entire body is in optimal working order.

Bhandas
Bhandas are the muscle locks that we use in yoga to hold or direct energy within the body.

We have three main locks, or bhandas; the mulabhanda, which is effectively the pelvic floor, which holds the energy within, or directs it up, the main torso; the uddiyana bhanda is the diaphragm which segments the abdomen from the chest; finally the jalanda bhanda is the neck lock and is the ring of muscles in the throat which constricts the air flow. When all three bhandas are applied we call it the mahabhanda.

Mantras
Mantras are an integral part of Kundalini Yoga, being used to tune in and out before and after each class, as well as during the yoga and meditation practice itself.

Mantras work on our physical body in a subtle way; the vibrations that they create in the body stimulating glands within the head, chest and abdomen. These glands secrete hormones which regulate our entire being, thereby already beginning the process of balancing and adjustment that will continue during the rest of the yoga class. Chanting also anchors the mind, helping students to remain focused during meditation.

In Kundalini Yoga most of the mantras are in Sanskrit or Gurmukhi, taken from the ancient Sikh scriptures and prayers.

Many students feel self-conscious about chanting, often getting an urge to giggle, particularly when they first begin practicing. That's fine - just let whatever needs to come out, come out! Yoga is life, so just enjoy it.

Meditation
More and more people are turning to meditation to help them reduce stress, and gain greater focus and clarity to more effectively manage their busy lives.

However, meditation can be challenging - the mind wanders off and before long you are busy with your problems again, rather than clearing your mind of all the clutter.

Firstly, relax. Sorting out our lives is what our minds do. We just have to learn that WE control our minds, and not the other way round. Next time you're lying awake at night trying to solve the puzzles of your life, observe your mind and ask yourself whether you, or your mind, is in control.

Meditation helps you to slow down this incessant chatter. If you achieve a split second of 'nothingness', you've got it. That's all it takes. Don't make meditation a chore, make it the time in the day that you dedicate to yourself - and most importantly, enjoy it.

Mudras
Mudras are hand postures, which you have probably seen being used in meditation.

Mudras work on the same principle as reflexology. Our hands are maps of the body and mind and by holding certain mudras during yoga or meditation, we can stimulate and activate meridians within the body and access new levels of consciousness.

Pranayama
Pranayama is the practice of breathing. Breathing is the key to yoga, 'prana' being the life force energy. Think about it - every time you breathe in, you're feeding your body and a small part of the universe, the air that you breathe, is being integrated into each and every cell within your body.

By learning how to breathe properly, and control the breath, we can learn to control our emotions, reduce our stress and increase our health. Correct breathing is the foundation to everything we do and yet most of us have 'unlearned' how to breathe properly.

For scuba divers and free divers, pranayama practice can make all the difference - by slowing the breath, you become more relaxed, your body becomes more efficient and you get to spend more time doing what you love!

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