Yoga Symbols And What They Mean
The most popular of yoga symbols is Om or Aum. But it could be said that all yoga postures, representing states of human or animal life as they do, are yoga symbols too.
Om or Aum
Om is a mystical or sacred syllable in the Hindu religion, from which the practice of yoga has developed. It is a sound rather than a word. Aum is a more accurate transcription of the sound but we are more used to seeing it written Om.
It appears at the beginning of almost all Hindu texts and is chanted before any reading of Hindu scripture and before all prayers and mantras. It is often chanted at the beginning of a yoga classes, and you can also chant it if you practice alone.
Be seated on the floor if you can, or on a chair, with your back and head straight. If you are are on the floor, cross your legs and place your hands in a mudra on your knees. Relax the breathing. Then make the sound on a single tone, letting your mouth close very slowly to form the vowels Ah, U and then M, holding your Om for the full length of your breath.
The three sounds should run into each other to form one smooth syllable. Let it fade naturally as your lungs empty completely, and then sit for a moment more before beginning your practice. After this long exhalation you should feel very calm and centered.
The visual symbol for Om is written differently according to language but the one that is used for Om in yoga is the Devanagari script. To western eyes it looks like a figure 3 followed by a loop with a curl and dot above.
This symbol can be printed on yoga mats and clothing. Many yoga practitioners also wear it as jewelry, especially in the form of a pendant, or have it as a tattoo.
In Hindu theology it can represent truth, unity, the object of meditation, the deity of deities, or the voice of God.
Yin and Yang Symbol
This is not strictly a yoga symbol because it comes from Chinese rather than Indian spirituality and culture. However, because it represents the joining of two into one it has a yogic meaning for many yoga practitioners.
Yin is the dark element, black in the traditional circular symbol. It can represent the passive, receptive, feminine, downward-seeking, water and earth, night.
Yang is the light element, white in the symbol. It can represent the active, light, masculine, upward-seeking, fire and air, day.
Yin and yang are two halves of one whole: complementary opposites. All beings and forces of nature have both yin and yang energy in constant movement. If something is described as 'yin', it can only be 'yin' relative to something else, its complement or its opposite, which is 'yang'. So the feminine is yin compared to the masculine which is yang; but a woman by herself contains both yin and yang energy.
The two small circles in the symbol are also very important. They are the yin within yang, and the yang within yin.
Yoga Postures
Yoga poses are also symbolic. Many of them are named after animals or aspects of human life: Child Pose, Cobra Pose, Downward Facing Dog. In going through a yoga practice session we can see ourselves as symbolically taking on all the forms of life and unifying them by giving them expression in our one body.
All of these symbols are a powerful expression of the philosophy of yoga. Yoga symbols are used or worn in many students' daily lives to remind them of their yoga practice and how it brings unity to their lives.