How to use this list
Twenty-one entries are enough for the pages on this site. They fall into four groups, and the groups do different jobs. Posture words name a shape or a way of arranging the body: asana, savasana, alignment, modification, neutral spine, microbend, and foundation. Breath and attention words name something you do while the shape is still: pranayama, drishti, and the optional mantra of silently counting the breath. Tradition words show up in history and in class names, and you can practice without adopting them: hatha, vinyasa, yin, restorative, bandha, mudra, and chakra. Greeting and sequence words are namaste, sun salutation, and prop. If a teacher uses a word that is not here, you do not need it for these routines.
Asana, on this site, means the same thing as pose. That is narrower than the history of the word. The Patanjali article explains Yoga Sutra 2.46, sthira sukham asanam, as a steady comfortable seat, not a catalog of standing poses. The glossary definition matches the pose library, where each page is one shape with steps. Pranayama, here, means the breathing practices kept separate from those shapes. The breathing timer teaches two counted patterns, box breathing and 4-7-8, and it cites Cleveland Clinic for the counts. It does not teach the locks. Bandha is listed so you know what you are skipping when a class mentions one. Beginners can breathe without it.
Drishti is the gaze. Day 6 of the 7-day path uses it in a plain way: pick a spot on the floor during Mountain, then keep that spot while you try Tree. The foot in Tree goes on the calf or the ankle, never on the knee. That limit is on the pose page. The glossary only defines the gaze. Savasana is Corpse Pose, the rest that ends a practice. The path days include it on purpose, including a long rest on day 1. It is not the moment you roll up the mat and call the session done.
Style words are easy to overread. Hatha, in a gym schedule, usually means a gentler class that holds poses. The history article on the Hatha Yoga Pradipika explains that the medieval manual was a harder and shorter syllabus than that label now suggests. Vinyasa means linking poses to breath. The routines here are slower than a typical vinyasa class. Yin is a long passive hold, often on the floor. Restorative is a supported rest. The sleep routines lean restorative. They are not a full yin syllabus. Chakra is a traditional map of energy centers. Nothing in the pose steps depends on it. Mudra is a hand shape. A relaxed hand on the knee is enough. Namaste is a greeting. You do not have to say it.
Alignment, modification, neutral spine, microbend, and foundation are the cues that keep a beginner pose sustainable. Alignment means stacking joints so you can stay, not matching a photograph. Pain is not a higher standard. A modification keeps the intent when the full shape does not fit. Bending the knees in a fold is the example the definition uses, and day 1 of the path does that fold with the knees bent a lot. Neutral spine is the small natural curve, not a flat back and not a deep arch. A microbend keeps the knee or elbow from locking in Mountain, Triangle, and Downward-Facing Dog. Foundation is whatever is on the floor: feet, hands, shins, or sitting bones. Press that down before you reach. A prop, a block, strap, bolster, blanket, or wall, is a tool. The gear guide says when you can skip one. You can do the first day on a folded blanket.
Sun salutation, here, points at day 7, which is a slow version of that sequence rather than a counted athletic series. If you want the older texts, read the history section. If you want the shape, open the pose. The definitions are the bridge between those two, and they are short on purpose.