What's in a word?

I’ve wanted to write about this word for a while but didn’t know quite how to approach it. I wondered if there was a need for me to offer up my thoughts especially as there is a wealth of debate on the internet for those who seek it. I’m not bringing anything new to the discussion. Compared to my last blog about leg warmers exploring a Sanskrit word feels like a huge cultural 360!

Having already written this some weeks ago and decided to park it, someone recently asked me why I don’t close class with Namaste. I was grateful to be asked the question and it prompted me to dust this off and share my views. There are several reasons for me not using Namaste:

My own teachers: My early teachers closed class with Om Shanti which means peace sometimes chanting these words. As my practice evolved over the years, I became aware of Namaste as I heard (Yoga With) Adriene use it. However, it wasn’t part of my own practice, and I certainly didn’t know what it meant. I remember a work colleague, on hearing that I practiced yoga, say to me “The light in me honours the light in you” and I thought “What on earth are they on about?”

Cultural appropriation: This is the biggie, and I couldn’t possibly cover this in one short blog. I’ve had a growing interest in recent years in honouring and respecting the traditions of yoga. Susanna Barkataki’s book Embrace Yoga’s Roots made for interesting and, at times, uncomfortable reading. Barkataki states Namaste is traditionally used as a respectful greeting to your elders not as something you say when you leave. Its literal translation is “bow to you”. Not only is the word regularly misinterpreted in the West, but it is often mispronounced. There is also a sense that by using this word we are somehow more spiritual. Yet, conversely, it has found its way onto t-shirts, mugs and bags in joke form such as “Nama-stay in bed”. I used to love a yoga slogan t-shirt and had a Namasleigh tee with Father Christmas in Lotus pose that I wore to Christmas classes a couple of years ago. I had no awareness of how this could be inappropriate or offensive.

There are alternatives: Back to Barkataki again. She has written a well-known blog on this subject offering 60+ alternative ways to close a yoga class. I must confess as a new teacher I did feel a pressure to close my classes with Namaste. Barkataki invites people to question why they use Namaste, and I did give this a lot of thought. I presumed that my students would compare me to other teachers and think I was somehow not authentic if I didn’t use that term. Yet for me this wouldn’t be being my authentic self. Whilst I have used Om Shanti at times, I’m not alone these days in closing my class with a simple “Thank You”. Even Adriene has stopped using Namaste. I certainly don’t have an issue if anyone wants to say Namaste in return nor if a teacher uses it in a class I attend. This is not about “right” or “wrong” or judging. It is about personal choice, your own experience, knowledge and teachings. When closing my class with “Thank You” we also acknowledge our choice to come to practice, to share our practice with others in the room and to take the practice of yoga off the mat with us into the rest of our week. This is my personal way of showing respect.

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