Is it Time to Say Goodbye to 'Namaste' at the End of Yoga Classes?
What is yoga without using the word namaste - right? For all of my yoga life I have been responding with this Sanskrit word, Namaste, at the beginning and the end of each class.
I recently watched a comedian from India talking about the use of namaste in yoga classes - laughing as to how, in India, namaste is a greeting, and in his words, the equivalent of saying 'Wassup'. Or 'Hi, How are you'.
This made me laugh a lot. For the past 20+ years, when completing a yoga class, feeling somewhat 'spiritually aligned' I have been ending my practice with serious intent and a mindful "Wassup"! And I am not the only one. As a yoga teacher, I had been using namaste at the start of classes to honour yogis. And at the end as well, as I presumed it appropriate. I have practiced what is most known and popular, or comfortable, without researching the significance of it.
Namaste has long been considered a formal greeting in Hinduism. And in the Vedic period, it meant to ‘bow’ to a superior entity. But this comedian's explanation of its current use did make me laugh, more so at myself, for using it out of context.
It also bought up this concept of cultural misappropriation - using a word from another culture, without knowing its history. I was not considering the where, how and why of the words significance. Using it to greet others who are not Hindu, without being of that culture, feels also somewhat racist, or not quite right. (But that is a whole other story).
My nine-month stay at a yoga ashram included adopting many practices of the Satyananda yoga tradition, including the mantra Hari Om Tat Sat. This mantra became second nature, as a way to start and conclude a practice - alone or in a group setting - and to open and close group discussions. The mantra was and is practiced as an acknowledgement to one another of our higher selves.
This week I have started to share the comedian's insight into namaste and let students know that I will now be concluding classes with the mantra 'Hari Om Tat Sat', which acknowledges, succinctly, 'the supreme reality'. I will endeavour to clarify this change at classes over the next few weeks. It may become adopted or people may prefer to continue ending their classes and practices together with a heartfelt 'Wassup!'. I will leave it to the individual to decide.
THE MEANING OF NAMASTE
“The first part of namaste comes from "namaha," a Sanskrit verb that originally meant "to bend." Deshpande says, "Bending is a sign of submission to authority or showing some respect to some superior entity." Over time, "namaha" went from meaning "to bend" to meaning "salutations" or "greetings."
WHAT DOES HARI OM TAT SAT MEAN?
"When chanted alone, Om Tat Sat refers to absolute and unmanifested reality or truth. However, this mantra may sometimes include the prefix Hari, referring to God in the physical form. When chanted together, Hari Om Tat Sat is used to awaken practitioners to the true or higher self, beyond the physical body".