Part of teaching yoga is about continuous learning. I have recently been exploring concepts of cultural appropriation in yoga, reading and listening to Susanna Barkataki and several other Desi and Indian yoga teachers and researchers. One of the first articles I read by Susanna was about whether to use the word namaste to end a yoga class.
I’ve reflected on this before, but not from the perspective that Susanna was inviting. More importantly when I wrote a post about why I say namaste at the end of my yoga classes, I hadn’t done enough research about the word namaste, the links (or lack of) to yoga traditions, and the negative impact of misusing and culturally appropriating the word.
The word namaste is an important and significant word, both in the meaning and even in the sound, when pronounced properly.
But the use of namaste is a greeting of respect, often for elders. It is not a thank you or a form of goodbye, and it is not an ending:
“Namaste dates back to Old Sanskrit, which is found in the Vedas (the ancient texts that modern Hinduism grew out of). That’s according to Madhav Deshpande, a professor emeritus of Sanskrit and linguistics from the University of Michigan. The oldest part of the Vedic literature comes from what is now Pakistan and the northwestern corner of India.
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.”
The “te” in namaste means “to you,” Deshpande says. So all together, namaste literally means “greetings to you.” In the Vedas, namaste mostly occurs as a salutation to a divinity.
But the use and meaning have evolved. Today, among Hindi speakers throughout the world, namaste is a simple greeting to say hello. It’s often used in more formal situations, like when addressing someone older or someone you don’t know well. But that’s all it means — hello.”
From How ‘Namaste’ Flew Away From Us, US National Public Radio (NPR) by Kumari Devarajan
Using namaste to end a yoga class is a development that occurred in Western adaptation of modern postural yoga. I’m not sure where or how exactly it began, but I’ve read references of this practice showing up in American yoga classes in the 70s and 80s.
Saying namaste at the end of a yoga class is something that I’ve experienced in most classes I’ve attended for the last 20 years (which have been almost exclusively modern Western versions of yoga, in the US, New Zealand and Australia). So I assumed it was both appropriate and respectful to use namaste in this way. I thought I was continuing a tradition, but unfortunately not so.
So how did this habit become so prolific in modern Western versions of yoga?
Susanna shared her views on this. She along with many others has suggested that it is a way for yoga teachers, to signal/signify yoga traditions without doing the hard work of truly understanding and incorporating the full traditions and roots of yoga in modern practice.
Saying namaste at the end of a yoga class is a classic example of cultural appropriation. The Oxford Dictionary defines cultural appropriation as:
“the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.”
For these reasons I’ve stopped saying namaste at the end of my yoga classes. Which is a first-step of diving deeper into understanding my role in not appropriating yoga. To learn more, read Reha Kumar’s (of Rekkha Yoga) post about what Namaste is not appropriate to close a yoga class, why cultural appropriation can cause harm, and how she closes her yoga sessions.
If you’d like to explore further the concepts of cultural appropriation in yoga, including links to colonisation and racism, these are a few of the articles I have been reading:
For reflections specific to Aotearoa New Zealand see:
- Michelle Campbell reflections in the E-Tangata article Lost among the Lululemon
- Reha Kumar’s Rekkha Yoga based in Auckland in the NZ Herald article Small business: Rekkha Yoga founder on getting the ancient practice off the mat
- Alka Prasad’s article Concerns growing yoga practices moving away from Indian origins in the NZ Herald
- Ripu Bhatia’s article Kiwi yoga studios criticised for ‘appropriating’ Hindu practice in Stuff
- Kadambari Raghukumar’s 2-part podcast The elephant in the yoga studio – Part 1 and The elephant in the yoga studio – Part 2 on RNZ
- Ninakaye Taane-Tinorau’s interview with Kara-Leah.
For other perspectives:
Yoga in America Often Exploits My Culture—but You May Not Even Realize It by Rina Deshpande, an Indian American yoga teacher. Rina shares multiple examples of cultural appropriation and talks about how this is linked to racism including her personal experiences. Also by Rina, What’s the Difference Between Cultural Appropriation and Cultural Appreciation?
Breathing Deep And Diving In: Yoga And Cultural Appropriation by Anna Gunstone talks about her personal reflections of practicing yoga and exploring the history of yoga to try to avoid cultural appropriation. She provides some brief background about the colonisation of India which included banning yoga in attempts to erase Indian culture.
Doing away with namaste by Allyson Whipple, an American yoga teacher, talks about her journey of realising namaste is not traditionally said at the end of a yoga class and is a form of cultural appropriation, and how and why she stopped saying this to end her classes.
Yoga and the Maintenance of White Womanhood by Rumya Putcha, a US researcher, explores the links between cultural appropriation as racism specifically in the commercialisation of yoga.
Yoga and the Roots of Cultural Appropriation by Shreena Gandhi and Lillie Wolff, US academics, briefly explore how yoga was colonised and progressively misappropriated in the US through commercialisation and capitalism, and the links with racism and white supremacy. Shreena Gandhi talks about these issues further and what she experienced after publishing the article, in the podcast Shreena Gandhi on White Supremacy.
