Comfort is no test of truth. Truth is often far from being comfortable.
― Swami Vivekananda
I learned to teach yoga at a studio that didn't use Sanskrit. This studio was a donation-based space professing to offer classes to all. "There will be no correct clothes," stated the studio's mission statement on the front door.
"There will be no proper payment / There will be no right answers / No glorified teachers / No ego no script no pedestals / No you’re not good enough or rich enough / This yoga is for everyone."
With a mixture of all different kinds of people across ages, genders, races, and ethnicities, the studio had genuinely created a diverse community. Still, there was a crucial missing piece.
The yoga that was being taught was a Westernized iteration of the South Asian practice, rooted in white supremacy, colonialism, and patriarchy. It took me a while to see this in large part because Sanskrit was not taught.
The studio's basic sequence was inspired by Rocket yoga—a spin-off of Ashtanga conceived in San Francisco in the 1970s—and was usually offered using the English names of poses. We learned about the yoga of the hippies and how the Grateful Dead practiced yoga while on tour.
Our teacher training handbook merely mentioned the Sanskrit names for poses as a footnote, and we weren't formally introduced to the language during the course. Even the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali were offered as a text "written thousands of years ago on the other side of the world for a culture and society very different from the one we live in today."
In big ways and small ways, the message that was being delivered to us was that yoga began somewhere far, far away, and we needn't concern ourselves with that too much. So I didn't—for a long time.
I was told that by using the English names for poses, I was contributing to accessibility, which was a doorway to diversity. I thought that by teaching in English, more people could understand the practice, making it more accessible—and that made sense at the time.
But I've come to understand that the purging of Sanskrit from yoga reinforces the message that there was a yoga of before and a yoga of now. It upholds colonial mentality and cultural hierarchy, encourages us to pick apart and appropriate the parts of yoga that suit us, and strengthens the separation of the East and the West. Most of all, it contributes to the erasure of South Asian wisdom, heritage, culture, and history.
Sanskrit is an integral part of yoga and not just in the names of the postures. It is more than a language; it is a history, a healing mechanism, an ancient intelligence. We don't have to understand what the words mean to feel them.
Rhythm is built into the language. The vibrations hum through our bodies, create space, release tension, and direct energy. When we chant, recite, or read Sanskrit, we embody the rhythm of the syllables, the melodies of the mantras, and the vibrations of the words. Without having to do much other than speak these sounds, we are pulled directly back to the roots of yoga.
The use of Sanskrit in yoga also allows us to exorcise yoga from fitness. It reminds us that the postures are merely a sliver of the whole practice.
And it is a form of reparations—a way to honor yoga in its wholeness and acknowledge the practice as a sacred philosophy that has survived colonialism, white supremacy, and capitalism. It is a way to remember the generations of teachers, students, and wisdom seekers who brought the practice forward to us over thousands of years.
Efforts to create accessible and diverse yoga spaces must center South Asian voices so that we can begin to return the practice to its roots.
No one owns yoga. Not you, not I, not them.
The practice is as individual as it is ubiquitous, and there is so much beauty in sharing it with others, but we must remember and acknowledge its past, without which it would not have a present. ✨
✨ yoga etc. is my newsletter on yoga, social justice, collective wellbeing, and collective healing. Every week, I share a piece of me—a weekly dose of mindfulness—hoping it resonates. The best way to support my work is by sharing this newsletter with those you think might find a piece of them. ✨
Yoga of movement ✨
I'm back home and so excited to see you! You have two chances to practice with me live this week:
And, as always, I have some lovely pre-filmed classes. I picked out a few special ones for you this week:
10 min ✨ Rainbow meditation
15 min ✨ Soothing sacrum to crown
45 min ✨ Sweet symmetrical flow
75 min ✨ Yin + yang flow
Please try to sign up at least 3 hours before the start of class, and if you can't make it in real-time, you'll get the recording in your email.
I'm also available for private and corporate classes. I'm offering complimentary corporate classes to nonprofit and not-for-profit organizations. Reply to this email if you're interested!
Yoga of action ✨
I'm tithing 10% of my income from my online yoga classes to organizations that fight against white supremacy. Every month, I'll pick a new organization and highlight it below. If these organizations call to you, please consider contributing (no matter how small).
My November donation will go to The Afiya Center, an advocacy organization dedicated to transforming the lives of Black women and girls through reproductive justice. The Afiya Center provides refuge, education, and resources on reproductive justice, HIV programming, abortion access, and maternal mortality for Black womxn and girls in Texas, where abortions have recently been banned after six weeks.
Have a suggested organization? Leave a comment to share.
Yoga of words ✨
Grab a pen, grab your journal. Have a seat somewhere comfortable. Close your eyes, take a breath in, and let it go. Your weekly writing prompt is below.
Write about one thing your body needs that you can give it this week. What self-care practices can support that need? (10 minutes)
Feel free to share what you've written by clicking the link below. But, of course, you’re also welcome to keep this practice as just yours.
Other musings ✨
How to be self-aware (The Atlantic)
Stanley Tucci’s Thanksgiving (Bon Appetit)
Trans autistic people use their whole bodies to express joy (them.)
Please tell me about a time you laughed so hard you cried (Twitter)
Billionaire philanthropy: generosity is not a substitute for justice (Anti-Racism Daily)
On repeat: Next to Me by Peter Fenn (Spotify)
I'm here for you—for class, advice, or anything you need or would like to share. Always a phone call/text/DM/reply button away.
LBC ✨