Peace, namaste, and critical thinking

What (in the hellscape of 2020) makes your day? It can be the littlest thing.

Recently, for me it’s seeing my midday corporate yoga class send up the peace sign from their mats as I say PEACE and leave them to meditate. It’s the last thing I see before ending the Zoom meeting and it makes me smile big time. It feels real. it’s a connection that transcends the computer screen. Peace is a touchpoint that unites us all and that feels especially comforting right about now.

Back in March when I started teaching online I shifted how I end my classes. I replaced namaste with peace. It’s been a long time coming. I always said namaste because that’s how I was taught to end a yoga class and well, now I don’t.

I’m not here to say it’s wrong to end a yoga class with, namaste. I am here to say, hey, changing your mind is good for you! I enjoy a good critical analysis sesh especially with topics I’m passionate about. Which is exactly what led me to change the way I end my yoga classes. Learning is remarkably difficult especially when compared with “knowing.” Do you get what I’m saying?

“Learning is hard on knowing. Like the kids are hard on the furniture. ”

Do you say namaste at the end of a class. If so, why? If you want to hear more about why I don’t end my classes with namaste anymore I invite you to check out the two resources I’ve listed below.

This article by Susanna Barkataki is what led me to think about the what and why of ending a yoga class with namaste:

https://www.susannabarkataki.com/amp/an-alternative-to-cultural-appropriation-is-creativity-60-options-for-namaste

If you like to hear different viewpoints in the yoga world like I do then I highly recommend checking out the Yoga is Dead podcast. Be ready to break your identity with what you think about yoga.

Yoga is Dead is a revolutionary podcast that explores power, privilege, fair pay, harassment, race, cultural appropriation and capitalism in the yoga and wellness worlds. Join Indian-American hosts Tejal + Jesal as they expose all the monsters lurking under the yoga mat. www.yogaisdeadpodcast.com/home

Thanks for being on this movement journey with me. It doesn’t have to be magical #inspo to be meaningful enough to come back to. It’s just gotta work for you. Through the ups and the downs.

Trisha