Sanskrit Shmanskrit – Yoga

What’s the deal with using Sanskrit in yoga classes?  (okay…I’ll confess I’ll throw in namaste at the end of my classes but that’s it, I swear! …well…okay the odd tadasana and savasana sometimes slip out…but that’s it…really!!!)

Here’s what I think:  People get Downward Dog, Warrior and Cobra but referring to them as Adho mukha Svanasana, Virabhadrasana and Bhujangasana… is that really necessary?   I get the essence of the cobra.  It makes sense to me. I understand what I’m striving for in the pose. I can picture the cobra and understand what the pose is supposed to look like….But Bhujangwhatsana?  What does that mean to me? 

Let’s put it into perspective….Does it matter to me that triangle pose was originally called “Trikonasana”?  Well it matters to me about as much as it matters that originally the word for “year” was “annus”.  Is “annus” somehow more special than “year”?  Isn’t the essence of it still the same no matter what I call it?  

Don’t get me wrong, I think there’s a place for this stuff in yogic philosophy and yoga teacher training.  But I find that in most cases students are coming to me for something other than a language lesson.

 Anyways…food for thought.  Maybe I’ll have a “novus annus” party on Dec 31st just to try it out….maybe somehow it will be more special…?

Let me know what you think….