language – The Woke Yogi

Accessibility

DISCLAIMER: The Woke Yogi is not an official site of the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of its author and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.

Welcome to the 7th and final part of Sounding Off: Accessibility. If you’re new to the Sounding Off series, you can quickly get caught up on the series archive!

This week, we’re circling back to a few topics that we’ve discussed in previous weeks – namely, socio-linguistic hierarchies and histories of exclusion in Sanskrit culture – to explore barriers to entry and the potential advantages of Sanskrit education. As you explore the content in the tabs below, consider the question that we seek to answer, each in our own ways:

Should we really be speaking Sanskrit in our yoga classes?

Thank you SO MUCH for reading and engaging with Sounding Off! This week’s post is the final part in this series; however, be sure to check back next Wednesday for my reflection on all seven parts, including a round-up of each week’s takeaways and a complete, compiled bibliography for your further reading pleasure.

I’ll also continue writing about my yoga experiences and research in the weeks to come. If you’re not yet subscribed to my Substack, you can do so now to get all my writings straight to your email inbox. The sign-up is in the sidebar on the right!

Much love,

Kaya (The Woke Yogi)

Authenticity

Welcome to Part 6 of Sounding Off: Authenticity. If you’re new to the Sounding Off series, you can quickly get caught up on the series archive!

The first five parts of this series have covered a lot of ground, from ancient proto-Hindu practices of oral recitation to medieval Tantric alchemy to contemporary ideologies of linguistic ethno-nationalism. This week, we’re honing in on the colonial era (roughly, 19th and 20th centuries) to explore Orientalist Sanskrit literature, yoga under the British Raj, and colonial legacies in modern yoga. As you explore the content in the tabs below, consider the question that we seek to answer, each in our own ways:

Should we really be speaking Sanskrit in our yoga classes?

Check back next Wednesday for Part 7 of Sounding Off: Accessibility!

Authority

Welcome to Part 5 of Sounding Off: Authority, and thank you so much for your patience with this release! I have been dealing with a number of personal catastrophes recently, not to mention that I just moved to India! I’ll be here in Rishikesh, the yoga capital of the world, for the next year, where I’ll be conducting research as a Fulbright-Nehru Research Fellow (hence the disclaimer at the top of this post). It has taken some time to get settled in, but I look forward to sharing my travels and research with you all very soon.

If you’re new to the Sounding Off series, or if you just need a refresher after our little break, you can quickly get caught up on the series archive.

This week, we’re diving into Sanskritization: the historical process by which diverse yogic practices from many languages and cultures come to be codified and legitimized within Sanskrit texts. As you explore the content in the tabs below, consider the question that we seek to answer, each in our own ways:

Should we really be speaking Sanskrit in our yoga classes?

Check back next Wednesday for Part 6 of Sounding Off: Authenticity!

Austerity

Welcome to Part 4 of Sounding Off: Austerity. If you’re new to the Sounding Off series, you can quickly get caught up on the series archive!

In the past three weeks, we’ve unpacked a variety of premodern yogic traditions, from ultra-orthodox Brahminical Vedic Hinduism (Aurality, Antiquity) to radically subversive medieval Tantra (Alchemy). Today, we’re tackling the vast swath of South Asian history between the Upanishads and today – roughly 2500 years! – as we investigate the tradition of yogic asceticism and its evolutions through to the 21st century.

As you explore the content in the tabs below, consider the question that we seek to answer, each in our own ways:

Should we really be speaking Sanskrit in our yoga classes?

Check back next week, Wednesday July 24 for Part 5 of Sounding Off: Authority!

Alchemy

Welcome to Part 3 of Sounding Off: Alchemy. If you’re new to the Sounding Off series, you can quickly get caught up on the series archive!

In the first two parts of this series, we covered ancient yogic traditions like Vedic oral recitation and guru-śiṣya paramparā (master-disciple lineage). We discussed Sanskrit mispronunciations and debunked the illusion of antiquity in modern yoga.

This week, we’re jumping a few centuries forward, to medieval South Asia – where yogic tantra flourished. As you explore the content in the tabs below, consider the question that we seek to answer, each in our own ways:

Should we really be speaking Sanskrit in our yoga classes?

Check back next Wednesday, July 17 for Part 4 of Sounding Off: Austerity!

Antiquity

Welcome to Part 2 of Sounding Off: Antiquity! If you’re new to the Sounding Off series, you can quickly get caught up on the series archive.

Last week, in Aurality, we began our journey by investigating the Vedic oral tradition. This week, we’ll continue our discussion of ancient India, but we’ll inquire a bit deeper into the structures of power that make this tradition tick. As you explore the content in the tabs below, consider the question that we seek to answer, each in our own ways:

Should we really be speaking Sanskrit in our yoga classes?

Check back next week on Wednesday, July 10 for Part 3 of Sounding Off: Alchemy!

Aurality

Welcome to Part 1 of Sounding Off: Aurality. If you’re new to the Sounding Off series, you can quickly get caught up on the series archive!

This week, we’re diving in with the Vedic oral tradition, philosophies of sacred sound in South Asian religions, and the spiritual significance of Sanskrit in yoga. As you explore the content in the tabs below, consider the question that we seek to answer, each in our own ways:

Should we really be speaking Sanskrit in our yoga classes?

Check back next week (July 3rd) for Part 2 of Sounding Off: Antiquity!

Welcome to SOUNDING OFF!

When I first started teaching yoga, I was adamant about speaking Sanskrit in my classes. I memorized tons of Sanskrit terms and scoffed at teachers who only used the English pose names.

Then, as I learned more about South Asian history, all those foreign words in yoga class just started sounding…off.

Now, I know that there are two (or three, or a hundred) sides to every story. Written history only preserves the practices of the privileged, and yoga is no exception.

That’s why I’m launching Sounding Off, a 7-part critical series on Sanskrit in modern yoga. This series is intended as a practical guide for yoga teachers and casual practitioners, hobby linguists and aspiring Sanskritists, philosophers, skeptics, and long-time lovers of Indic spirituality. If you’re ready to think critically about the spiritual + socio-political dimensions of Sanskrit in modern yoga settings, stay tuned — for the next seven weeks, I’ll be sounding off right here on The Woke Yogi.

The series archive is live NOW. I’ll be updating that page weekly as I release new content on my blog. Each part of the series will include:

Research essays that translate rigorous, world-class yoga scholarship into accessible information for the general yoga community.
Poetic essays & other short creative pieces that ground these critical ideas in my personal experiences and embodied yoga practice.
Practical guide for yogis, including actionable tips, self-reflection questions, further readings, and other resources to help you integrate your learnings.

All this content is FREE & completely OPEN ACCESS! This is part of my mission to democratize yoga through jñāna (knowledge). Our objectives are as follows:

1. Contextualize Sanskrit within broader systems of power in South Asia.

2. Assess the pros and cons of speaking Sanskrit for yoga.

3. Critically analyze the role of Sanskrit in modern yoga settings.

Go explore the archive, find out what to expect, and come let me know in the comments which week you’re most excited for. Part 1 of the series, titled “Aurality,” will be available next Wednesday, June 26. Don’t forget to subscribe (sign-up in the sidebar to the right) and follow The Woke Yogi on social media (links below) to be sure that you don’t miss any new content!

Reflection Questions to Prime Your Thinking:

Do I speak Sanskrit in my yoga classes? Why or why not?
Do I know WHY Sanskrit is so often spoken in modern yoga classes?
How do I/ how can I honor the roots of yoga in my personal practice?

Tag: language

Reflection Questions to Prime Your Thinking:

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