And if the answer is yes, how do we optimize it?

Knowing and using the Sanskrit names of yoga asanas (postures) and other concepts can lend credibility to you as a yoga teacher, especially when used prudently and appropriately.

At the same time, it is pretty uncool to misuse or grossly mispronounce the Sanskrit. While going unnoticed by most of your students, the denigration of a sacred language will most likely agitate those who do notice.

If you were lucky enough to have learned yoga from a teacher who teaches in Sanskrit, you may have a better sense of proper pronunciation than if you just read it in a book. My preference is to sparingly insert Sanskrit in my classes, but to often use the English as well. This style makes the classes both authentic and accessible (or so I hope.)

Sometimes I use the both English and Sanskrit simultaneously. For example: “Come into to Trikonasana, Triangle pose,” while at other times I will use only one or the other. This way my regular students are likely learning the names of the poses in both languages, but those who have no interest or facility in foreign language can basically tune out the Sanksrit.

Here is a short list of often-used Sanskrit words and prefixes that pertain to yoga postures and that will help you to remember some of the names:

• Ardha – half
• Adho – downward
• Baddha – bound
• Eka  – one
• Eka pada – one foot/leg
• Hasta – hand
• Kona – angle
• Mukha – facing
• Pad- foot
• Parivrtta –revolved/twisted
• Parsva/parsvo – side
• Urdhva – upward
• Uttan/ottan – intense
• Utthita – extended
• Supta – sleeping/supine

While most students, and even your fellow teachers, will forgive minor mispronunciations of the Sanskrit, and really, all of us Westerners are pretty much butchering it, I do have some pointers and pet peeves in terms of Sanskrit pronunciation, or mispronunciation.

• Asana has the emphasis on the first syllable, ah-sun-a not as-ah-na.
• The last syllable of asana is a very short a sound, which is difficult for us to pronounce, particularly when it is used as a suffix as in Trikonasana or Savasana. So most of us lengthen it more than we should, hence Trikonasanah, where as some shorten it completely, as in Trikonasan. You have probably heard both pronunciations, and which you choose to use is up to you.
• The “ch” in chakra, Chakrasana and Chaturanga is a hard “ ch” as in cheese, not a soft “sh” as in shower.

On a final note, I do not suggest using a lot of Sanskrit in a new class or a total beginners class, because you likely will only intimidate and alienate the students. You may want your students to be inspired by your vast knowledge and wowed by your impressive use of an ancient language, but the truth is that many of them will figure you are just making it up anyway and may think you are a yoga snob.

Do your best to be yourself and use your authentic voice. If that includes teaching the Sanskrit, go for it. If it does not, just teach they way you prefer and do so unapologetically.

Namaste!

Mara Colbert is a yoga teacher, writer, mother and graduate student. She recently published her first eBook, How to Become a Great Yoga Teacher. Mara has studied and practiced yoga since 1998, and made a life of teaching yoga for the past decade. Her interest in the full and varied tradition of hatha yoga has always led her to pursue studies in many forms and lineages including ashtanga, vinyasa, Iyengar, Anusara and Bikram. She is an internationally Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance at the 200-hour level (E-RYT) having received a certification with a concentration in ashtanga yoga at Yoga Yoga Teacher Training in Austin, Texas. 

Mara now is pursuing a master’s degree in Counseling and Guidance at UMKC. Her intention is to marry the tools and techniques of yoga practice and theory with more traditional psychotherapy to treat people holistically—physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

You can find Mara’s articles at elephantjournal and RecoveringYogi.

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Editor: Lara Chassin

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