We’ve all heard jokes mocking the ‘unscientific’ and ‘vacuous’ new-age yogi. Usually they’re about someone holding their index finger and thumb together pretending to levitate while complaining that their chakras are out of balance.
References to downward dog pop up in soap ads, editorial commentaries, Hollywood comedies and the evening news. While yoga’s popularity proves its powerful potential, it has also shaped negative stereotypes of the philosophy and of those who practice it.
Yoga Jargon
Jargon is a major factor influencing this fluffy yogi label, which often overshadows the solid and ancient wisdom of yoga. When it comes to strange words or ideas, it’s easy to make fun of or criticize something we don’t understand.
Found in Translation
If we need to translate words from another language to understand what someone is saying, then we need to start by translating the language of yoga into words and ideas that we are familiar with here and now. The following are two yoga words that are overused and ill-defined in popular culture.
Chakras
The best way to start to understand chakras is to think of them as different words for what we call in biomedical terms, the major systems of our body.
We all accept that our bodies contain a reproductive system, a pulmonary system and a cardiovascular system, for example. Speaking the language of yoga, we would call these systems the second, third and fourth chakras, respectively.
There are seven chakras, relating to each of the major systems we recognize as responsible for the proper functioning and health of our physical bodies. If you look at a map of the chakras and their placement on the human body, they line up with the biomedical systems to a T.
Translated in this way, we can see the logic and knowledge inherent to the chakra system. They represent a universal understanding of the human body that makes sense to humanity as a whole. The difference is simply in the way those understandings are expressed across different cultures.
Namaste
The basic translation of namaste is: “from the divine light within me, to the divine light within you.” In India, namaste is used to say; ‘hello,’ ‘goodbye,’ ‘thank you,’ ‘you are welcome,’ among many other uses.
The common misconception is that this word is exclusive to spiritual practice and that it denotes a sense of subjugation between student and yoga teacher. This is because it has it has been introduced to our society in the context of the yoga class.
However, this could not be farther from the truth. The literal translation of namaste is the recognition of divinity, or spirit, or god, whichever word you choose to use, within all of us. We are more than bodies, and to recognize this in a person at each interaction, no matter how insignificant, is to bring a deeper level of awareness into our daily lives.
Getting clear on what popular yoga terms mean will deepen your yoga experiences. At the very least, that clarity will help you make educated yoga jokes!