So You Want To Chant Om & Namaste?
with Tejal
Join Tejal for 2 days of education about using spiritual terms with respect and so much more.
Saturday, May 18 & Sunday, May 19
8a - 10:30a PT | 11a - 1:30p ET | 4p - 6:30p BST
Total of 5 hours - replay available with reservation
Full price investment is $75 for 5 hrs of continuing education workshops
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In this workshop, we’ll open conversations around the updated context and nuance of using spiritual terms.
Your time includes an interactive presentation, readings, chanting, story sharing, breakout room discussions, and workshopping on alternate phrases.
Do you currently chant Om or use Namaste in class?
Are you a yoga practitioner, facilitator, educator, or just curious?
Struggle with how to incorporate Om authentically?
From Tejal
I've offered this content over a dozen times in the last few years, refining it along the way and I hope you'll get as out of it as so many others since students.
Based on what I’ve seen and experienced in the yoga industry, I offer more nuanced yoga education and critique due to my desire to de-mystify yoga and its philosophy. I think if students start to feel grounded in yoga teachings they can ask more questions and make more wisdom-led decisions for themselves and heart-centered offerings their students.
The focus for the workshops is to understand the meaning of the terms, how these meanings have changed over time, who has dictated these changes and why, and to get to the heart of the matter: Why and how will you use Om and Namaste going forward?
So You Want to Chant Om and Namaste breakdown:
Part 1 : Deeper Understanding of Om
People typically come in understanding the Om chant. We go way deeper. We discuss the etymology, how east meets west, we chant, we explore the layers when using Sanskrit and we talk about how multiple truths exist.
Part 2: Going Beyond Namaste
I write going beyond namaste because that's exactly what we do. You may come in with attachment to the term however we'll dig into the WHY and WHAT around this foundation. Remember, I won't give you any hard and fast rules, but I am sure you'll be able to better recognize how you feel about moving forward with or without the term for you and your students.
Thoughts and topics from So You Want To Chant?
“As I work towards teaching some day I am nervous about incorporating [Om] respectfully in environments that are usually purely ‘fitness’ focused.”
“I’ve stopped saying Namaste at the end of classes as I felt I was not truly respecting the meaning and spirituality. I am looking forward to hearing various perspectives.”
“I’d love to understand the original meaning and ‘function’ of the terms (for instance vibration or greetings), so as not to use them as hollow terms and contribute to commercialising them.”
“[I’m curious to learn more about] how to adapt the spiritual aspect of yoga for both elderly people and kids.”
Do these thoughts resonate with you?
Other questions to explore
What are the harms of excluding / banning Aum from the practice?
How do you feel about incorporating using Om in practice?
What does it mean for something to be sacred?
This workshop is for wellness professionals, yoga teachers, yoga seekers, educators, or anyone curious about learning more of the history and wisdom of yoga, and how to decidedly honor the practice.
This workshop is not for those who do not want to work on their biases or explore possible alternative narratives.