Why it’s OK to say ‘namaste’ in yoga class

By Jeremy David Engels, Liberal Arts Endowed Professor of Communication, Penn State

“Namaste,” a common greeting in India and South Asia, has become a global cultural phenomenon – the word appears everywhere, from wellness retreats to political events to pop culture.

In many yoga classes in North America and Europe, it is a ritual to end practice by saying “namaste,” which means, in global yoga culture, something like “the divine in me bows to the divine in you.”

This tradition is not without controversy. Some critics accuse Western yogis of cultural appropriation whenever…

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