In my 10+ years of teaching yoga I have ended 99.99% of my classes with the word namaste. That’s over 7000 classes ending with students bowing forward and repeating the word — a word that, for many practitioners, marks the final moment of their yoga practice before they roll up their mat and continue on with their day.

For the last year or so I have wrestled with the word. Should I end my class with namaste? What would happen if I didn’t?

Last Wednesday I took the leap and decided to do away with the word. Since then I’ve been experimenting with different ways to wrap up classes. I’m experimenting with ways that feel more authentic to me as a yoga teacher and human. It’s been utterly uncomfortable and weird, but totally worth it.

So why the change?

I think a lot about how I teach yoga. I think a lot about how I hold myself in the yoga room and how I conduct my classes. As I was planning my classes for the next few weeks I had to pause. I am very thoughtful in how I organize my classes. There’s a clear reason as to why certain postures appear in my classes. But something was amiss. I had no clear reason as to why I ended my classes with namaste.

The only reason I could conjure was because it’s what I’ve always done and it’s what everyone expects in their yoga class. Oh, and it’s easy. It’s easy to just do what everyone expects.

I hope we can all agree those are not good enough reasons.

By no means do I want to take away namaste from those who choose to end their classes with the word. It’s just something I’ve decided to eliminate from the classes I facilitate.

Over the last few decades the usage of the word namaste has kind of spiraled out of control. Teachers and students might use the word to feel like they’re doing some type of traditional, ancient yoga. But what is traditional, ancient yoga? I’m just guessing here, but I’m pretty sure your average modern, Western practitioner isn’t interested in performing the Vasti Kriya — an ancient yogic hygiene practice. Or perhaps you do and I want you to give me a full report on your experience afterwards!

Namaste appears in the Rig Veda as a term of worship or salutation. I can get behind that concept. However, in the 3000+ years since the Vedic text was compiled, namaste is now used by many Hindi-speaking populations as a simple greeting. Just as the practice of yoga has transformed greatly over the last few thousand years, the use of the word namaste has evolved and changed. I feel strongly that I should accept and act accordingly with the evolution of a language that is not my own.

Maybe we as a community can create better dialogue about the words we use in yoga classes and consider how those words affect other populations. We can discuss the use of words like namaste and om on merchandise and marketing materials. And perhaps we can have conversations about the manipulation of namaste into phrases like “I’m gonna nama-stay in bed”.

I teach a movement-based yoga practice. My hope is for people to leave their practice feeling physically and mentally strong and agile. I’m not trying to put on some divine pretense. I have been programmed to wrap up my classes in the same way over and over again, but now I’ve decided to just stop. So come take my class! Bear witness to my total discomfort as I work around what simply became a mindless habit.

And while we’re getting into semantics, I regularly question if I should even label my classes as yoga. It’s something I’m sure I’ll forever ponder.