Shala meaning

Shala is a Sanskrit word for a hall, a house or a room, especially one set aside for a particular purpose. A yoga shala is a place where yoga is practised, and the word is now common in studio names around the world.

There is nothing mysterious about the word. It is as ordinary in Sanskrit as hall or room is in English, which is part of why it works so well inside other words.

Where does the word shala come from?

Shala (śālā) appears in Sanskrit from early on for a house, a shed or an enclosed space. It has stayed in everyday use in many Indian languages, often at the end of a compound word that names what the hall is for:

• Pathshala, a school, from patha, reading or lesson.
• Dharamshala, a rest house for pilgrims and travellers, a hall of dharma. The hill town in northern India takes its name from it.
• Gaushala, a shelter for cows.
• Yajnashala, a hall for Vedic fire rituals.

The word also travelled with Indian culture into Southeast Asia. In Thai and Khmer a sala is an open pavilion, often at a temple, where people rest or gather. Buddhist monasteries across the region have their salas for meetings and teaching.

Why is a yoga studio called a shala?

The modern habit comes mainly from Ashtanga yoga. Students who travelled to Mysore in southern India to learn from K. Pattabhi Jois at his Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute called the practice room the shala. They called him Guruji, a term of respect explained on the page about the meaning of guru.

In a Mysore shala, students arrive in the early morning and work through their own sequence at their own pace while the teacher moves around the room, giving instructions and adjustments. When those students went home and opened their own rooms, many kept the word.

From Ashtanga it spread more widely. Today a yoga shala can be a large city studio, a small room above a shop or a roofed platform at a beach retreat. Several studios in the Philippines use the word in their names, and you can browse them in the studio directory.

What should you expect in a place called a shala?

The name may hint at the kind of class but does not promise one. Some shalas teach traditional Mysore-style Ashtanga, with the room quiet except for the breath. Others offer vinyasa, hatha or Yin like any other studio. Check the schedule and class descriptions rather than the name.

Some traditional customs often come with the word. Shoes stay at the door. Students may be asked not to eat for a few hours before practice. In Mysore-style rooms you are usually expected to learn the sequence gradually, one pose at a time.

If you are new, what to expect in your first yoga class covers etiquette that applies in any room, and the Sanskrit yoga glossary explains other words you may see on a studio wall.