Why We Chant Shanti Shanti Shanti Om at the End of Yoga Practice

In many yoga classes around the world, the final moments are sealed with a soft yet powerful invocation:

Shanti Shanti Shanti Om

Often spoken almost instinctively, this closing chant is far more than a beautiful tradition or a comforting ritual. Its placement at the end of practice is deliberate, philosophical, and deeply rooted in ancient yogic and Vedic culture. To understand why it belongs there, we must look at its meaning, its origins, and the way yoga understands transformation itself.

The Meaning of Shanti

The Sanskrit word Shanti is commonly translated as “peace,” but this translation only brushes the surface. Shanti refers not merely to the absence of conflict, but to a state of harmony, where disturbances no longer ripple through the system. It is peace after digestion, after processing, after resolution.

Traditionally, Shanti is repeated three times, each repetition addressing a different layer of existence:

1. Ādhibhautika – disturbances from the external world (other people, nature, environment)

2. Ādhyātmika – disturbances arising within oneself (body, mind, emotions)

3. Ādhidaivika – disturbances from forces beyond human control (cosmic forces, fate, unseen influences)

By invoking peace three times, the chant acknowledges that unrest does not arise from a single source. It is layered, complex, and interconnected.

The final Om is not an add-on. It is the vibrational seal. Om represents the primordial sound, the underlying resonance of all existence, into which all experiences eventually dissolve.

The Cultural and Scriptural Roots

The chanting of Shanti at the conclusion of sacred acts originates in the Vedic tradition, predating what we now call “yoga classes” by thousands of years.

In the Upanishads, Brahmanas, and other Vedic texts, Shanti mantras frequently appear at the end of recitations, rituals, and teachings. Their role was not to begin the work, but to stabilise the effects of what had been invoked or revealed.

For example, many Upanishads close with a Shanti mantra, offering peace to:

• the speaker

• the listener

• the knowledge itself

This was done to ensure that wisdom did not agitate the mind or inflate the ego, but instead settled into clarity and humility. In this sense, Shanti is not an intention. It is a protective closing gesture, ensuring that what has been opened does not remain raw or disruptive.

Yoga as a Controlled Disturbance

Classical yoga never aimed for immediate calm.

According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, yoga is the practice of working directly with the fluctuations of consciousness (citta vṛtti). These fluctuations must first be seen, stirred, and understood before they can settle.

Asana, pranayama, and even meditation are not passive acts. They intentionally:

• awaken dormant energy

• challenge habitual patterns

• expose mental and emotional tendencies

In other words, yoga disturbs the system on purpose.

Chanting Shanti at the beginning would be premature. At that point, the mind is still carrying the residue of the day, the body is stiff, and the breath is shallow. Peace has not yet been metabolised.

Yoga tradition respects process. Peace is not demanded. It is earned through integration.

Why Shanti Comes at the End

By the end of a yoga practice, something essential has shifted:

• The nervous system has down regulated

• The breath has slowed and deepened

• The mind has become more receptive

• The body is open and quiet

This is when Shanti can land.

At this stage, the chant acts as:

• Integration – allowing effects of the practice to settle

• Stabilisation – preventing energetic agitation after opening

• Extension – carrying the resonance of practice beyond the mat

In traditional understanding, chanting Shanti at the end ensures that any energy awakened during practice does not scatter, but finds harmony within the practitioner and their surroundings.

The Role of Sound and Vibration

In yogic culture, sound is not symbolic. It is functional. Mantra is considered a technology of consciousness. The vibration of sound directly affects the nervous system, subtle body, and mental field.

After asana and pranayama, the body becomes a more sensitive instrument. Chanting at this moment has a greater physiological and energetic impact than at the beginning.

The triple repetition of Shanti works like a gradual descent:

• first addressing the outer field

• then the inner landscape

• finally the unseen

The concluding Om absorbs all layers into one unified vibration.

Tradition, Not Superstition

Placing Shanti Shanti Shanti Om at the end of practice is not dogma. It is observational wisdom accumulated over centuries. Ancient practitioners noticed that without a closing act of grounding, practices that awaken energy could leave students restless, emotional, or unanchored. The chant became a way to close the container. Even today, modern neuroscience echoes this logic. Regulation must follow stimulation. Integration must follow activation.

Yoga understood this long before scientific language existed.

A Living Tradition

While yoga is a living, evolving practice and adaptations are natural, understanding why traditions exist allows us to engage with them consciously rather than mechanically.

Chanting Shanti at the end of class is not about performance or conformity. It is an act of care.

A quiet acknowledgement that something has moved.A gesture of respect to the nervous system.A wish for peace that is no longer aspirational, but embodied.

Threefold peace. One vibration. Then silence.

And perhaps, next time you find yourself lying in stillness at Mahé, softly chanting Shanti Shanti Shanti Om at the end of practice, you will know why it comes here. Not as a habit, not as a formality, but as a conscious closing. A moment where peace is no longer something you reach for, but something you recognise as already present.

Shanti Shanti Shanti Om