The Meaning Of Namaste

Namaste.

This is something that we hear often in the yoga world,

Namaste.

At the end of a yoga class,

We'll bring our hands together in a prayer position,

And we'll say namaste.

Today,

Let's talk about what this means,

The word namaste,

And this gesture,

Hands in a prayer position.

Nama means to bow.

As can be translated as I.

Te can be translated as you.

The idea is I bow to you,

You bow to me.

There's a oneness there,

A union.

Yoga means union.

In that moment,

There's a connection.

There's no more me and you,

Us and them,

Black,

White,

Up,

Down.

No more opposites.

No more dualities or polarities.

Namaste is to bring things to a unified state.

It's a beautiful idea to just contemplate for a moment.

Sometimes in the yoga world,

A teacher will define namaste as the light in me honors the light in you,

Or the love in me honors the love in you.

This points to the truth that we all have the same qualities,

Universal,

Spiritual,

Timeless qualities and principles.

They're all within each of us.

That's what we're acknowledging.

So it's not man on this side of the camera bowing to a person on the other side of the camera.

It's the love in me,

All of the seeds of goodness and compassion and joy and also suffering and fear and anxiety,

All these things.

I acknowledge that this is all part of who I am.

If you're another human being,

Another living thing out in the world,

I acknowledge that you may have these same things too,

The same struggles,

The same triumphs.

In this moment,

We're going to acknowledge that.

We're going to embrace that we're human.

We may be flawed.

We may have many assets.

We may have many liabilities.

We mirror each other in that moment.

Oftentimes,

We think we have a good idea of who we are.

And we also,

Many of us,

Have good ideas about who other people may be.

Namaste erases all of that.

In that moment,

There's just this,

Whatever I am today,

Whoever or whatever you may be today,

That's all we're working with.

There's no story attached to that.

There are no opinions attached to that.

There are no expectations.

Namaste means I see you for the real you,

The real you,

The love in you.

Even if you're not having a great day,

Even if you're not being a nice person,

I'm still going to see the love in you.

Sometimes,

We hear this as the Christ in you or the Krishna consciousness or the Buddha nature.

It's all the same concept.

Within each of us is this light or this sun that shines brighter than 10,

000 suns.

That's what we acknowledge with namaste.

With hands together in prayer,

It's the same idea.

This is a symbolic physical representation of what we're talking about.

If my left hand is over here and my right hand is over here,

They're separate.

When they come together,

There's no more separation.

All the fingers come together.

The palms come together.

The right,

The left,

The yin,

The yang,

The masculine,

The feminine,

The sun,

The moon.

In this moment,

There's no more opposites.

This is where yoga lives.

This is yoga,

The place where there's no more opposites.

One last thought,

The reason we bring it to the heart,

The heart is at the center as well.

It connects the three chakras above it and the three chakras below it.

Just briefly,

In the yoga tradition,

There are seven chakras.

The heart is in the middle,

Three below,

Three above.

We bring hands together at the heart.

The heart is love,

It's compassion,

It's forgiveness,

It's mercy,

It's grace.

So many amazing qualities are here at the heart.

We bring the hands together to that place.

Next time you say or think or do this gesture of namaste in a yoga class or perhaps on your own,

Contemplate some of these ideas.

See what they mean to you.

Maybe infuse this gesture,

This mudra.

Mudra is an energetic lock or seal.

The idea is when you bring your hands together,

They shouldn't just be empty.

There shouldn't just be space in between.

There should be intention in there.

There should be some feeling in there.

There should be some essence or energy that represents the real you.

This is what you're holding here.

Bring these ideas into this gesture next time.

Maybe it's the gentleness of a humble nod of the head,

Bringing the chin down toward the chest.

Maybe you add that to your namaste to really surrender to the humility,

To the teachability of this moment,

That no one is better than anyone else.

Nobody is smarter.

Nobody is this.

Nobody is that.

Nobody is less than.

It's a beautiful concept.

Namaste.

See you again soon.