Tuesday Truth: Namaste

One of my favorite parts of every yoga class--whether I'm teaching or taking the class--is at the very end, when we all bow to one another and say "Namaste." This ritual, this very special part of the practice, feels like a total gift, a very connected, personal moment that we all share together.

I am always filled with great gratitude for my students and their energy when I say "Namaste" to them after teaching, and am filled with a similar, yet different, blissed-out type of gratitude for my teachers when I take a class and say it at the end. This greeting or this expression is a meaningful one that has grown to hold great power for me over the years, as I'm sure it has for many of my fellow yogis. 

One of my favorite "Namaste" stories that I heard recently was right after we started selling these gorgeous "Namaste" sweatshirts at Tranquil Space (see the above pic!). The TSA Assistant Manager bought one, wore it home, and her husband looked at her and said, "What's nuh-maiste?" I LOVE this story because it both cracked me up AND reminded me that many people don't run into this word multiple times on a daily basis--for a non-yogi in the West, it's not a typical greeting.

So what does it mean? I actually get this question a lot, and realized yesterday that I'd never actually answered it here--which is ridiculous, seeing as though I use it to sign off from every blog post! The literal translation of the word is "I bow to you," but the etymology and the spiritual translation of the word goes a lot deeper. I've heard a couple of different meanings, but my favorite--by far--is this one:

The light inside of me acknowledges (or bows to) the light inside of you. 

Beautiful, isn't it? I think if we all acknowledged the light, the good, the beauty, the strength inside of each other on a more regular basis (and not just after a yummy yoga class), our daily interactions would be filled with a lot more meaning. 

So with that said...

Namaste,
Mary Catherine