Namaste

Namaste is an Indian greeting. It means the higher consciousness in me greets the higher consciousness in you. “Nama” in Sanskrit means bow in English, “as” means I and “te” means you.

The greeting is performed by bringing your palms together in front of your heart, bowing your head a little, you can close your eyes. Also it is performed by bringing your palms together in front of your forehead. You can say Namaste with the hand gesture, or just perform the hand gesture in itself.

It is common to start and end a yoga class with Namaste, performed with your hands in front of your heart. I feel it is a nice way to set the tone at the beginning of the class, for a moment you acknowledge the existence of something much bigger than you, which you can call the divine if you prefer.

At the end of a yoga class I always feel grateful and Namaste is a nice way to express that feeling. Grateful that I’m able to practice yoga, grateful to the teachers who have taught me, grateful for the people who I teach or practice with and grateful that I teach what I love so much. Namaste.