Signification of Namaste in Yogic and Indian culture.

Namaste

Namaste or Namaskar- What does it mean?

Nama means bow, as means I, and te means you. Therefore, Namaste means “I bow to you".

Namaste allows two individuals to come together energetically to a place of connection. Bringing the hands together at the heart chakra. One can do Namaste to oneself as a meditation technique to go deeper inside the heart chakra.

Namaste by bowing down your head and joining your hands, the gesture implies ‘May our minds Meet'. This is a great way of expressing your love, respect, and friendship to the person whom you meet.

There is a great significance of Namaste in Indian Culture. There is no piece of creation without the hand of the creator operating in it. The source of creation is operating within every cell and atom. That is why in Indian culture if you look up at the sky, the culture taught you to bow down. If you look down at the earth, you bow down. If you see a man, a woman, a child, a cow, a tree, or whatever, you bow down. And it is a constant reminder that the source of creation is within you too. If you recognize this, you are paving the way towards your ultimate nature every time you do Namaste. In Hinduism, it also has a spiritual import reflecting the belief that 

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞" 

NAMASTE is part of the daily procedure in India.

If we talk about the significance of Namaste in Yogic culture,  the Sanskrit word “Namaste" brings about the essence of oneness, and understanding of our cosmos. Namaste is a salutation of respect and reverence. Namaste is more than a word used to end a yoga session. There is another aspect to this, your palms have a lot of nerve endings- something which medical science has also discovered. Actually, your hands speak more than your tongue and your voice. There is a whole science of mudras in yoga. Just by holding your hand in certain ways, you can make your whole system function in different ways. The moment you place your hands together, your dualities, your likes, and dislikes, your cravings and aversions, all these things are leveled out. There is a certain oneness to the expression of who you are. The energies are functioning as one.

There are two basic asanas that reflect Namaste 

 Pranamsana 

Anjali Mudra 

In both the mudras, you must press both the hands together, with fingers pointing upward, thumbs on the inside near the chest and palm touching.

There is a science behind it. If you are doing your asana practice, every time you bring your palms together, there is a crackle of energy- a boom is happening. On the level of your life energy, there is giving, or you are making yourself into an offering to the other person. In that giving, you will make the other being into a life that will cooperate with you. Only if you are in a state of giving things around will work for you. This is for every life around you. Only if it gets the cooperation of all life around itself, it manages to prosper.