About Namaste

Dear Dew,

Help me out, I notice that at the end of classes at Dew Yoga people make the prayer hands and say Namaste to everyone else in the class. Is it rude if I don’t do that?

Thanks,

Yogi

Dear Yogi,

The salutation Namaste, in simple terms means, the light in me honors the light in you. The hands held palm to palm at the heart is called Anjali Mudra, in simple terms; anjali – to offer or salute and mudra – seal as in to connect (not the animal.)

It can be a way of connecting to or offering gratitude or respect to the teacher within, the teacher in the room, your loved ones, your fellow students or to whatever you honor in the moment. This moment also punctuates the end of practice time.

It is absolutely fine, and certainly not rude to complete your practice in the way that feels most comfortable to you. As a teacher, I might suggest finding some other gesture or ritual that seals the practice for you, something that signifies the end of the time you dedicated to movement, mindfulness, meditation or to whatever it is that you come to practice.

At Dew, we often acknowledge each other for the time we spent in practice together since it is a shared journey in a group environment. However, I would hope that the collective always honors the uniqueness of each individual. So, be yourself and we are all honored in that!

Love, light, peace and some vegan-gluten-free, Paleo, nut free cookies too,

Dew Yoga