I felt deeply skeptical as I followed my sister, a strong and limber yoga enthusiast, into a room that smelled of Patchouli. There were a lot of things that had deterred me from trying yoga. From everything I’d seen, it was just putting your body into a weird pose, staying there for about five minutes, and then moving onto another weird pose. When I do strength training, I feel my muscles growing stronger. When I jog, I feel my endurance improving. What on earth were the benefits of yoga?
In truth, this attitude was defensive. As I wrote about a few weeks ago, I’m bad at stillness. I’m a “human doing,” not a “human being”. I know, of course, that staying in the here and now is important, but goodness – who has the time for that?
I was also very put off by the spiritual aspect of yoga. It was strange to me that a group of lithe white women dressed in Lululemon would press their hands together at their heart, chant “om,” and bow their heads as they said to the instructor, “Namaste”. It felt like cultural appropriation. How many of these people even know what Namaste means?
As it turns out, most of them do.
Now, several months later, I’ve gone to yoga classes or rolled out a mat in my home several times a week. Some classes have been transformative. Some have been uninspiring. But most have left me feeling really good – centered, peaceful, and also physically strong. I’ve learned that, contrary to my initial impression, people of all genders and races participate in yoga classes, and that it’s an incredibly body positive environment.
And the spiritual piece… I actually don’t hate it.
Truthfully, that’s an understatement. Because it’s all about connection to something larger. It’s all about connection, which is why we’re all here on this earth. And it’s all about empathy. And at the heart of that is Namaste.
The Definition of Namaste
At the end of that first class I took with my sister – a phenomenal hour-long set of movements that made my abs sore the next day – the instructor had us all sit in the lotus position at the head of our mats. She had us press our hands together, and the cynical voice in my head said, “ok, here we go… pseudo-spirituality, here I come.” And then she said the thing that has kept me coming back to yoga, time and time again:
Namaste is a respectful Hindu greeting. It means, “the teacher in me recognizes and respects the teacher in you”.
It’s all about empathy!
That’s incredible. That means if you truly practice and believe this, when you meet someone, you’re acknowledging their humanity and their inner world, and also seeking their wisdom. You are acknowledging that regardless of a person’s station in life, they have something to teach you. You are looking into their eyes, but also into their spirit, into their heart, and you are seeking what you can give them and what you can learn from them.
Namaste isn’t just about parroting a word back to an instructor at the end of a yoga session. It’s something I try to bring with me into my life, into all of my interactions.
In my work, this comes naturally. I’m very aware that when I’m working with a client, I not only teach them, but learn a great deal from them.
But in everyday life, it’s much harder. When I disagree with a friend or family member, when I’m having a difficult interaction with a customer service provider, or when I feel defensive walking through the urban streets of Downtown Los Angeles, it’s hard to remember to look for the teacher in other people. It’s hard to remember, especially when I feel hurt, that everyone is doing the best they can.
But I try. And now I have a mantra to bring myself back to this whenever I meet another person.
Namaste.