NAMASTE'
ANJALI MUDRA(the hands position)
Pronounced (AHN-jah-lee-MOO-dra) meaning (anjali = offering, mudra = seal or sign)
Namaste' is also pronounced Namaskar (in a different dialect)
It is a very formal Hello or Goodbye. In the western world, we either shake hands or wave (a mundra) and say Hello or Goodbye (Namaste')
Namaste' is often translated "I bow to the light within you from the light within me"
Closing the eyes, and placing the hands in this mudra, will help a person start to understand the saying "poses come form within the body". When doing this mundra, feel the inner state.
Instructions:
- Sit in a comfortable position (or stand, kneel)
- Sit back on your sitting bones
- Lengthen the spine
- Slightly tucking the chin
- Place palms together at the center of the chest...each finger touching.
- Thumbs at the heart center, but not touching the body
- Fingers slightly spread apart
- Elbows close to the torso, but not touching the body
- Pull the shoulders back, and imagine the shoulder blades coming closer together
- While saying "Namaste" slightly bow the head.
In the Western culture we associate the Anjali Mundra (hand position) with prayer. Because we have grown up with this gesture as part of our culture, each of us probably has our own personal connection to this mundra - positive or negative. Some of us may find a subconscious resistance to bringing our hands together as if it were a sign of submission. However, the beauty of this gesture, which positions us right at the core of our being, is timeless and universal.
Bringing the hands together at the center literally connects the right and left hemispheres of your brain. This is the yogic process of unification, the yoking of our active and receptive natures.
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