What is the significance of Namaste? What is the significance of Satnam?
Namaste is spoken after almost every yoga session, at least in the west. Namaste is a welcome as well as a farewell in India. However, regardless of the intent, this is a loaded and potent term when spoken with mindfulness and check out this blog post.
Namaste means "I bow to and recognize the light inside you." It is a recognition of our fundamental essence that is apart from how we usually perceive ourselves. We are, at our core, vibrating particles of linked energy, and light is energy. We connect to/become this throughout our practice and whenever we are in any activity when we are in a state of being rather than thinking. To say that we see this in another suggests that we recognize how we ARE the other, not just our relationship to them. I acknowledge that I am a part of you and that you are a part of me. I am what you are, and you are what I am.
In Kundalini Yoga, Satnam is utilized in the same way as Namaste is used in Hatha Yoga. Satnam is a word with similar meaning. Satnam roughly translates as "I am the truth, truth is ones," and "I am a part of those, which includes you and me and god." There is nothing that separates me from God or you. I recognize the other person like myself.
