A word I encountered with disbelief in 2004 when a yoga teacher I knew extolled the virtues of this new discipline, which I had never seen her demonstrate.
Turns out it's a trademark whadoyoucallit.
But doesn't it just make you feel sick? Such an unaesthetic word: yogalates. Waiter! There's a sun salutation in my coffee!
Oh, and listen to how they end a class:
At the end of each Yogalates session we finish traditionally by all repeating the Sanskrit word NAMASTE ……..which is a greeting used in India and Nepal. It has many definitions the more common one being “The Divine in me recognises the divine in you”……………Mutual respect is acknowledged between the teacher and student.
Hyuk hyuk.
Oh and someone please tell me what the other definitions of 'namaste' are.
12 comments:
Wait...are you telling me that's what folded hands mean? I always thought that folding hands was a symbolic gesture for "If I didnt this the palm would keep up it's rendezvous with your cheek.."
Now it turns out my hands are basically an atheist divine being!! Who knew?
Talk about things getting out of hand..
I am guessing "Yogalates" is a portmanteau word (Yoga + Pilates). Regardless of its origin, it's a silly word.
Good call on the "Namaste" business. I'm tired of seeing hippie yoga teachers on television going on and on about how "namaste" and its literal definition.
Just imagine if someone in India or Nepal found something mystical about "how you doin". (No, wait, that is a cosmic greeting.)
Ugh, an unwanted "how" sneaked into my comment.
Namaste [2] int. (chiefly North American) Salutation meant to convey disbelief that other party is sucker enough to pay good money for being fed faux-oriental mumbo-jumbo. e.g. "Namaste! I'm Deepak Chopra."
km: Oh, that how was unwanted, was it? And here I thought it was an authentic spiritual American-Indian greeting.
Yucky. And how:)
"I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells, I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom and of Peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One."
I am not making that one up. It is on venerable wiki.
And Doga (Dog + yoga)? You and your dog will now relax, take a deep breathe and do the downward dog pose.
namaste: Do you know the Valmiki story? Where he's initially unable to say the word "Rama" and so someone (Narada? Brahma?) teaches him to say "Mara mara mara maramarama Rama Rama..." etc.?
Similarly, namaste started when Salim Phekoo was sitting outside the Charminar in 1632 sipping Irani chai and watching some Circassian beauty go by on a palanquin and said, "mast ey na?" and then got stuck in an infinite loop of "mast ey na? mast ey na? ..."
You get pitcher?
I'm going nuts, I think. Off to bed.
Ludwig:
That.was.brilliant!
I'm liking Salim Phekoo.
> I'm liking Salim Phekoo.
Then you'll want to watch this flick called "The Angrez", if you haven't already. It's 90% quite tedious, but Salim Phekoo is the find.
Wait. The best bits are probably on YouKnowWhoseTube. Which seems to be mysteriously down...
Heh! Thanks for that.
It also suddenly dawned on me just how long it's been since I heard that level of persistent Hyderabadi accent.
You have to say Yogalates with an American drawl for it to sound even halfway bearable. With any kind of Indian accent, it sounds like another code word for going to the bathroom.
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