As the father of a two-year-old son, I find my mind shifting into automatic responses at unexpected times. Perhaps it comes from having to redirect his attention a hundred times a day from things that he shouldn’t be doing, training him to refine his coordination (yoga definitely helps, even at his age!), or instilling in him the manners we hope he will maintain throughout his life. It’s nice to see a certain return on investment when he offers a polite, unprompted “Thank you” when a teller at the bank gives him a sticker or when he asks for things with “please” as a matter of course. People notice and appreciate good manners.

At the end of my yoga classes, I direct my students to come out of Savasana, their final relaxation, by reconnecting with the breath, moving slowly onto their right sides, and coming up gradually to a seated position. We pause for a few moments before bringing our hands into Anjali Mudra. Normally, I close with “Namaste” and bow to my students, bidding them a good night and safe travels.

Last Monday night my fathering instinct kicked in and the words “Nighty-night” tried to escape in place of “Namaste”. They were literally on the tip of my tongue. I managed to stifle a giggle and say “Namaste” before bowing forward. The students lingered for a moment in this meditative moment, and as they began to move about, I offered them an instant anecdote of my near-gaff. We laughed together, and I mused that for an evening class, perhaps Namaste could have this second meaning. It is, after all, a way of delineating the communal time just spent on the mat from the reintegration into our individual lives. Many of us head home after evening classes and in a short time make our way to bed.

The flip side of the story is that when my son sees a picture of someone with their hands together in front of their chest (be it in prayer or some other gesture), he says, “Namaste”. I don’t know what the word means for him, but he instantly recognizes it as something special and significant. Well before he turned two, he was lying on the changing table with Blue Bear, his favorite stuffed animal, and I heard him say, “Namaste”. I looked down to find that he had taken Blue Bear’s arms in his own little hands and brought them together in front of the bear’s chest. He was sharing this yoga blessing with his most cherished friend.