Prostration is the placement of the body in a reverentially or submissively prone position. By analogy, the term is sometimes used to describe physical exhaustion or illness which results in physical collapse, or metaphorically, for military defeat. Prone refers to the perceived likelihood of being affected by something. ...

Prostration as part of religious and spiritual practices:

• In Christianity, in Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, prostrations are used during the imposition of Holy Orders. Some Eastern Orthodox practitioners also use "low bows" (zemnoy poklon) during worship services. In the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, prostrations ("profound bows") can be used in place of genuflections for those who are unable to genuflect.
• In Buddhism, prostrations are used to show reverence to the Triple Gem.

• In Hinduism, eight-limbed (ashtanga pranama) and five-limbed (panchanga pranama) prostrations are included in the religious ritual of puja.
• In Islam, prostrations (sujud) are used to praise and glorify Allah and are included in ones daily prayers. In addition, the thirty-second chapter (sura) of the Qur'an is called As-Sajda ("The Prostration").
• In Judaism, the Talmudic texts as well as writings of Gaonim and Rishonim indicate that prostration was common among many Jewish communities until some point during the Middle Ages. Members of the Karaite denomination practice full prostrations during prayers. Ashkenazi Orthodox Jews prostrate during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur as did Yemenite Jews during the Tachanun part of regular daily Jewish prayer until somewhat recently. Ethiopian Jews traditionally prostrated during a holiday specific to their community known as Sigd. Sigd comes from a root word meaning prostration in Amharic, Aramaic, and Arabic.
• In modern yoga practice, "sun salutations" (Surya Namaskara) are a regular part of practitioners' routines.
• In the Baha'i Faith, a single prostration is to be performed in the place of each unsaid obligatory prayer.

Prostration in other contexts: Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Catholic deacon candidates prostrate before the altar of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles during a 2004 diaconate ordination liturgy Holy Orders in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Assyrian, Old Catholic, and Independent Catholic churches includes three orders: bishop, priest, and deacon. ... Poyasny (little bow) and zemnoy poklon (great bow) are different kinds of bows used in an Eastern Orthodox worship service. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... Look up Genuflection in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... In Buddhism, a prostration (Pali: panipāta, Skt. ... The Triratna or Three Jewels symbol, on a Buddha footprint. ... Hinduism (known as in some modern Indian languages[1]) is a religion that originated on the Indian subcontinent. ... A puja as performed in Ujjain during the Monsoon on the banks of the overflowing river Shipra. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Bold text sajud is da muslims fingy bt i dnt no coz i aint one so i dnt no wat im tlkin bout bt im suposed to learn 4 an r. ... Allah is the Arabic language word for God. ... Sura (sometimes spelt Surah , plural Suwar ) is an Arabic term literally meaning something enclosed or surrounded by a fence or wall. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Surat As-Sajda (The Prostration, Worship, Adoration) is the 32nd sura of the Quran with 30 ayat. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The first page of the Vilna Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a. ... Geonim (also Gaonim) (Hebrew: גאונים) were the presidents of the two great rabbinical colleges of Sura and Pumbedita, in Babylonia, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta (Exilarch) who wielded secular authority over the... Rishonim (ראשונים Hebrew - sing. ... Karaite Judaism is a Jewish denomination characterized by reliance on the Tanakh as the sole scripture, and rejection of the Oral Law (the Mishnah and the Talmuds) as halakha (Legally Binding, i. ... Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, AÅ¡kanazi,AÅ¡kanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAÅ¡kănāzî, ʾAÅ¡kănāzîm, pronounced sing. ... Orthodox Judaism is one of the three major branches of Judaism. ... This article is about the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. ... Yom Kippur (IPA: ; Hebrew:יוֹם כִּפּוּר, IPA: ) is the Jewish holiday of the Day of Atonement. ... Yemenite Jews (Hebrew: תֵּימָנִים, Standard Temanim Tiberian ; singular תֵּימָנִי, Standard Temani Tiberian ) are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen (תֵּימָן, Standard Teman Tiberian ; far south), on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. ... Tachanun or Tahanun (Hebrew: תחנון Supplication) is part of Judaisms morning (Shacharit) and afternoon (Mincha) services, after the recitation of the Amidah, the central part of the daily Jewish prayer services. ... The Beta Israel (or House of Israel), known by outsiders by the pejorative term Falasha or Falash Mura (exiles or strangers) are Jews of Ethiopian origin. ... The Ethiopian Sigd festival falls on 29th of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, and is a festival unique to the Beta Israel community. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Aramaic is a Semitic language with a four-thousand year history. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... Statue of Shiva performing Yogic meditation Yoga (Devanagari: योग) is a Sanskrit word that has a wide range of different meanings. ... SÅ«rya namaskāra (Salute to the Sun), also commonly called Surya Namaskar, is a vitalising exercise, commonly used as a warm up to more demanding activity. ... Known in India as the Lotus Temple, the Bahai House of Worship attracts an average of three and a half million visitors a year. ... Baháís must, according to Baháulláh, say at least one of three revealed Obligatory Prayers (salaat in Arabic). ...

• In Imperial China, a form of prostration known as a kowtow was used as a sign of respect and submission

China is the worlds oldest continuous major civilization, with written records dating back about 3,500 years and with 5,000 years being commonly used by Chinese as the age of their civilization. ... Kowtowing Kowtow, from the Chinese term kòu tóu (Cantonese: kau tàuh) (叩頭), is the act of deep respect shown by kneeling and bowing so low as to touch the head to the ground. ...

See also

• Bowing
• Genuflection
• Subordination