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Week 13 : Sun Salutation or Suriya Namaska
So we have finally learnt all the postures you require for your first major vinyasa the sun salutation, so lets energize our bodies and stretch and strengthen all the major muscle groups.
Surya Namaskar is a set of 12 postures, whose regular practice improves circulation of blood throughout the body, maintains health, and helps one remain disease-free. There are numerous benefits of Surya Namaskar from head to toe, every part of the body is greatly benefitted which is why it is highly recommended by all yoga experts.
Suriya Namaskar or Salute to the Sun is just that, we are symbolically honouring and expressing gratitude to the sun, the giver of light, warmth, energy and so much more, without the sun our planet would not survive so we have much to be grateful for.
With the intention of thankfulness in mind – let’s begin the practice:
Stand in Tadasana inhale and bring the hands to prayer position, exhale.
Inhale reach up and gently lean back if you wish.
Exhale bring the arms forward and reach towards the feet into standing forward bend.
Bend the legs (if necessary) and bring the hands to the floor.
Inhale step the right foot back with a long step and bring the foot down and then the knee ( be sure the front knee is over the heel and not over the toes) open the chest into Ascwasanchalasana.
Hold the breath step the left foot back to a flat plank.
Exhale and bring the knees to the floor, then using your upper body strength lower the chest and the chin, keeping the tummy off the floor and the bottom up, into Ashtanga Namaskar.
Inhale flatten the body and then use the arms to raise the chest up into Cobra.
Exhale push back into Downward Facing Dog (you can come through the knees if coming up with straight legs is too difficult).
Inhale step the right foot forward to between the hands ( make sure the knee is over the heel and ankle and not over the toes).
Exhale step the right foot forward to standing forward bend.
Inhale come up and reach the arms up over head.
Exhale bring the hands to prayer position.
Repeat the sequence replacing any right foot movements with the left foot and vice versa.
Work this week on learning the physical postures, starting with one round (both sides) then 2 the next day and build up slowly but surely – it would be great if you could be doing 6 rounds per practice, eventually. Once the physical has become easy you can work on incorporating the breath instructions into your practice and developing it further.
A daily practice of 3 to 6 rounds (one round is both sides) as a very effective first step to a home practice!
Serena is a yoga teacher and the founder of The OM Space . She is a passionate believer in yoga as a life enhancing practice and runs several classes in Colombo including the very popular Yoga for Children and Yoga for Pregnancy. Serena trained in the UK with the British Wheel of Yoga and is a UK Yoga Alliance registered Senior Teacher.
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