the Sun Salutation

The Sun Salutation is a series of yoga postures combined to form a sequence of rapid, flowing movement and rhythmic breathing. This "yoga gym" develops powerful lung capacity, agile mobility and breath co-ordination with a comprehensive fitness result.

As with all yoga practice this sequence leaves the body refreshed and with radiating vitality, building rather than depleting energy through the stimulation of the lungs and circulatory system, and by stimulating the adrenal glands and the kidney’s during the lower back bends. It is a precision cardio-vascular workout that aligns the entire body, building and toning muscle from head to toe without risk of injury.

Practising the salutation to the sun sequence

Always inhale as the body opens up, i.e. as the arms are lifted into the back bend. Exhale as you bend into a posture. Beginners must exercise great caution – gently check your capacity. Approach the first two or three rounds slowly, especially when the salutation is performed as a warming up sequence. It is a good idea to warm up for the sequence by doing the individual poses that it is made up before attempting to do the flowing, sensual movement associated with the modern salutations.
Repeat as many times as you want, one breath (in or out) per posture.

● Stand on both feet. Inhale, lifting the arms, then bend back very gently.
● Straighten up and exhale, bending forward through a table stretch, with a straight back, finishing the exhalation with the hands touching the floor.
●Inhale as you lift the head, placing the right leg as far back as possible, keeping the left leg forward, bending at the knee.
● Hold the breath in and extend the left leg to the back as well, standing on the toes and arms as if to do a push up.
● Exhale as you bend the knees to the floor and push the hips backwards over the ankles, pushing the arms forward.
● Inhale as you move forward onto the stomach, then push the upper body into a back bend by straightening the arms, keeping the legs long and firm. Tuck the toes under, and exhale by lifting the hips up, pushing away from both the feet and the hands.
●Finish the exhalation with the legs and arms straight and strong, the neck relaxed the shoulders strong and firm, and stretching calves and thighs.
●On the next breath in bring the left leg forward, lift the head while going into a back bend with the arms on the ground next to the front leg.
● Exhale while swinging the right leg forward to bring it next to the left foot, pushing the hips up to complete the double bend forward.
●Keep the hands on the floor while finishing the breath out, then inhale as you come up with the arms leading, and a straight back.
●Repeat with alternating legs, first right back, then left forward, then left back first on the next sequence, right forward, then right back first on the next.

A spiritual note

The name is derived from the Sanskrit ‘Suryanamaskara’, literally meaning ‘to worship the sun, the giver of life’.
In traditional yoga practice this is a prayerful contemplation of the divine, life –giving power of warmth and light that the sun represents. This is an example of the quality of the ‘inner mood’ fostered by yoga practice. This should not be seen as a form of pagan worship, but rather as the acknowledgement of the forces of nature that our organic life depends on, a notion inherent in all yoga practice. It is this ‘spirituality’ that sets yoga aside from western materialistic culture, and is often encountered in less materialistic cultures, like the American Indians, had a close connection with earth and the cosmos.

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