Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskar)

A Sun Salutation is your basic flow, or Vinyasa, in which you breathe in and out of your nose (called Ujjayi breath) to create heat in your body which allows you to relate your movement to your breath (your life force, or Prana), go into the poses deeper and begin to connect your mind to your body. In general, when you breathe, you inhale for every expansion of the chest and exhale when the body is folded or in a smaller shape (noted with either an I for inhale or E for exhale below). The theory is that, by doing this, you are awakening your body’s awareness and creating direct energy from the sun - which is why these are at the beginning of a typical yoga class as they would usually be performed at the start of the day.

By truly connecting your breath to your movement in your practice, you will start to be present and let your past be in the past and your future come to you rather than you worrying about it.

Namaste

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SUN SALUTATION A

  • Mountain pose with hands in prayer (Tadasana with hands in Anjali Mudra) E

  • Upward salute (Urdhva Hastasana) I

  • Forward fold (Uttanasana) E

  • Flat back (Ardha Uttanasana) I

  • High plank (Utthita Chaturanga Dandasana) E

  • Low plank (Chaturanga Dandasana) E

    • In traditional yoga, you would jump back into low plank from flat back, which is you exhale all the way down to the ground here.

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  • Up dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) I

  • Down dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) E

  • Flat back (Ardha Uttanasana) I

  • Forward fold (Uttanasana) E

  • Upward salute (Urdhva Hastasana) I

  • Ending at Mountain pose with hands in prayer (Tadasana with hands in Anjali Mudra) E

This sequence can be performed a few times at the beginning of a yoga class in order to get the body moving and warm.

SUN SALUTATION B

 
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  • Mountain pose with hands in prayer (Tadasana with hands in Anjali Mudra) E

  • Upward salute (Urdhva Hastasana) I

  • Forward fold (Uttanasana) E

  • Flat back (Ardha Uttanasana) I

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  • High plank (Utthita Chaturanga Dandasana) E

  • Low plank (Chaturanga Dandasana) E

  • Up dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) I

  • Down dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) E

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  • Flat back (Ardha Uttanasana) I

  • Forward fold (Uttanasana) E

  • Chair pose (Utkatasana) I

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  • Forward fold (Uttanasana) E

  • Flat back (Ardha Uttanasana) I

  • High plank (Utthita Chaturanga Dandasana) [not shown] E

  • Low plank (Chaturanga Dandasana) E

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  • Up dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) I

  • Down dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) E

  • Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I) I

  • Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II) E

  • Reverse Warrior (Viparita Virabhadrasana) I

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  • High plank (Utthita Chaturanga Dandasana) E

  • Low plank (Chaturanga Dandasana) E

  • Up dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) I

  • Down dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) E

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  • Flat back (Ardha Uttanasana) I

  • Forward fold (Uttanasana) E

  • Upward salute (Urdhva Hastasana) I

  • Ending at Mountain pose with hands in prayer (Tadasana with hands in Anjali Mudra) E

 

The main different between Sun A and Sun B (other than Chair Pose - everyone’s favorite) is that you need to repeat frames 4, 5, 6 and 7 again doing Warrior I, II and Reverse Warrior with the opposite foot forward.