It’s popular! It’s magical! It’s spiritual! It probably has 12 million pages- blogs-books- articles on the web all for itself! So I’ll spare you all of that and let the greatest preach all about it but here is a revealing of my 8 secrets on the Surya Namaskaras or Sun Salutations.
The Sun Salutaion Secret Spill List
- Prayer Pose — It’s truly a great way to begin an exercise routine! To just stand straight, fold your hands, inhale a huge gulp of fresh air, and wait for the action to begin. It’s surprising how many practitioners don’t take this asana seriously! It really might look that you are just standing with your hands folded. The truth is that you are trying to elongate your upper body while keeping all edges of the foot nicely grounded! The Secret is to pull your anal muscles which does the trick of keeping the spine aligned and shoulders drawn back with the abdomen sucked in and keeping the body straight to find a BALANCE! Where’s the stretch? It stretches the mind and brings a calming effect!
- Raised arms pose — The Secret is to push your hips as forward as you can and going as backward down as you can! Another Secret is to stretch up more and not stretch backwards! Tone that spinal cord that is highly mistreated due to the gadgets in our world! Don’t close your eyes! There isn’t a better posture to loosen a tight back.
- Forward bend pose — Staying with the cardinal rule of life! What goes back must come forward! And here intensely forward! What I love about it is that, you are allowed to bend the knees a little bit, enough to help you touch your palms on the ground! A good yoga teacher can tell the Secret on how to make the forward bend by bringing in a beautiful stretch movement from the hips and not your back! And the blood rush upto the head is a major mind clearer. If you do get this, then suddenly the whole meaning of the forward bend will change!
- Low lunge pose — If you actually start your day doing surya namaskars, then this pose is a wake up asana! The Secret is to push and push those hips down to the floor as much as you can! You burst into that sweet pain as the stretch deepens in the upper thighs! And just in case you are a runner or a cyclist, do this to create that awesome opening sensation especially in that tight abdomen given bending forward for hours!
- Plank Pose– I find this hard to do but this one has been majorly responsible in getting my arms, shoulders and wrists strong! The Secret is to manage to maintain the weight on palms that should be nicely dug into the mat. And finally don’t forget to unlock the elbows. Keep them soft and avoid injury. Get those biceps to work hard instead. Feel the stretch right into your core! Planks are all about endurance building, enough said!
- Astanga pose ( Asth(eight) Ang(organ) pose — This one is all about the two hands, two feet, two knees, chest and chin touching the floor, all at the sametime. And is dedicated mainly to the back of the neck! The Secret is to keep the elbows hugged along the ribcage. It’s a sexy yet graceful push of the booty along with sucking in of the tummy! The stretch goes to the spinal cord and the shoulders.
- Cobra Pose — I call this the mood elevator! You can actually break the monotony of hours of sitting at the desk by just breaking into this pose 2–3 times in one go. The pose isn’t much if you don’t stretch your legs and lift your head up high and therein lies the Secret to unleash the energy channels. A lot has been written about how this asana has empowered people with greater confidence and lowered their stress levels. I definitely feel very bright after this! Remember to inhale nice and proper as you push the chest forward.
- Downward dog pose — I call it my wake up asana! The most mysterious of them all! A favorite and the most difficult to master! There are millions of pages on the internet about this one! The Secret to draw the maximum from this pose is to get the right yoga teacher who will tell you how to work the body while in the posture. Another secret (goading you to try ) is that once you are finally in the pose suck your abdomen in as much as possible because this is where the mind and the body start connecting! Also don’t forget to attempt to gaze at your naval while you do this or else the head just drops aimlessly! This asana wakes me up like nothing can! I feel super energetic! Sometimes the day is long and unending- and a minute of downward dog has brought me back to life.
I am a fan! And don’t worry if those heels aren’t touching the ground as yet. Yoga doesn’t take time, it gives time — to slowly and gradually get things right!
Here’s a video you can use for your practice
15 comments
So passionately written…gonna do my surya namaskars starting tomorrow.
Looking forward to more tips on fitness from you…
Wow, that was a good read. I’m loving this blog already. Will be following it regularly. Subscribed!
I have known Tanya for almost 12 years now but it was in 2014 when she advised me on running and how to do it right. 2 chats were good enough for me to increase my distance from 3 km to 10 km and a year later I could finish a half marathon. Now she writes on Surya Namaskar and I am going to do it exactly the way she has recommended because I know it’s the right way to do it. Thanks a ton Tanya.
Love it! And thank you Tanya for introducing me to yoga. Look forward to more tips on fitness and healthy eating.
Very passionately written, Tanya Agarwal. Almost inspires me to do this daily…Hope to start ASAP and perfect it over time.
That was a good read Tanya. Salute your energy and dedication to fitness. Excellent tips on the asanas. Hope to see many more writings from you.
Wooaahhh…such an in depth analysis of each pose…totally helpful in improvising my Suryanamaskars…looking forward to the next post Tanya..
Hi Tanya. ..dats well described. .good job done as I have started doing my asanas correct noe..bt I face problem as wen to breathe in nd wen to breathe out…plz help me regarding this…already thankful to u dear
A mail is being sent to u on this.
Thank you for the review
Congratulations for the blog, Tanya.
I have enjoyed your post and I will keep it in mind in my Suryanamaskar practise.
Keep on!!!
Thank you for this review
Perfectly preached and detailed with the pictures for us to learn it with perfection! Thanks a ton T for making it easier to do the right way !
Great job Tanya. Well written and explained.
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Nicely hustled T …the nuances you’ve highlighted will certainly help getting those poses corrected.
Can already see myself doing much better at the Surya Namaskars.