Sun salutations (surya namaskarasana) are a classic yoga sequence. You might have noticed that they vary a lot, depending on who is teaching.
None of it is right or wrong. It’s all yoga, it’s all good!
In Akhanda yoga, we start with the classical sun salutations. Sometimes, when you’re trying to follow along with a class online, it can be hard to touch on all the fine points of each pose in the sequence because there’s just not enough time between breaths! Here, we’ll take a closer look at each pose to help you get strong, graceful, and consistent with the sequence.
Remember to use your ujjayi breath as you go, and to time those breaths to match each movement.
Tadasana
Start standing with your big toes together (heels slightly apart) or, as I prefer, with my feet as wide as my hips. Spread your toes. Place your palms together over your heart in namaskar mudra (fingers together!).
Urdhvahastottanasana
As you inhale, reach your arms overhead, backbending slightly. Take care that you’re keeping the front of your body strong to support the backbend. Think about lifting your heart up to avoid straining your low back.
Prsthottanasana
As you exhale, fold forward. Relax your head and shoulders, and keep your spine long. Let your knees bend if that feels better. If your hands don’t reach the floor, rest them on your shins.
Cetakasana
Inhale as you take a big step back with the right foot, resting the right knee on the ground. Keep your hands on the mat. The left knee is over the left ankle. Let your hips move down and forward, keeping the back long.
Caturangadandasana
Hold the breath just long enough to step the left foot back to the plank position. Palms are flat on the floor, and there is a straight line from your head to your heels — take care that your hips are along that line, not above nor below.
Sastanganamaskarasana
Exhale to bring your knees, chest, and chin to the floor (eight-limbed salutation pose). Keep your elbows close to your sides.
Bhujangasana
Inhale to cobra pose. Lift as high as you comfortably can (the elbows can stay bent) while your lower body rests on the floor. Note that this is different from upward dog, where only the tops of your feet and your palms are contacting the floor. Keep your elbows close to your body and your shoulders away from your ears. Wrists are below your shoulders. Think about directing your heart forward to stay long through the spine. We don’t want to feel any pain or pinching in the low back.
Parvatasana
Curl your toes into the mat and exhale to lift to mountain pose. (This is often called downward dog, but keep in mind that downward dog is a little different than mountain pose). Here, your ears are between your biceps. Keep your fingers spread wide, middle fingers pointing forward, and press your palms flat, allowing your entire hand (all the way to the fingertips!) to support your weight. Let your heels move toward the floor, even if they don’t touch yet. We’re working toward straight legs, but it’s okay to keep a little bend in your knees if your hamstrings are tight. We want to shape our bodies like an upside-down V; direct your heart toward your knees to help you keep a straight line from your wrists to your tailbone.
Cetakasana
Inhale to step your right foot forward between your hands, letting your left knee rest down on the ground. The right knee should be on top of the right ankle, right foot flat on the ground. Keep your fingers on the mat. Long spine.
Prsthottanasana
Exhale to step the left foot forward beside the right in a forward fold. Again, let your head and shoulders relax down, and keep a little bend in your knees to take care of your back and tight hamstrings if that feels best.
Urdhvahastottanasana
Inhale as you stand up, keeping your spine long as you go, and reach the arms overhead with a slight backbend.
Tadasana
Exhale as you bring your palms together over your heart, standing in tadasana. That’s half of one round! Do the second half by stepping back to cetakasana with your left leg first.
We do classical sun salutations in many of our Akhanda classes, and then we might choose to include variations by adding in great beautiful warrior (mahavirabhadrasana, often called warrior II) or triangle (trikonasana) along with high lunge (virasana) and caturanga. Before doing a variation, complete a round or two of the classical sequence.
Sun salutations make a great warm up, or you can do a lot of rounds and make them a complete practice. It’s best if you can practice them around the time when the sun is rising, and you shouldn’t do as many of them if you’re practicing at night.