I Can"t Remember the Sun Salutation!
You don't need to worry about trying to remember it.
The Sun salutation is simply a series of flowing poses, linked together by breath.
It's also known as a Salute to the Sun or in Sanskrit (the original language of yoga) Surya Namaskar.
This series builds strength and flexibility in the muscles and spinal cord, it alternates flexion (forward bending) and extension (gentle back bending) of the spine through the series.
It's great as a warm up to the rest of your practice or just on it's own.
Different styles and levels of yoga have different variations of the series.
There isn't even a set number of poses in the series, but typically it's twelve to fifteen poses.
Ultimately you could piece together a string of poses that works for you and call it your own personal sun salutation.
A single round is made of two complete sequences of the series, one for the right side and one for the left.
To get the most benefit I would suggest at least 2 rounds of the sequence you choose, or two on each side.
A Basic guideline: Pose 1: Mountain Pose with hands at heart center Breath: Exhale Pose 2:Extended Mountain pose Breath: Inhale Pose 3:Forward Fold Breath: Exhale Pose 4: Lunge Breath: Inhale Pose 5:Downward Facing Dog Breath: Exhale Pose 6: Plank Breath: Inhale Pose 7: Crocodile Breath: Exhale Pose 8:Cobra or Updog Breath: Inhale Pose 9: Downward Facing Dog Breath: Exhale Pose 10: Lunge Breath: Inhale Pose 11: Forward Fold Breath: Exhale Pose 12: Extended Mountain Pose Breath: Inhale Pose 13: Chair (not typical but I like to add this one in) Breath: Exhale Pose 14: Extended Mountain Pose Breath: Inhale Pose 15: Mountain Breath: Exhale A few other basic notes about the series is not to stress out about the breathing.
The key really to make sure you are breathing and not holding your breath, the rest will come in time.
Making sure to breath in or out as the case may be with each pose will keep you moving along faster and warm-up your breath and your body very easily and very quickly.
There are many variations of this series online, in books and elsewhere and they will all work.
Don't worry about following them word for word or movement for movement.
Let the movement take over and enjoy your practice, these should not be a memory test!
The Sun salutation is simply a series of flowing poses, linked together by breath.
It's also known as a Salute to the Sun or in Sanskrit (the original language of yoga) Surya Namaskar.
This series builds strength and flexibility in the muscles and spinal cord, it alternates flexion (forward bending) and extension (gentle back bending) of the spine through the series.
It's great as a warm up to the rest of your practice or just on it's own.
Different styles and levels of yoga have different variations of the series.
There isn't even a set number of poses in the series, but typically it's twelve to fifteen poses.
Ultimately you could piece together a string of poses that works for you and call it your own personal sun salutation.
A single round is made of two complete sequences of the series, one for the right side and one for the left.
To get the most benefit I would suggest at least 2 rounds of the sequence you choose, or two on each side.
A Basic guideline: Pose 1: Mountain Pose with hands at heart center Breath: Exhale Pose 2:Extended Mountain pose Breath: Inhale Pose 3:Forward Fold Breath: Exhale Pose 4: Lunge Breath: Inhale Pose 5:Downward Facing Dog Breath: Exhale Pose 6: Plank Breath: Inhale Pose 7: Crocodile Breath: Exhale Pose 8:Cobra or Updog Breath: Inhale Pose 9: Downward Facing Dog Breath: Exhale Pose 10: Lunge Breath: Inhale Pose 11: Forward Fold Breath: Exhale Pose 12: Extended Mountain Pose Breath: Inhale Pose 13: Chair (not typical but I like to add this one in) Breath: Exhale Pose 14: Extended Mountain Pose Breath: Inhale Pose 15: Mountain Breath: Exhale A few other basic notes about the series is not to stress out about the breathing.
The key really to make sure you are breathing and not holding your breath, the rest will come in time.
Making sure to breath in or out as the case may be with each pose will keep you moving along faster and warm-up your breath and your body very easily and very quickly.
There are many variations of this series online, in books and elsewhere and they will all work.
Don't worry about following them word for word or movement for movement.
Let the movement take over and enjoy your practice, these should not be a memory test!
