Sun Salutation
Yesterday morning, I incorporated Yoga’s Sun Salutation (surya namaskar) into my morning routine. My goal is to do 2 sets of the sun salutation every morning as a way to increase overall flexibility and strength.
A couple of years back, I took some Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga classes at the local community college. Basically, it’s like Yoga except it incorporates flow with breath, almost qigong like. Instead of holding fixed postures for long durations of time, postures are held for a certain number of breaths.
I have to admit, after doing a couple of sets in the morning, I felt very energized and ready to begin the day.
Here’s youtube video showing the Sun Salutation
If I were to do yoga, and had my choice of forms I could study, I would choose Ashtanga yoga. A work colleague took it up and the results were in line with where my head was at.
Hey Rick. I guess I was fortunate enough to run into Ashtanga Yoga. I had always seen Ads for “power yoga” and such, but knew I had to seize the opportunity when a traditional Ashtanga instructor appeared. He was very nice and shared with me a lot of information regarding correct alignment and stretching/breathing techniques. One of the main points he emphasized was not going beyond our limits to a point that would mean breaking structure.
Thanks for the reminder about this. I studied Hatha Yoga there Sun Salutation is more complex. This one is simple but effective.
@Zen: My only exposure to the Sun Salutation was via the Ashtanga Vinyasa line. Now that I see other traditions do the sequence, I can see differences as they may be more ’stop points’ than in the ashtanga line. However, I must say that while the sequence may be more simple, combining the movements with the flow of breath is not so easy