Surya Namaskar Steps

Surya Namaskar Steps, or Surya Namaskar, are traditionally performed in the morning to greet the new day. This sequence of Surya Namaskar Steps can be a complete practice in itself or can prepare you for a longer asana routine. It is a combination of some of the yoga poses in a continuous series. It involves stretching, arching and compressing various body muscles to tone up the body.

The yoga pose is also useful in enhancing the digestive and respiratory system of the body. Moreover, regular practice of Surya Namaskar develops the strength, balance, flexibility, focus and concentration of both body and mind. This set of yogic postures is considered to be the best among all the yoga exercises and advised to be practice twice a day for optimum advantage.

The steps of Surya Namaskar poses are described below:

1.  Pranamasana (Prayer Pose):

(It is a variation of Tadasana with namaste hands). Begin the sequence by joining the palms in namaste hands near your chest and have your feet placed together and stand close to the edge of the mat. Close your eyes and take a few breaths pulling in the abdominal muscles and expanding the chest while keeping the back straight. Calm the breathing if it is too fast or too short. This pose helps with calming the breath and relaxing the body.

Beginner tip: If closing the eyes brings giddiness or feels uncomfortable, then keep the eyes open and focus on any one point while continuing breathing.

2.  Hasta uttanasana (Raised Arm Backbend Pose):

Breathe while keeping the palms in the previous prayer position and raise your arms up and bend slightly backwards. Your biceps should be near your ears. This posture is to loosen your body by pulling the entire body backwards, standing with its tip on its toes. The energy bends backwards to breathe in the upper part of the body. Make sure the feet are firm on the floor and as you move the upper body backwards, take a deep breath and feel the chest expand.

3.  Hasta Padasana (Standing Forward Bend Pose):

Now breathe out, and bend forward from the waist. Go down and touch you’re the ground but keeping your spine erect. Do this as your exhale slowly and completely. Exhale completely and place the palms on the mat close to either side of your feet and reach for the knees with your forehead. If this is difficult, one could bend the knees a bit or take the body forward as per the comfort level.

4.  Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Lunge Pose):

Inhale, bend the right knee, extend the left leg back and drop the left knee on the ground while continuing to place the palms on the floor close to the right foot. Push the spine downwards, feeling the stretch in the inner right thighs and press the pelvic deep towards the floor raising the chest, head and the shoulders backwards. Gazing towards the sky, exhale completely and begin slow breathing taking the energy upwards to the head.  If placing the palms on the floor completely is difficult, bring the tips of the fingers on the floor, but make sure the posture is correct.

5. Dandasana (Plank Pose):

Inhale and bring your right leg back as well. Now both your hands will be right under your shoulders. Ensure that your body is parallel to the ground.

6.  Ashtanga Namaskara (Eight Limbed Pose):

This is also referred to as salutations using eight points or parts. After performing Chaturanga Dandasana, exhale and slowly bring your knees down toward the floor. Rest your chin on the floor and keep your hips suspended in the air. If done correctly, both your hands, knees, chin, and chest will rest on the ground while your hips will remain suspended in the air.

7. Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose):

This is also known as Cobra pose. Rest your legs and midsection flat on the ground. Position your palms beside your chest. Inhale and apply pressure on the hands to raise your upper body. At this point, your head and torso will resemble a cobra with a raised hood.

8.  Parvatasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose):

Keep your palms and feet where they are. Exhale and gently lift your hips, so that the body forms an inverted ‘V’. Straighten your elbows and knees. Look toward your navel.

9. Ashwa Sanchalanasana (High Lunge Pose):

Now from Parvatasana, return to the ashwa sanchalanasana. But this time, we do the opposite of what we did in the 4th step. Procedure- Bring your left foot forward, while resting the right foot behind, at its original position.

10. Hasta Padasana (Standing Forward Bend):

Inhale and bring your left foot forward, such that it is next to your right foot. Keeping the position of your hands intact, exhale and slowly bend your torso to enter into the Hasta Padasana pose.

11. Hasta uttanasana (Raised Arms Pose):

Inhale and lift your upper body. Join the palms and raise your arms above your head. Then bend backward as you did in step 2.

12.  Pranamasana (Prayer Pose):

Finally, exhale and stand in a relaxed manner in the namaskara mudra. Feel the positive vibrations in your body. This is how you complete one repetition of Surya Namaskar. Twelve repetitions of this holistic exercise are said to yield maximum benefit.  

To reap the maximum benefits of Sun Salutation, perform 12 sets of these 12 asanas every day, that is six rounds on the right leg and six rounds on the left leg.