How can we do Surya Namaskar(Salutation)

How can we do Surya Namaskar(Salutation)

1. Pranamasana: 

Also known as prayer pose, Pranamasana is the start of your Surya Namaskar. Stand upright on your mat with your feet closely aligned. Inhale deeply, expanding your chest, and relaxing your shoulders. While you inhale, raise your arms from the sides. And as you exhale, join your palms together as if praying in front of the deity. This is the Pratham Namaskar or first salutation towards the sun. 

2. Hastauttanasana: 

Keeping the palms joined in the previous prayer position, breathe in and lift your arms up and bend backward slightly. Your biceps should lie close to your ears. This posture is to loosen up your body by stretching the entire body backward, standing at your tiptoes. 

 3. Hasta Padasana: 

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. 

 4. Ashwa Sanchalanasana: 

Now breathe in, and stretch your body parallely to the ground. Keep your hands to the side, and bring your right knee towards the right part of the chest and let your left leg stretch behind. Look up. 

 5. Dandasana: 

Now as your inhale, fling your right leg also backward aligning your entire body parallel to the ground. 

 6. Ashtanga Namaskara: 

This is also known as giving salutations using eight parts or points. After staying in Dandasana, gently bring down your knees towards the floor and exhale. Now bring your chin to rest on the floor, keep your hips elevated in the air. Hence, your eight parts which are two hands, two knees, chin, and chest will rest on the floor while your hip stays elevated in the air. 

 7. Bhujangasana: 

This is also known as Cobra pose. This is simply aligning your chest and torso 90 degrees to the ground, keeping your legs and mid-section flat on the ground. Make sure you use your hands to support your body and are not tempted to transfer your entire weight onto them. 

 8. Parvatasana: 

Again, return to the parvatasana from bhujangasana. Keep your palm and feet where they are, and slowly raise your mid-section. Breathe out as you enter parvatasana. 

 9. Ashwa Sanchalanasana: 

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 right foot forward, while resting the left foot behind, at its original position. 

 10. Hasta Padasana: 

Now slowly bring your left foot forward, next to the right foot as you exhale. Keeping the position of your hands intact, lift yourself up to slowly enter Hasta Padasana. 

 11. Hastauttanasana: 

Now inhale, raise your hands upward, and bend backward to enter Ardha Chakra Asana. 

 12. Pranama asana: 

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.