What is a Sun Salutation?
A Sun Salutation is the linking of a number of yoga poses together into a sequences. The sequence is completed in one smooth flow. In Vinyasa yoga, the sequence is also linked to the breath. Inhaling occurs on the upward movement and exhaling on the downward movement.
Each posture counteracts the previous one, giving the body a full warm up as the sequence is completed. The alternating backward and forward bends stretch and flex the body.
A Sun Salutation is a great warm up for the body and an excellent sequence to complete either on its own, as the entire yoga practice, or as part of a longer routine of yoga poses.
It is considered a warm up pose to prepare the body for more intense exercise.
There are many variations of Sun Salutations but Sun Salutation A and Sun Salutation B are the most common.
- What is a Sun Salutation?
- Benefits of doing a Sun Salutation
- Steps in Sun Salutation A
- How can I remember the steps?
- 10 Key Yoga Poses for BeginnersFree Download
- Things to know before you begin your Sun Salutation
- Flowing through the Sun Salutation
- Breathing through the Sun Salutation (when to inhale, when to exhale)
- Sun Salutation tips as a beginner
- Common mistakes
- Safety and precautions
- 6 reasons to practice Sun Salutations
- The Sanskrit name for a Sun Salutation
- How can I make yoga practice a habit in my life?
- 10 Key Yoga Poses for BeginnersFree Download
Benefits of doing a Sun Salutation
A Sun Salutation usually forms part of the warm up of a yoga class. It serves to warm up the entire body and to begin to calm the mind.
The poses assist to build strength, flexibility and tone in the body. The sequence stretches the hamstrings, opens the shoulders and the chest and builds strength in the arms and shoulders. It creates length and flexibility in the spine and helps to lubricate the joints.
The smooth flow of breath builds capacity in the lungs and increases the circulation. This helps increase energy levels.
The release of tension is another benefit of completing a Sun Salutation. It can be very difficult to switch off from a busy day and to focus the mind on the yoga practice, and the focus on the breath in this sequence helps to quiet the mind.
Steps in Sun Salutation A
Mountain pose (Tadasana)
Stand with feet hip distance apart.
Find the balance point with weight spread evenly across all four corners of the feet.
Knees over ankles, hips over knees, shoulders over hips.
Pull the thighs up, soften the kneecaps.
Pull lower belly in and up.
Tuck tailbone under.
Extend the spine, pull the ribcage up and away from the belly.
Relax the shoulders away from the ears.
Hands towards the thighs.
Chin in a neutral position, long back of the neck.
Upward salute
Stand in mountain pose.
Inhale and raise the arms above the head.
Stretch the spine long.
Press the palms together and look up.
Forward fold
Hinge at the hips and fold forwards, arms wide.
Extend the crown of the head towards the floor.
Back of the neck long.
Pull the lower belly in, pull up with the legs.
Flat back
Inhale and extend the spine.
Reach the chest and crown of the head forwards.
Pull lower abdomen in, engage the legs.
Plank
Kneel with hands underneath the shoulders and knees underneath the hips.
Tuck the toes and lift the knees.
Shoulders remain in line with the wrists.
Body in a straight line from the back of the head to the heels.
Belly pulled in.
Press firmly into the palms.
Knees, chest, chin
From plank pose, lower knees to the floor.
Lower chest and chin to the floor.
Lower down completely to end.
Cobra
Lie flat on the floor.
Palms under shoulders, fingers facing forwards.
Press the top of the feet into the floor, hip distance apart.
Press pelvis into the floor.
Inhale, lift the chest upward without pressing through the hands.
Downward facing dog
Feet hip width apart.
Hands under shoulders, weight evenly distributed across both hands.
Tuck toes under and press hips back.
Press sit bones up towards the ceiling.
Press down through the heels and fully straighten the legs without locking the knees.
Press shoulders away from the ears.
Tuck chin to lightly lengthen the back of the neck.
Engage the abdomen.
Flat back
Inhale and extend the spine.
Reach the chest and crown of the head forwards.
Pull lower abdomen in, engage the legs.
Forward fold
Hinge at the hips and fold forwards, arms wide.
Extend the crown of the head towards the floor.
Back of the neck long.
Pull the lower belly in, pull up with the legs.
Upward salute
Inhale and raise the arms above the head.
Stretch the spine long.
Press the palms together and look up.
Mountain pose (Tadasana)
Stand with feet hip distance apart.
Find the balance point with weight spread evening across all four corners of the feet.
Knees over ankles, hips over knees, shoulders over hips.
Pull the thighs up, soften the kneecaps.
Pull lower belly in and up.
Tuck tailbone under.
Extend the spine, pull the ribcage up and away from the belly.
Relax the shoulders away from the ears.
Hands towards the thighs.
Chin in a neutral position, long back of the neck.
How can I remember the steps?
If you are finding it a little tricky to remember the sequence, don’t worry. I have a free PDF for you to download and print out. It gives you the keys points of the poses and also includes a link to a video of the full sequence.
Download it here:
Things to know before you begin your Sun Salutation
Can I eat before yoga?
It is a good idea to complete a Sun Salutation on an empty stomach.
One reason for this is that the body requires quite a lot of energy to digest our food. When our body is focused on completing that task, it has less energy to direct towards the muscles in order to provide the strength needed to hold the poses.
Another is that it just doesn’t feel great to exercise on a full stomach. It is difficult to complete the forward bends and backward bends in the Sun Salutation when our stomach feels full and bloated after a large meal.
What should I wear?
Breathable, flexible bottoms are a necessity for your yoga practice. These can be leggings or shorts, just ensure that they have enough give in them to enable you to move your legs unrestricted.
A form fitting top is also important. We don’t want a loose, baggy top finding its way over our head during any upside-down poses we may find ourselves in. A supportive sports bra for women is also a good idea but not 100% necessary. Yoga does not involve any jumping so a medium amount of support and lots of comfort should be your focus.
How long should a Sun Salutation take?
One round of a sun salutation will only take a few minutes. You should allow approximately 8-10 minutes to get a good number of repetitions completed in order to get the most out of the sequence.
When should I practice a Sun Salutation?
A perfect time to complete this yoga practice is first thing in the morning before your morning coffee or your breakfast.
Can’t fit yoga into your morning routine? Afternoon is fine too. It is recommended that you wait 4 hours after a full meal to complete your yoga practice so a session after work but before dinner time is perfect.
These are not hard and fast rules and you should listen to your body to tell you what feels best for you so that you can fit your yoga into your lifestyle.
Do you need to warm up before Sun Salutations?
The Sun Salutation sequence is the warm up in yoga. It stretches the neck, back, hamstrings and front of the body and strengthens the arms and shoulders. Therefore it is not necessary to complete a warm up before completing this yoga sequence.
When it is completed as a flow with the breath, this sequence warms the body from both the inside and the outside.
How long do I hold each pose?
Each pose can be held for a number of breaths, but the most common flow of Sun Salutation A is to inhale on one pose and exhale on the next. The sequence is repeated a number of times in succession.
Flowing through the Sun Salutation
Completing a Sun Salutation is like doing a dance. Each pose should flow through to the next without a pause (apart from holding the downward facing dog pose for a couple of breaths)
Once the body has begun to warm up after the first round, begin to flow from one pose to the next. Only hold each pose for the length of time it takes to either inhale or exhale and then move onto the next pose.
After completing a series of 5 or 6 Sun Salutations, be prepared to feel very warm and somewhat out of breath. This is not a bad thing.
Breathing through the Sun Salutation (when to inhale, when to exhale)
In yoga, the inhalation occurs on the upward or raising pose. This means that in Sun Salutation A, we inhale on the arms above head pose (upwards salute), flat back and cobra poses. We also breathe through downward facing dog pose.
The exhalation occurs on the downward or lowering pose. This means that in Sun Salutation A, we exhale on the forward fold, the plank to knees-chest-chin, and the transition to downward facing dog.
Sun Salutation tips as a beginner
Sun Salutation can be quite intense on the shoulders for a beginner. For this reason, if you intend to complete the sequence every day, complete 2-3 rounds of the sequence initially. Once your strength begins to build up, you can increase that to more. Alternatively, complete a number of rounds and leave a day between each practice.
Child’s pose is an excellent pose to rest in if you are finding the sequence too taxing. A good place to do this is during the 5 breaths of the downward facing dog. Hold it for 2-3 breaths and then rest in child’s pose for the remainder. Increase the amount of time in downward facing dog and decrease the amount in child’s pose as your strength increases.
Common mistakes
It is important to be careful of the alignment of the poses in Sun Salutation in order to prevent stress on the joints which could cause injury.
Dropping head back in cobra
Dropping the head back causes compression in the cervical spine at the back of the neck. Keep the head in a neutral position to ensure you have a well aligned spine.
Rounding the spine in downward dog
Often in the attempt to lower the heels to the floor, you may find your spine rounding to compensate. This is particularly true if your hamstrings are tight. Instead, slightly bend the knees to enable to back to remain in a straight line from the head to the tailbone.
Safety and precautions
Always listen to your body and never force it to go where it does not want to. You should never feel any pain in your yoga practice. Yes, a pose may stretch your body further than you have stretched it before and it may feel intense, but it should never be painful.
6 reasons to practice Sun Salutations
- Lengthens and tones the muscles
- Improves flexibility
- Increases energy
- Reduces stress
- Increases blood circulation
- Improves overall health
The Sanskrit name for a Sun Salutation
If you have been to any type of yoga class, you have likely heard some rather interesting names being given for different poses. The most common are Tadasana (Mountain pose) and śavāsana (Corpse pose). Some yoga teachers will also end a class with hands in prayer and the word Namasté.
These names derive from the classical Indian language Sanskrit.
According to the Oxford dictionary Sanskrit is:
an ancient Indo-European language of India, in which the Hindu scriptures and classical Indian epic poems are written and from which many northern Indian (Indic) languages are derived.
The word Yoga itself derives from this language.
Even more commonly known words such as Ayurveda (now synonymous with a type of medicine), Guru, Mantra and Mandala come from this ancient language.
Our Sun Salutation has the Sanskrit name: Surya Namaskar. Surya meaning ‘sun’ and Namaskar ‘to bow down’.
How can I make yoga practice a habit in my life?
Beginning something new is always very exciting. We are very keen for a few days or weeks but then life can get in the way and it can become more difficult to be consistent. Practicing yoga is no different.
Take things slowly and work out ways of making this a habit that you consistently put into your day or week. Check out the blog post here for some inspiration.