Surya Namaskar - How To Do Sun Salutation? Step By Step Guide, Health Benefits Of Each Asanas In Surya Namskar ~ Health Priority

Surya Namaskar Or Sun Salutation is a series of powerful Yoga poses or Asanas.

Surya Namaskar gives a very strong impact on body and mind.

Besides this, it provides an opportunity to express gratitude to the sun for sustaining life on this planet.

Surya Namaskar is done empty stomach, early in the morning.

One Cycle of Surya Namaskar includes 12 different Asanas to be performed with 12 different mantras to add spiritual element to the practice, followed by other yoga poses and then relax with a round of yoga Nindra.

The 12 Mantras represent the 12 Zodiac signs to supply energy to the body. These Mantras are:

Surya Namaskar

Step For Performing Surya Namaskar With Benefits Of Each Asanas:

🙏Step 1: Pranamasana (Prayer Pose)

Stand straight at the end of the yoga mat, keeping feet together. Distribute your body weight on both feet equally.

Both hands are joined together at the center of the chest as in prayer position.

Relax your shoulders.

Back and neck should be straight and look straight.

Prayer Pose

Breathing Technique

Kambhak: Breathing in lift up arms from the sides, breathing out while bringing palms together in center of the chest as in prayer position. Hold the breath after breathing in.

Benefits:

Maintains the balance of the body. Calming down your body and mind.

🙏Step 2: Hastauttanasana (Raised Arm Pose)

Take hands straight up above your head and lift arms up and bend slightly backwards to stretch your back.

Your biceps must be close to your ears and elbows should not be bend.

Keeping your neck between your arms, looking upwards, bend slightly backwards from the waist.

Rather than going backwards, pull the pelvis forward to ensure reaching up with fingers.

Raised Arm Pose

Breathing Technique

Purak: Start taking long breath. By breathing in, the arms are lifted up and back.

Benefits:

Strengthen the chest muscle as well as abdomen muscle. Gives energy flow towards the upper part of your body. Stretching the whole body from the heels up to the finger tips.

🙏Step 3: HastaPadasana (Hand To Foot Pose or Standing Forward Bend)

Keeping your spine straight, bend and try touching the floor with hands.

Bend forward from the waist, While bringing hand down to the floor exhale completely.

Try to straighten your knees, hands motionless and then bring your palms down to the floor.

Hand To Foot Pose

Breathing Technique

Rechak: Start Taking out long breath slowly while bringing downward and reaching hands on the floor.

Benefits:

The waist and spine becomes flexible. Strengthen the muscles. Improving the functioning of the liver. Eliminates the female disorder. In the previous Asana, abdominal region was stretched, in this belly region is then massaged, which improves digestion and enhance the blood flow to the brain.

🙏Step 4: Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian Pose or Lung Pose)

Push the right leg back, as much as far as you can.

Raise your head looking up, touch the right knee to the floor.

Your left should exactly be in between the palms.

Equestrian Pose

Breathing Technique

Purak: Breathing in by taking the right leg back.

Benefits:

Leg muscles gets strengthened. Spine and neck muscles becomes flexible. Stimulates abdominal organs. Stretches the spine further.

🙏Step 5: Chaturang Dandasana (Stick Pose)

Take left leg back and bring whole body in a straight line.

Body should be parallel to the floor and both hands are just below the shoulders.

Keep arms erect to the floor as performing plank.

Stick Pose

Breathing Technique

Rechak: Breathing in whole taking left leg back.

Benefits:

Improves body posture and strengthen back and spin muscles.

🙏Step 6: Ashtanga Namaskar (Saluting with eight points or parts)

Bend both the arms at elbows by lowering the chest towards the ground. Eight organs that is forehead, chest, both palms, both knees and both toes touch the ground, hence it is called as ashtagasana.

Hips should be slightly up, raising your posterior a little.

Saluting With Eight Parts

Breathing Technique

Kumbhak (Bahirkumbhak): Exhale while bringing the knees down to the floor and hold the breath after breathing out

Benefit

Strengthen the chest, arms and legs.

Makes the spine and waist flexible.

Strengthen the muscles.

🙏Step 7: Bhujangasna (Cobra Pose)

Lift the body above from the waist, bend slightly backwards like cobra pose.

Your legs and thighs should touch the ground in a semi-circular position.

The shoulders being away from the ears.

look up at the ceiling.

Stretch as much as you can but not forcing the body.

Midsection of your body should be on the ground.

Cobra Pose

Breathing Technique

Purak: Inhale when you make a effort to push chest forward and exhale when you make a effort to push the Havel down.

Benefits

Spine and waist becomes flexible.
Strengthen the muscles.
The Fat around the neck and abdomen is reduced.
Also relieves tension from the back and spine.

🙏Step 8: Parvatasana (Mountain Pose or Downward Facing Dog Pose)

Lift the waist upwards and arms stretched fully with hand and legs resting on the ground.

Touch the chin to the chest.

Tailbone and hips are lifted up.

The body should be in an inverted "V" pose.

Try to keep heels on the ground.

Mountain Pose

Breathing Technique

Rechak: Breathing Out.

Benefits

Strengthen spine and waist muscle.

🙏Step 9: Ashwa Sanchalasana (High Lung Pose)

Bring your right foot forward.

Stretch your left leg behind.

Look Forward.

The right leg should be in between the two hands and left hand down to the floor.

Hips is pressed a little down.

Make only a gentle effort to push the hips down towards the floor.

Right calf should be perpendicular to the ground.

It is opposite of 4th position with opposite leg behind.

High Lung Pose

Breathing Technique

Purak: Breathing In.

Benefits

Stretches the whole body and strengthen the muscles.

🙏Step 10: Hastapadasana (Hand To Foot Pose or Standing Forward Bend)

Bring the left foot forward.

Keep palms on the floor.

Bend knees if necessary, then straighten the knees slowly.

Try to touch your nose to the knees.

Keep breathing.

Hand To Foot Pose

Breathing Technique

Rechak: Breathing in by bringing left foot forward and then exhale slowly while keeping the position intact.

Benefit

Stretches the knees to increase the strengthening.

🙏Step 11: Hastauttasana (Raised Arm Pose)

Roll the spine up, hands to go up and bend backward a little.

Hips is pushed slightly outward.

Biceps should be beside your ears.

Stretch up more rather than stretching backward.

Join the palms.

Raise your hands up above the head

Raised Arm Pose

🙏Step 12: Pranamasana (Prayer Pose)

Last step of Surya Namaskar.

Breath out completely and stand straight.

Relax.

Keep your palms in the center of your chest as in prayer position.

Try to feel the sensations in the body.

Prayer Pose

These completes the one full cycle of Surya Namaskar.

Perform at least twice a day.

For maximum benefit, perform 12 sets of these asanas with 12 mantras everyday.

That is six cycle of the right leg and six cycle of the left leg.

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