Movement

Sūrya Namaskāra

These pages support what is taught in class. Go gently and stop if there is any discomfort. If you are pregnant, recovering from illness or injury, or living with a medical condition, check with your doctor and tell your teacher before practising.

Black-and-white photograph: the legs and hips in downward-facing dog on a concrete floor, the heels pressing towards the ground — **B · Movement**Adho Mukha Śvānāsana, position 08 of the sequence

Sūrya Namaskāra सूर्यनमस्कार

The Salutation to the Sun is a sequence of twelve positions, where movement is joined with the breath. There are many different versions of the practice.

At Aura Shanti, Variation A of Hatha Yoga is taught, with twelve successive positions.

Inhale as the body opens and lifts; exhale as it folds. Move slowly enough to feel each position arrive. Beside each position is the cakra to which awareness is led in that moment, as given in the Bihar School teaching of the sequence.

Sūrya Namaskāra — Salutation to the Sun Twelve positions · one half-round

01PraṇāmāsanaPrayer PoseAnāhata CakraNatural breath
02Hasta UtthānāsanaRaised-Arms PoseViśuddhi CakraInhale
03PādahastāsanaHand-to-Foot PoseSvādhiṣṭhāna CakraExhale
04Aśva SañcālanāsanaEquestrian PoseĀjñā CakraInhale
05PhalakāsanaPlank PoseViśuddhi CakraExhale
06Aṣṭāṅga NamaskāraSalute with Eight LimbsMaṇipūra CakraBreath held out
07BhujaṅgāsanaCobra PoseSvādhiṣṭhāna CakraInhale
08Adho Mukha ŚvānāsanaDownward-Facing DogViśuddhi CakraExhale
09Aśva SañcālanāsanaEquestrian PoseĀjñā CakraInhale
10PādahastāsanaHand-to-Foot PoseSvādhiṣṭhāna CakraExhale
11Hasta UtthānāsanaRaised-Arms PoseViśuddhi CakraInhale
12PraṇāmāsanaPrayer PoseAnāhata CakraExhale

In the first half-round the right leg steps back in position 4 and the left foot comes forward between the hands in position 9; in the second half-round the left leg steps back and the right foot comes forward. The two halves make one full round. Begin with two or three rounds, slowly.

Take care with the back in the forward bends and the cobra; if you have a back condition such as a slipped disc or sciatica, ask your doctor and teacher first. Pause the sequence during fever or acute inflammation, at the onset of menstruation, and in pregnancy from the twelfth week onward. With high blood pressure, heart disease, a history of stroke or a hernia, practise it only if your doctor and teacher agree.

Black-and-white photograph: a standing forward fold, the hands flat on the concrete floor beside the feet, the hair falling towards the ground — **B · Movement**Pādahastāsana, positions 03 and 10 of the sequence

Sources

Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha (Yoga Publications Trust)
Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Surya Namaskara: A Technique of Solar Vitalization (Yoga Publications Trust)

Aura Shanti draws on these teachings with gratitude and is an independent practice, not an official Satyananda Yoga or Bihar School of Yoga centre.