Sun Salutation- Healthy Benefits of Surya Namaskar with poses

Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation does not only have physical benefits but also have mental advantages of getting focused, calm and many others. 12 poses or asanas of Surya namaskar helps in opening up the mind and body to align our system with the Sun which boosts our energy and harness our prana shakti.

What is Surya Namaskar?

Surya means Sun and Namaskar means to honor its power and energy by paying respect and gratitude towards Sun for sustaining life on the planet Earth. Sun or Surya Dev (in Hindi) is the center of the solar system and its gravity hold the entire of it. As per Vedic astrology, Sun symbolizes soul, vigor, leadership, father, king who holds charge of all lives. Surya Namaskar is a set of 12 commanding yoga postures performed in a sequence which combines physical movements, breathing techniques and mental focus.

Each pose is designed to provide flexibility and strength to different parts of the body to promote overall physical health. It is best to practice before or during sunrise, empty stomach to get the maximum benefits of body flexibility, posture improvement, sleep quality, digestion, stimulating chakras etc. There are various variations available but it is advisable to stick to a particular one and practice it daily. Each round of Sun Salutation consists of 2 sets and each includes 12 postures of yoga poses with different meanings and benefits. It can also be used as a warm-up before any other exercise or other intense yoga asanas.

The Ancient Origins of Surya Namaskar

Hanuman’s Mischievous Childhood

One of the two fascinating tales connected to Lord Hanuman and Surya Dev from the Indian epic tradition is particularly found in texts like Ramayana. Hanuman, son of Anjana and Kesari was born with immense strength, agility, devotion and divine powers. Once he saw the sun and mistook it as a big ripe mango, he leaped into the sky to grab it. But Lord Indra intervened and hurled his Vajra straight at Hanuman. That broke Hanuman’s jaw but because of lord Vayu, the gods granted him various boons like special powers of strength, speed, immense memory, and celibacy.

As Hanuman grew up, he developed a keen desire for knowledge. Then his mother Anjana suggested that he should seek Lord Surya as his Guru since Surya is the repository of all knowledge and wisdom, a scholar of all sacred scriptures, drives his chariot all around the world every day, everywhere, sees everything, he even flies higher and farther than Hanuman. Hanuman with his characteristic determination approached Surya Dev and requested him to accept him as a disciple. Surya Dev was impressed by Hanuman’s devotion and agreed but there was a challenge. As Surya Dev moves constantly across the sky hence, he would not be able to stop to impart lessons.

Hanuman’s Unique Learning Method

Hanuman found a unique way to learn. He began flying by positioning himself in front of Surya Dev’s chariot, facing him and keeping pace with the sun’s movement. By this means, he was always traveling backward with his face towards his teacher. It is believed that Hanuman’s backward-moving trail was the origin of Surya Namaskar. Within a short period, Hanuman mastered the knowledge of Vedas, scriptures, science and arts with great speed and comprehension.

Vedic References to Sun worship

Rigveda

Rigveda is considered the oldest Vedic Sanskrit text in the world and it contains hymns dedicated to Surya – Lord Sun. These hymns praise the sun as the giver of life, light, and energy. Some of the prominent hymns dedicated to Surya in the Rigveda are the Gayatri Mantra and the Surya Sukta. In Vedas, everything in the universe has been divided into two energies i.e. Male and Female, Ida and Pingla or Yin and Yang whatever you would like to say. In Sun, the female side is depicted as Gayatri which has its nourishing side while Surya is considered as the male side.

Yajurveda

This Veda includes rituals and mantras to honour Surya Dev. The practice of offering Arghya (water offering) to the sun is mentioned which is a ritual still practiced in Hinduism today.

Atharvaveda

The Atharvaveda also contains hymns that emphasize the healing power of the sun and its role in maintaining the balance of nature.

Evolution of Surya Namaskar

The structured sequence of poses known as Surya Namaskar that we practice today is a relatively modern development, likely influenced by the physical culture movement in India in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Ancient texts like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali do not explicitly mention Surya Namaskar but the compilation of 12 asanas as a complete practice of Sun Salutation had been done by the Indian Yoga teachers of the 20^th century. One of them is Raja of Aundh, Bhawanrao Shrinivasrao Pant Pratinidhi, who promoted a version of Surya Namaskar that included a systematic sequence of poses.

12 Poses of Surya Namaskar

What are the different asanas of Surya Namaskar? The breakdown are as follows:

Pranamasana (Prayer Pose): Stand at the edge of your mat, keep your feet together, and balance your weight equally on both feet. Expand your chest and relax your shoulders. As you breathe in, lift both arms up from the sides, and as you exhale, bring your palms together in front of the chest in a prayer position.
Hastauttanasana (Raised Arms Pose): Breathing in, lift the arms up and back, keeping the biceps close to the ears. Stretch the whole body from the heels to the fingertips.
Hasta Padasana (Hand to Foot Pose): Breathing out, bending forward from the waist by keeping the spine erect. Bring the hands down to the floor beside the feet. Try to touch the head to the knees.
Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian Pose): Breathe in and push your right leg back as far as possible. Bring the right knee to the floor and look up.
Dandasana (Stick Pose): As you breathe in, take the left leg back and bring the whole body in a straight line.
Ashtanga Namaskara (Salute with Eight Parts or Points): Gently bring your knees down to the floor and exhale. Slightly take the hips back, slide forward, rest your chest and chin on the floor, and raise your posterior a little bit. The two hands, two feet, two knees, chest, and chin (eight parts of the body) should touch the floor.
Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose): Slide forward and raise the chest up into the Cobra pose. Keep the elbows bent in this pose, the shoulders away from the ears. Look up.
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose): Breathe out then lift the hips and the tailbone up to bring the body into an inverted ‘V’ pose.
Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian Pose): Breathe in and bring the right foot forward in between the hands. The left knee goes down to the floor. Press the hips down and look up straight.
Hasta Padasana (Hand to Foot Pose): Breathe out and bring the left foot forward. Keep the palms on the floor. You may bend the knees if necessary.
Hastauttanasana (Raised Arms Pose): Breathe in and roll the spine up. Raise the hands and bend backward a little, pushing the hips slightly outward.
Pranamasana (Prayer Pose): As you exhale first straighten the body and then bring the arms down. Relax in this position; observe the sensations in your body. Repeat the cycle with the left leg and continue like this further.

Benefits of Surya Namaskar

Unlock 25 life benefits with Surya Namaskar Asanas:

Physical Health: Improves flexibility, strength, and balance. It’s a full-body workout that helps in weight management and other health issues related to obesity and immobility of the body.
Mental Clarity: It is said that when your body gets fully exhausted then one can meditate better with more clarity. So, Surya Namaskar is a complete physical exercise that helps in reducing stress and anxiety. It enhances focus and concentration.
Emotional Peace: Brings stability in mood and patience level. When we put our body and mind at work, this increases human endurance which further gives us time to comprehend the situation first before reacting.
Detoxification: Improved blood circulation, helps in elimination of toxins from the body.
Improves Digestion: Surya Namaskar acts as a complete package for the movement of every body organ. This stimulates the digestive system by stretching and compressing the abdominal organs.
Increase attention span: Asanas help us to focus on the breath which brings the wandering mind to one point. Even after failing for few times, regular practice can strengthen the ability to focus better.
Brings flexibility in the body: Leave about firmness if you’re not involved in any body movement even though if you do a workout in the gym, your body becomes stiff because of the heavy weight training as they are meant for muscle building. Sun salutation brings the required flexibility to the body by stretching up every muscle.
Better Sleep: Again, deep breathing is extremely relaxing and cut down sleep disturbance prospects. Comparatively, practitioners get good amount of better sleep in lesser time and they feel fresh all day.
Weight Loss: Regular practice with a higher number of repetitions of asanas can help one in bringing down the weight.
Boost Immunity: Asanas helps remove toxins, reducing carbon and in increasing oxygen content which helps in boosting immunity. That helps in fighting infections and diseases.
Enhances blood circulation: Surya namaskar helps send oxygen-rich blood cells to all body parts and improves overall health.
Regularity to the menstrual cycle: The complete stretching of the body muscles strengthens the abdomen and open up the pelvic floor. Increasing blood flow in the uterus and reduction in the stress helps in regulating the monthly periods and the solution to the PCOD problem.
Enhances lung capacity: Intensity of breathing increases while doing asanas, this expands the chest wall and forced expiratory lung capacity. Surya Namaskar promotes oxygenation and improve respiratory wellness.
Makes joints stronger: Ease movement of joints needs lubrication; the poses and postures of Surya Namaskar stimulates the production of synovial fluid which helps in toning muscles around the joints.
Minimize stress and anxiety: Deep breathing and movement of every part of the body helps in regulating the nervous system. Surya Namaskar helps in soothing and calming down the brain and promote emotional wellbeing.
Boosts up energy level: Sun Salutation recharges your body and mind with burst of energy.
Gives mental clarity: Diminish indecisiveness while taking decision by induces a state of relaxation and mind body wellness.
Makes your skin glow: Because of improved blood circulation and detoxification your skin becomes radiant and glowy.
Builds up confidence: When you do anything against your compulsive behavior to break down your old patterns in the way of constructing new, that feeling of accomplishment creates a new confidence inside you.
Improves posture: Involvement of body’s every muscle while doing the 12 asanas improves posture and alignment.
Prevents hair loss: Postures like Hasta Padasanas and Adho Mukh Svanasana helps better flow of blood circulation in the head that nourishes the hair follicles and strengthen the hair strands.
Strengthen the spine: Practice of 12 dynamic yoga asanas corrects the body posture and improves healthy spine alignment. That helps in relieving back pain and energized back muscles.
Balances Hormones: Sun Salutation helps in conscious breathing and mindfulness which supports the endocrine function and maintains hormones equilibrium.
Other health benefits: Evidences are where health problems like migraine, PCOD etc. have also been cured after some time of regular practice.
Promotes Overall Well-being: Regular practice can harmonize the body, breath, and mind, leading to a holistic state of health. And because of the proper internal alignment with mother nature, this practice brings overall well-being after a certain period.

Benefits of 108 Surya Namaskar

Before giving a thought of practicing 108 Surya Namaskar, one needs to ensure their physical ability to cope up with the intensity of the rigorous volume of sets. If you’re new to Surya Namaskar or have not practiced at such a volume before it is wise to gradually build up to 108 rounds. Maintaining proper form and pace throughout the practice is crucial to avoid injury and maximize benefits.

But if your body is physically prepared for the intensity and potential challenges then the regular practice transforms you physically, mentally and gives spiritual benefits by expanding your horizons. 108 rounds need discipline and dedication but the after effects will be in the form of mental resilience, willpower, stamina and endurance building. Surya Namaskar is known to balance the chakras moreover, the number 108 is considered sacred in many spiritual traditions, and completing 108 Surya Namaskars can be seen as a spiritual offering or a way to connect with the divine.

Benefits of Sun Salutation if done daily -to lose weight

Incorporating Surya Namaskar into your routine can be a highly effective, holistic approach to weight loss, contributing to a healthier and more balanced lifestyle. Series of 12 poses not only helps in burning calorie or in fat reduction but also improves metabolism by stimulating digestive organs.

The speed and intensity at which you perform Surya Namaskar can influence the number of calories burned. Faster sequences will increase calorie burn while slower, more mindful sequences might focus more on muscle engagement and flexibility. For optimal weight loss, Surya Namaskar should be combined with a balanced diet and other forms of exercise.

Surya Namaskar benefits for ladies

Women has to go lot through during pregnancy, post pregnancy, during menstruation while taking care of home and their professional duties. In modern times, it’s essential to maintain balance and follow a healthy lifestyle but before starting the practice listen to your body needs and adjust the practice accordingly.

With all the above mentioned benefits, Surya Namaskar helps in improving bone density which is particularly important for women to prevent osteoporosis. Regular practice along with the healthy diet plan keeps the joints flexible and healthy which reduces the risk of arthritis and other joint-related issues occur after menopause. It can also provide a mental boost, helping new mothers cope with the challenges of post-partum life, to restore balance and stability after childbirth.

Can women do Surya Namaskar during periods?

The answer is No.

The fact is whatever modern society prefers nowadays for women in the name of rubbing shoulders to shoulders with men especially in the context of physical activities during periods, all things are not beneficial to women bodies. Female bodies are designed in a way where they need rest, no physical excursion, or meditation in the menstruation period.

The science behind that is while doing any physical exercise, yoga or meditation, life energies/ prana flows upwards while menstruation blood flows downward. So, when we play contradict to the energies this will lead to an imbalance in the body and disturbance in the flow. This is the time to rest, to think, to reconsider things. This is the break time provided by the nature and we should value it.

What are the precautions to take while doing Surya Namaskar?

As discussed, there are many variants for Surya Namaskar and are different patterns of performing the asanas. Ayurveda mentions three types of Doshas: Vata, Pitta, Kapha (each person has unique constitution of these in their body). So, for Kapha, rigorous and fast movement of Surya Namaskar asanas is advisable; for Pitta, medium flow of body movement is necessary whereas for Vata prominence body type, slow rhythmic flow movement is required.

Sun Salutation should be avoided in case of injury, fever or inflammation, in pregnancy, high blood pressure etc. Also, you should avoid eating before starting practice.