The Sun Salutation

12 yoga positions you should use to listen to the body's signals, keeping your attention in the body releasing tensions or resistances you might feel. Listening well creates healthy healing mind body integration.

1. Prayer



IN + OUT

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2. Reach Up



IN

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3. Touch Toes



OUT

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4. Left Leg Back



IN

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5. Pyramid



OUT

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6. Butt Up



IN + OUT

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7. Cobra



IN

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8. Pyramid



OUT

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9. Right Leg Back



IN

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10. Touch Toes



OUT

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11. Reach Up



IN

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12 Prayer



OUT

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Images from Grow Younger, Live Longer by Deepak Chopra, page 113

Mind-body awareness allows us to yoke ourselves, gather our selves back up. This ancient practice is our collective Tai Chi prana energy movement and balancing technique. This list is simply compiled to assist; as we tune up the temple of the self, the body, we tune up our environment, the universe.

Thank you for this opportunity to share. Awakening awareness to all, Teo

Thank you for sharing Teo.
I haven't done these exercises in years, or any other exercise,hahaha! Time to start again.

Sue

These are really good exercises. Thank you for posting the images Teo. We should do these every morning and evening.

Love
Vicky

Thanks for sharing Teo.
Nice images.

Got to wake up earlyer to do these exercises

Have a nice sun-saluting day

Thank you dear Teo for this wise reminder. After reading Deepak's book I did this exercise regularly and then ... well how does it happen that one interrupts the good habits?
High time, as Sue says, to start again!

It's so good to have you all over the site, dear Teo!
Your energy and joy is contageous!
But rest is also necessary and as it is already May 19th here ... time to dream .....time to plan to do the Sun Salutation tomorrow morning. Anticipating the alarm clock by 10 minutes ...
Good night!
Loving you, Margherita

Hi Friends.

It took me a few seconds to see that you do have the breaths included - the IN and OUT and IN + OUT in the posture with the eight points of contact - "Butt up."

They are good drawings. The Cobra can be and often is done alternatively with the Swan (Hamsasana). The difference is that in the Cobra the arch is from the head to the solar plexus. And in the Swan the arch is all the way down to your hips. If you imagine straightening the arms from the position as shown in the Cobra picture (which is correct) - it puts you in the Swan.

Breathing is through the nose, of course, with the exception of a "cleansing breath" before bringing the palms together in namasté at the beginning which is done expelling the dead air from your lungs through the mouth with a little friction in the pharynx as you expell the air. When you draw the breath in - and all the way through the twelve postures you should breathe comfortably through your nose.

And if you like to hang in the forward bends for a while it's perfectly acceptable to take shallow breaths after the outbreath that gets you down there. It will help particularly at the end of a period of hanging and relaxing, to go up smoothly either caterpillar style keeping your face close to your legs as you start; or you can come up "flat backed" moving your head away from your legs.

Beginners should do it caterpillar style; and even advanced yogis should make sure they are warmed up before doing any of the very strenuous postures including the variotions in the sun salutation. There are a few postures that are strenuous.

The Locust would be one of those; perhaps the most intense other than Baby Krishna pose and a few others most of us will only see in books or at the circus.

The sun salutation is a good thing to come back to if you are an advanced yogi.

And you can embellish it too - with a few extra movements - like going from namasté in the lunges to "arms back"in a graceful sweeping of wing type movement with an inbreath between the moves watching your fingertips as you move into the respective postures that follow. You have to return of course - in order to come to the floor or to come back to hanging in the second forward bend.

It is rewarding to get the breaths smooth and corresponding with the motions.

Don't forget to lie flat on your back when you're done in savangasana (corpse pose) keep breathing and relax before you get to the next posture, a medition period, or the rest of your day.

Thanks Teo, I have needed a little motivation to get myself going! This will help and remind me to exercise!
Sending you my love,
Sandy

Thank you Teo.
Sun Salutation is a perfect exercise for your body.
One should do it every day if possible.

The images that you posted are very good.

Love,
yoko