A gentle space to pause, reflect and reconnect
What is yoga nidra?
A sun salutation, Suryanamaskara (surya meaning sun and namaskara meaning salute) of some sort features in all my yoga classes so what is a sun salutation and why do I include them?
The sun salutation first appears in written text in the 1928 book “The Ten-Point Way to Health” by Bhavwanrao Shriniwasro Pant Pratinidhi, The Rajah of Aundh. The author stated that the practice had been in place before in the marathi tradition.
The sun salutation was adopted by Krishnamachanga at Mysore Palace. Two of his students, Pattabhi Jois and BKS Iyengar taught the sun salutation or elements of it to their students as they took yoga to a worldwide audience during the 50s and 60s and beyond.
My own teaching is influenced by the teachings of BKS Iyengar and my teachers trained in that lineage.
We can imagine that sun salutations might have formed part of yoga in the past even without the hard written evidence, but it seems likely that the flow of movement is a more modern addition. Historic and ancient methods for worship of the sun appear to have been in the form of meditations.
There are several different versions of the salutation depending upon yoga style, practitioner and teacher. The salutation is a series of movements that together warm up the entire body and main muscles leaving you ready to move to a deeper practice, feeling mobilised and more limber. It helps to prepare us mentally for the poses that follow.
It can feel like a moving meditation, particularly when practicing several rounds one after the other.