The verse and its meaning · Yoga in Practice · Yoga in Practice — Surya Namaskar

Surya Namaskar — salute to the sun

Surya Namaskar 1

सूर्य नमस्कार

Meaning · English

Surya Namaskar: surya is the sun, namaskar is a bow or salutation, from namas, to bend in respect. Together, the salute to the sun: a round of twelve positions linked by the breath, known in English as the sun salutation.

Take the name apart first. Surya is the sun. Namaskar is a salutation, a bow made with the whole person, from namas, the word for bowing. So the name is a bow to the sun, done with the body. The old hatha manuals do not describe it. The Pradipika, the Gheranda Samhita and the Shiva Samhita teach seats, breaths and seals, but no sun salutation. It is modern postural yoga, put in order in the twentieth century in the Mysore line of Krishnamacharya and the schools that grew from it. It strings together postures, some old and some newer, on one breath. Why it is taught, then, comes from the wider tradition. The Yoga Sutras describe a seat as steady and easy, say it comes by loosening effort, and say it ripens when the mind rests on the infinite. The sun salutation is a way of moving toward that kind of seat. A few rounds warm the body so that it can sit still afterwards. The sun is also the old image of light and of beginnings. The bow is the devotional part, and the twelve positions are its form. It asks one thing of a practitioner: that the breath, not the effort, leads each movement.

1. Stand at the front of your mat with the feet together. Bring the palms together at the chest, in the prayer position. Stand quietly and breathe naturally. 2. Breathe in. Sweep the arms up, and arch gently back, looking up at the hands. This is the raised-arms position. 3. Breathe out. Fold forward from the hips and bring the hands to the floor beside the feet. Bend the knees as much as you need. 4. Breathe in. Step the right leg far back, lower that knee to the floor, and lift the chest. The left foot stays between the hands. This is the lunge. 5. Hold the breath. Step the left leg back too, into the plank. The body is one straight line from head to heels. 6. Breathe out. Lower the knees, the chest and the chin to the floor. The hips stay up. 7. Breathe in. Slide forward and lift the chest into the cobra. Keep the elbows soft. 8. Breathe out. Tuck the toes, and lift the hips up and back into the downward dog. 9. Breathe in. Step the right foot forward between the hands, let the back knee come down, and lift the chest. This is the second lunge. 10. Breathe out. Bring the left foot forward too, and fold over the legs. 11. Breathe in. Rise all the way up with the arms, and arch gently back. 12. Breathe out. Bring the palms together at the chest. Stand still for a moment and feel the breath. That is one round. The next begins with the left leg stepping back, so the two sides are shared out evenly. Do a few rounds slowly, with the breath leading every movement. The way out is to finish standing, then lie down and rest on your back. Fine points: the folds start at the hip creases, not the waist. In the plank the shoulders stay over the wrists. In the arches, think of lengthening the front of the body before bending the back. Never force the breath to match a movement. If the movement is too fast for the breath, slow the movement.

The body: across one round the spine bends back in the raised-arms position and the cobra, and folds forward in the two folds and the downward dog. The hamstrings and calves lengthen in the folds and the dog. The thighs work in the lunges. The arms, shoulders and trunk hold the plank and the lowering to the floor. The wrists and shoulders take weight, much as they do in any crawling movement. The hips move through a large range, and the legs swap roles from one lunge to the other. The breath: the in-breath goes with the movements that open the chest, the arches and the lunges, because the front of the body is lengthened there. The out-breath goes with the folds and the lowering, where the belly and ribs are gently compressed. The short hold in the plank gives a pause before the effort of lowering. This pairing is a teaching convention, not a rule of the old texts. The mind: with twelve positions to remember and a breath to follow, attention has little room to wander. The movements repeat, so the mind settles into rhythm. The tradition's own account is different. It speaks of prana, the life-force, moving freely when the body is bent and straightened in rhythm with the breath. That is the tradition's language, not a physiological description.

No old verse claims anything for this sequence, because the old texts do not contain it. What the schools that teach it say is this: it warms the body, loosens the spine, shoulders and hips, steadies the breath, and prepares the body and mind for the seated practice that follows. Many teachers describe it as a way to start the day, and some treat the bow to the sun as a gesture of gratitude. What is plainly true of any such sequence: a few slow rounds warm the muscles, move nearly every large joint through its range, and give the breath a steady, led rhythm. People often finish feeling both more awake and calmer. These are ordinary effects of gentle, rhythmic movement, not claims about any illness.

A man in his fifties stands on a cold winter morning, stiff from sleep, and rolls out a mat before the kettle boils. He does five slow rounds. His back loosens a little, his hands warm and his breathing settles. That much is in line with ordinary understanding. Moving the large joints through their range, with muscles working in turn, warms the body, and a few rounds count as light exercise. Linking movement to the breath gives attention something steady to follow, and slow rhythmic breathing is generally agreed to be calming. Weight on the hands builds some strength in the arms and shoulders, and it can also strain wrists that are not ready for it. Where the teaching goes further, there is little to measure. The claim that the sequence moves prana, or honours the sun in any way the body registers, is the tradition's account and has no modern counterpart. The standard breath pairings are a teaching convention, and no single pattern is established as the correct one. Holding the breath in the plank is also a convention. Doctors would ask people with blood pressure concerns to avoid straining there.

This page is not medical advice. A teacher can see a rounded back, a sagging plank or a locked elbow, which a page cannot show, and the sequence is best learnt with a teacher before it is practised alone. Stop at any pain. Stretching or effort is acceptable, but pain in the back, wrists, knees or neck is a signal to ease off. Take particular care, or ask a doctor and a teacher first, with a disc problem or a painful back, sore or weak wrists, painful knees, a neck problem, high blood pressure, a recent surgery, or pregnancy. The folds and downward dog put the head below the heart, and the plank hold can tempt people to strain. Keep the hold short, and release it the moment it feels forced. Never force the arch back, the depth of the fold or the speed.

Gentler: bend the knees in both folds and keep them bent in the downward dog. Lower the knees early, before the plank. Step the feet back one at a time instead of stepping the first leg far. Skip the arch of the neck and keep the gaze forward. Pad the knees with a folded blanket. For tender wrists, rest on the forearms or place the hands on a wall or a sturdy table and walk the feet back. A slower round: take two or three breaths in a position before moving on, so each position is felt. Fuller: straighten the legs in the folds and press the heels down in the dog. Step both feet back together, and after some months add more rounds. The mirrored side comes from alternating which leg steps back each round.

Rushing, so that the breath is cut short or held: slow the movement until the breath leads. Folding from the waist with a rounded back: start the fold at the hips and bend the knees. Letting the hips sag or rise in the plank: make one straight line from head to heels, or lower the knees. Lowering with the shoulders hunched to the ears: draw them away from the ears and keep the elbows close. Locking the elbows in the cobra: keep them soft and lift with the back, not by pushing. Always stepping back with the same leg: change the leg each round so both sides work equally.

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