This is the beginning of a series of articles covering the two Sun Salutes that you do in the Ashtanga yoga practice. Sun Salute A and Sun Salute B are done at the start of every Ashtanga Yoga practice.
The articles were written with the person new to yoga in mind. I have attempted to keep the jargon to a minimum and where it is necessary to use yoga jargon then there are links to explanations.
First of all we will talk about why we do Sun Salutes and the many benefits that the Sun Salutes bring to your yoga practice. That article covers:
- What are Sun Salutes
- When do you do Sun Salutes
- Why you do Sun Salutes
- Why are there two Sun Salutes
- Lastly this article will talk about how to manage the challenges that arise when you do a series of Sun Salutes.
Each of the Sun Salute position articles provides this information:
- A picture of the position. Additional pictures are included to help explain the movement and the position
- Where you were when you completed the previous position
- A brief overview of the movement in this position
- A detailed description of how to move into this position of the Sun Salute series
- What to do with the breath, the gaze, and the bundhas
- Suggested modifications to accomodate any reduced range of motion you may have
- Some cautions to help you avoid injuring yourself.
The list of articles
- Why do you do Sun Salutes
- Tadasana. While Tadasana is not strictly part of the Sun Salute series, it is included here because it is the starting and finishing position for each of the Sun Salute Series. Tadasana is also the starting and ending position for all standing postures.
- Sun Salute A. This Sun Salute includes 9 positions and begins and ends with Tadasana. The sequence of postures is symmetric. The first 3 positions are repeated in reverse order from downward facing dog going backwards to Tadasana. It takes about about 1 minute to complete a Sun Salute A.
- Sun Salute B. This Sun Salute includes 13 positions and it also begings and ends with Tadasana. This sequence of postures uses all of the postures from Sun Salute A plus it adds Chair pose at the beginning and end as well as Warrior I in the middle. Again, similar to Sun Salute A, the the first 3 positions are repeated in reverse order from the last down dog back to Tadasana. It takes about 90 seconds to complete a Sun Salute B. The bolded postures are new or modified from those in Sun Salute A.
- Position 1 – squat and arms up
- Position 2 – Forward bend
- Position 3 – lift chest and head. See Sun Salute A Position 3 above for the details
- Position 4- Jump back and lower down. See Sun Salute A Position 4 above for the details
- Positon 5 – Up dog. See Sun Salute A Position 5 above for the details
- Position 6 – Down dog. See Sun Salute A Position 6 above for the details
- Positon 7 – Warrior I on the right side
- Position 8 – Jump back and lower down
- Position 9 – Up dog. See Sun Salute A Position 5 above for the details
- Position 10 – Down dog. See Sun Salute A Position 6 above for the details
- Position 11 – Warrior I on the left side
- Position 12 – Jump back and lower down
- Position 13 – Up dog. See Sun Salute A Position 5 above for the details
- Position 14 – Down dog. See Sun Salute A Position 6 above for the details
- Position 15 – Jump forward, lift chest and head. See Sun Salute A Position 7 above for the details
- Position 16 – Forward bend. See Sun Salute A Position 8 above for the details
- Position 17 – Squat and arms up
- Exit to Tadasana
Enjoy the series of articles and let me know about any areaes that need to be clarified or expanded upon.
