Surya Namaskar

Classical exercise routine

Surya Namaskar or sun salutations are an ideal everyday warm up or stand alone workout;  the classic series of exercises can be done in a few minutes to get your energy flowing, or can be repeated as a comprehensive workout. These Youtube videos are examples that you can follow with allowance for your level of health and fitness.

If you think about it, if the heat and light from our son were extinguished, life on earth as we know it would terminate within about 18 hours. Our ancestors regarded the sun is the source and sustainer of life, and as such it was a deserving of appreciation and veneration. So the first part of surya namaskar is to spare a thought of appreciation for that which gives an sustains our lives.

The second aspect is our internal sun, you can call it the soul, spirit or God within. It is an aspect of self from which our new cells and our vitality emerges or you could call it your internal creative principal which like the sun that warms our planet sustains your life at an individual level.

So Surya Namaskar is an expression of appreciation for being an on a physical level it works all the major muscle groups in the body improving respiration, circulation and all aspects of physical health. It can be done for two or three minutes or you can devote hours to the practice to improve your mental and physical health. Every teacher eventually makes up their own routine so there is a great deal of variance in style and level of difficulty.

Sun salutation by Surisa Kocha in Thailand

A longer version with Nongnapas Turangan

This lady is fit - copy if you can

Another variation once you get past the noise.. from a very supple lady with good English instruction

A good explanation

Jennifer Kostel explains it all in 2 parts
Part 1

part 2

Surya Namaskar is taught in most yoga schools but for a simple home practice, you can utilise these videos and many other Internet resources to perfect your practice and improve your well-being.