Surya Namaskara was a part of the daily ritual of our ancients. It is a wonderful regular routine of exercise, prayer and worship given in the scriptures of ancient of India. Surya Namaskara means salutations to Lord Surya. Stand facing the east at dawn and recite the mantras to pray Lord Surya and offer red sandals, flowers, rice grains (Akshatas) with water or simply water as libation and perform Surya Namaskara. It must be performed before the sunrise. Take water in a pot and mix all the materials in it and hold the pot in your fingers, keeping the thumbs aside and face the east. Chant the following Mantra and offer the libation thrice.
Anukampaya mam bhaktya grihanarghyam divakara “
Dhyaeah sada savitri mandala madhyavarti
Narayanah sarashija sanasanni vishtha
Keyurvan makara kundalavan kireeti
Hari hiranyamaya vapurdhrit shankha chakrah
1st Position – Dakshasana
Namaskara contemplate the virtues of Lord Surya with concentrated mind and feel that you are the friend of everybody and have friendship with every creature on the earth. Immersing yourself with these feelings stand erect stretching your hands, neck and all other parts of your body. Stretching both of your arms, touch your thighs with palms and inflate the chest and point your vision on the tip of the nose. This is a position of attention.2nd Position: Namaskarasana
Mantra : OmRavaye Namah
touch your chest. Expand your chest and pull in the belly as far as possible. Look straight ahead. The head, the neck and the body should remain in a straight line. Closing the mouth inhale the breath and hold it inside as far as possible and then expose the breath.3rd Position: Parvatasana
Mantra : Om Suryaya Namah
Benefits: Both the shoulders and the food pipe (Esophagus) get exercise and diseases related to them are corrected. Eyesight is also improved.
4th Position: Namaskara Hastapadasana
both your palms on the ground and touch your knees with your forehead or the nose and exhale the breath with audible sound. In the beginning if you can’t rest your palms on the ground, just touch the ground with fingers.5th Position: Ekapada Prasaranasana
of the foot touch the ground. The abdomen and belly must be pressing hard into the left leg. Raise your head as high as possible and look upwards. Push the waist down and hold the breath and stay in the posture as long as you can – comfortably.6th Position: Bhudharasana
Mantra : Om Pushne Namah
the thumbs of the feet, ankles and knees touch each other. Stabilizing the feet and keeping the head, waist, the back and the elbows in a line bend forward and resting both the palms on the ground keep your body like a bow.7th Position: Ashthanga Pranipatasana
your chest and touch the lower part of the neck with chin. Also touch the ground with the upper part of the forehead and the nose. Please note that the abdomen should not touch the ground. It should be pulled in. Then exhale the breath. Both the hands/palms must be on the side of the chest.8th Position: Bhujangasana
9th Position: Bhudharasana
t the process of Bhudharasana as described in the step six – Inhale the breath deeply and hold it and pull both of your legs backward, so that the thumbs of the feet, ankles and knees touch each other. Stabilizing the feet and keeping the head, waist, the back and the elbows in a line bend forward and resting both the palms on the ground keep your body like a bow.Benefits : One gets relief from the pains – specially of arms, legs and the knees. Bulging waist is trimmed and it is good for the abdominal disorders.
10th Position: Ekapada Prasaranasana
11th Position: Namaskara Hastapadasana
12th Position: Parvatasana
Procedure : Same as position 2
Then come back to the 1st position and repeat the full round once more. Our ancients used to do 25 rounds of Surya Namaskaras, called one Avriti.
The man who performs Surya Namaskara daily does not get poor in thousand births. Hence, give Surya Namaskara an urgent place in your daily routine. And like the daily rising of the sun. Surya Namaskara is indeed a daily routine.
Surya Namaskar or the Sun Salutation is considered the ‘king’ of asana practise. It is a beautiful weave of the physical, emotional/psychological, spiritual aspects of our being. It comprises of 12 vital postures that work on the spine and the major muscles of the body to give strength and flexibility.
When combined with appropriate breathing, it works on the deeper physiology of the body, the very endocrine system, whose synchronised functioning is responsible for the health of our body and emotions. It works on the various chakras or energy vortices at the etheric level.
When the bija and the surya mantras are chanted while moving the body in tandem with the breath, the frequency of the entire system can be altered to vibrate at a much higher level. When performed in its completeness, Surya Namaskar has the capacity to change our very bio-energy by cleansing, healing and rejuvenating us at the deepest cellular level.
It is a profoundly simple practice that brings together the body-mind-spirit to confer a feeling of expanded Oneness with all. It represents the masculine energy of activity and is done first thing in the morning as the sun rises in the horizon.
Yoga as we know is globally popular. This ancient Indian form of exercise has various exercises for the whole body and Surya Namaskar or in other words Sun Salutations is one of them. I am sure many out there would already be practicing this on a daily basis.
Surya Namaskar, a yoga based exercise or Asanas is considered an ancient Indian Tradition that has been gifted to mankind over years. Surya Namaskar helps in overall personality development and works at three levels namely physical, mental and when practiced with chanting of mantras it works at a spiritual level too.
Surya Namaskar is a unique exercise that can be practised by one and all..be it a child or an adult. Different schools of yoga have different teaching methods, in this blog we will look at Surya Namaskar from Swami Vivekananda’s School of teaching.
It takes 12 steps to complete one round of Surya Namaskar. And all these 12 steps of Surya Namaskar should be practiced at a time. Surya Namaskar practice starts with a prayer to Surya ( The Sun God).
