Surya Namaskar is an old yoga practice performed by Indian yogis. The purpose of this set of multiple yoga poses is to achieve optimum mental and physical health. Surya Namaskar’s steps have benefits that extend to long-term extraordinary changes in your body. With its multiple rounds, the body’s organs start to work effectively. It starts to vanish most of the symptoms of diseases at the initial days.
Known as Sun Salutation in Westernized yoga practice, Surya Namaskar:
- Balances three doshas: Vata, Pitta, Kapha
- Streamline the energy flow across chakras
- Gives flexibility using the forward and backward bending yoga asanas.
- Keeps heart and lungs healthy with breathing synchronisation.
- Relives the body from disease
What is Surya Namaskar?
Surya Namaskar consists of two words: Surya and Namaskar. Surya means Sun and Namaskar means salutation or worship. Thus, traditionally it is the salutation to the Sun god.
But more specifically, sun salutation is one of the finest yoga modules for the overall development of the body, mind, and soul.
Surya Namaskar Poses:
Traditional Sun Salutation may differ from the modern Sun Salutation, taught in modern yoga schools today. But the more or less the steps stay the same wit slight difference. The steps for traditional Surya Namaskar are:
- Namaskar Asana/Pose (Prayer Pose)
- Hastutthanasana (Standing Backbend pose)
- Padhastasana (Hands to Foot/Forward bending pose)
- Ashwasanchalana (Equestrian Pose)
- Parvatasana (Mountain Pose)
- Ashtanga Namaskar (Eight limbed Salutation)
- Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)
- Parvatasana (Mountain Pose)
- Ashwasanchalana (Equestrian Pose)
- Padhastasana (Hands to Foot/Forward bending pose)
- Hastutthanasana (Standing Backbend pose)
- Namaskar Asana/Pose (Prayer Pose
General Benefits of Surya Namaskar:
- Long-term changes in physical, mental, spiritual, and social domains of health.
- Revitalizes the whole body. It proves to be an excellent source to gain maximum benefits from subsequent asanas, pranayama, and meditation.
- Energizes all the body organs and body systems through stretching, toning compressing, harmonizing, and synchronizing of the body-mind complex.
- Helps to restore vitality, the excellent antidote for stress & depression thus greatly helping to overcome emotional disturbances.
“Daily Surya Namaskar practice makes a positive impact on the digestive system, excretory system, circulatory system, respiratory system, endocrine system, nervous system, and skeleton system.”
Major benefits of Surya Namaskar
Surya Namaskar, also known as Sun Salutation, is an ancient yoga practice that combines a sequence of asanas (poses) with rhythmic breathing. This powerful practice offers a multitude of benefits for the body, mind, and spirit. In this article, we will explore the various advantages of Surya Namaskar and how it can positively impact your overall well-being.
Surya Namaskar holds immense significance as it pays homage to the sun, the source of light and life. This practice is believed to activate the solar energy within us, providing vitality and rejuvenation. By practising Surya Namaskar, we honour the sun and its life-sustaining qualities.
Health Benefits of Surya Namaskar
Surya Namaskar offers numerous health benefits, making it a holistic exercise for the body. Let’s explore some of these benefits:
- Weight Loss: Surya Namaskar is an excellent cardiovascular exercise that helps burn calories, aiding in weight loss and maintaining a healthy body weight.
- Flexibility and Strength: The series of asanas in Surya Namaskar promote flexibility by stretching and toning the muscles. Regular practice also helps strengthen the muscles, leading to improved overall body strength.
- Stress Relief: Surya Namaskar incorporates deep breathing and mindful movement, which can help reduce stress and anxiety. It calms the mind, allowing for greater mental clarity and relaxation.
- Digestive Health: The forward bends and twists involved in Surya Namaskar stimulate the digestive system, promoting better digestion and aiding in the elimination of toxins from the body.
- Posture Correction: Surya Namaskar focuses on spinal flexibility, helping to correct and improve posture. It strengthens the back muscles, promoting a straight and aligned spine.
- Cardiovascular Health: The dynamic flow of Surya Namaskar increases blood circulation, thereby enhancing heart health and improving cardiovascular endurance.
Mind-Body Connection
Surya Namaskar is not only a physical practice but also a means to cultivate a deeper mind-body connection. By synchronizing movement with breath, practitioners experience a heightened sense of awareness and mindfulness. This connection allows for a greater understanding of the body’s needs and promotes overall well-being.
Surya Namaskar for Specific Goals
- Beginners: Surya Namaskar is an ideal practice for beginners as it introduces them to a sequence of foundational yoga poses. It provides a structured and accessible way to start their yoga journey.
- Weight Management: The combination of cardiovascular exercise, muscle toning, and mindful breathing in Surya Namaskar makes it an effective tool for weight management.
- Seniors: Surya Namaskar can be modified to suit the needs of seniors, offering gentle movement and promoting joint health and flexibility.
- Women’s Health: Surya Namaskar helps balance hormones, regulates menstrual cycles, and promotes overall well-being in women. Let’s unlock further benefits of Surya Namaskar.
1. Sun salutation step enhances skin beauty:
One can perform Sun salutation for beauty, healthy and glowing skin. Surya Namaskar is an effective means of having beautiful skin and a fair complexion.
The practice enables the elimination of a sufficient amount of waste products through the skin.
As it makes the person sweat profusely, which ensures the removal of accumulated toxins through the skin, thus Surya Namaskar helps in preventing pimples and boils.
It results in increased perspiration thereby releasing toxins. This is an excellent method of acquiring a fresh and fair complexion.
2. Sun Salutation Prevents hair fall
All forward bending poses increase blood circulation to the scalp region. Yoga exercises like Parvatasana (mountain pose), and Padhastasana (the forward bending pose) enhance blood supply to the head region thereby beneficial in the prevention of hair fall and early greying of hair.
3. Sun Salutation promotes weight loss
Surya Namaskar is an effective tool to shed extra calories. It is helpful to reduce tummy fat and makes you achieve a flat belly.
Surya Namaskar yoga poses facilitate adequate stretching, twisting, and compressing of the entire body thus proving useful for a weight loss regime.
This is a wonderful practice for those who are longing for weight loss and thus has been a part of power yoga too.
4. Sun Salutation improves digestion:
Surya Namaskar imparts massage to the digestive system. It stimulates peristalsis of the intestines and removes waste products from the body, encouraging good metabolism.
By regular practice of Surya namaskar poses, one can prevent many diseases and disorders of the alimentary canal.
5. Sun Salutation improves kidney functioning:
The practice gently massages the kidneys, increases their supply of blood as well as speeds up the circulation of blood throughout the body.
Regular practice of Surya namaskar encourages the kidney to work efficiently, which also leads to the filtration of blood through these organs.
6. Sun Salutation makes the heart healthy:
The multiple rounds of steps for Surya Namaskar increase the heartbeat and the working of the whole circulatory system. It is good to remove waste products from the body and ensures efficient human heart function.
By the practice of traditional Sun Salutation and Sun Salutation, the cells and tissues of the body receive fresh oxygen and nutrients, that lead to the health and vitality of the body. It encourages the lymphatic system to work more prominently thus helping in combating germs, bacteria, and illness.
7. Sun Salutation improves lungs function
multiple rounds of steps for Sun salutation help in the optimum utilization of the lungs and respiratory system.
It appropriately expands and contracts the air sacs or alveoli of the lungs, preventing the building up of germs, and many diseases of the respiratory system.
As a result, the lungs are completely emptied from impure air and the brain gets fresh oxygen, which makes the body full of energy and vigor.
8. Sun Salutation tones the nerves and nervous system
Sun Salutation poses gently stretches, massages, and stimulates the nerves of the entire body.
The better health of the nerves determines the efficient working of organs and muscles of the body system.
Surya Namaskar yoga poses tone up all these muscles and nerves and awakens the brain centers.
9. Sun Salutation corrects hormonal imbalances
Surya Namaskar harmonizes the different endocrine glands thus helping to remove any irregularities of such glands, which further improve their blood flow.
As a result, the hormones level in your body changes.
10. Sun Salutation helps in muscle loosening
Surya Namaskar invigorates all major muscles and offers intense stretching to the whole body.
It means the expansion and contraction of muscles help in the redirection of impure blood to the kidney and the lungs.
Therefore, this is the best module for the loosening of muscles and removes stiffness from the body and is considered as the best possible exercise that seeks healthy living.
Conclusion:
The sedentary lifestyle has resulted in an unhealthy lifestyle. In this Yoga plays an important role in balancing hormone levels, ageless skin, preventing seasonal diseases, etc.
So, a complete round of Surya Namaskar will benefit your whole body. Do your yoga practice under the guidance of a yoga instructor for optimum health and ward off injury.
Stay healthy and blessed!
How many steps are there in Surya Namaskar?
There are 12 yoga poses in Sun Salutation.
- Namaskar Asana/Pose (Prayer Pose)
- Hastutthanasana (Standing Backbend pose)
- Padhastasana (Hands to Foot/Forward bending pose)
- Ashwasanchalana (Equesterian Pose)
- Parvatasana (Mountain Pose)
- Ashtanga Namaskar (Eight limbed Salutation)
- Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)
- Parvatasana (Mountain Pose)
- Ashwasanchalana (Equesterian Pose)
- Padhastasana (Hands to Foot/Forward bending pose)
- Hastutthanasana (Standing Backbend pose)
- Namaskar Asana/Pose (Prayer Pose
Is Surya Namaskar and Sun Salutation the same?
Yes, Both are same.
What are side effects of Sun Salutation?
Sun Salutation does not have any side effects. However, it must be done cautiously, if you have back pain or any injury.
I have back pain, can I do surya namaskar?
Surya Namaskar is safe practice, only if it is done right. Do your practice under the instruction of an experienced yoga expert.
Is surya namaskar safe for females in menstruation?
Yes, sun salutation is absolutely safe to practice in menstruation. However, the poses may be modified to make one feel comfortable in practice.
