Suriya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) is the most profound sequence of Yoga asanas practiced in all paths of Yoga because it covers the whole body and has multiple benefits for body,mind and spirit. In terms of the predominant reason why many do Suriya Namaskar – WEIGHT LOSS and toning of the muscles, 10 min. of Suriya Namaskar (approx. 12 rounds) is equal to 1 hour of jogging! This is due to the fact that Surya Namaskar increases your metabolic rate in a natural way and is therefore a safe way to lose weight and remain healthy (if you are underweight, you will not lose weight because metabolic rate will be simply normalized).

Before starting your Suriya Namaskars, give yourself an autosuggestion that your mind will remain calm and breathing under control no matter what (no erratic breathing through the mouth).

Lips should be closed and, as the heart rate starts increasing, you can use the Ujjai breath (constraining the passage of the air through the throat resembling the snoaring sound) in order to elongate the breath. Most importantly, feel that your body is like a light WAVE bending back and forth – train yourself to detach and witness the turbulence - body bending as per the sequence, heart rate increasing, sweat and heat emanating from the body, while deep inside you remain like a calm sea. This is the way to experience the MAGIC of Suriya Namaskar  - your body will simply fall in love with it and will perform it with utmost lightness.
Always do the first round slowly, and then increase the speed. Start with 3 – 6 rounds, and keep increasing the number of rounds every day. After two weeks of practice, challenge yourself to do minimum 12 rounds, every morning, no matter what.

First half of the round (shown below) starts with right leg going back (Asana 4) and right front (Asana 9).

 

Asana 1	Asana 2	Asana 3
Asana 4	Asana 5	Asana 6
Asana 7	Asana 8	Asana 9
Asana 10	Asana 11	Asana 12

Second half of the round (shown above) is the same except for the left leg going back in asana 4 and to the front in asana 9.

Following the above images of the second half of the sequence, directions are given as below:

1. Breathe in and breathe out with a smile, saluting the light of the Sun as well as the light within you (to be visualised briefly in the chest area)

2. Breathing in, bring your palms together (thumbs interlaced, root of the palms apart) and sweep your arms above your head, curve your lower back and bend as far as possible backward

3. Breathing out, start bending the body forward, maintaining your back straight, until you finally start bending the spine and bringing your palms to the floor (if necessary, bend the knees) on the side of the feet.

4. Breathing in, step back as far as possible with your LEFT leg (second half of the sequence) and look up.

5. Bring the right leg to the back, joining the left, and remain in the push up position (using your abdominal muscles and gluteus to maintain the body in the straight line). Briefly HOLDING THE BREATH (this is the only time you hold the breath during Surya Namaskar)

6. Breathing out, bring your knees to the floor, followed by the chest and then the chin, while your hips remain off the floor, resembling the shape of a snail house 

7. Bring your stomach on the floor, and breathing in come into the Cobra pose (make sure your shoulders are not pulled up towards the ears, but down)

8. Tuck the toes, push from the palms and breathing out bring the hips up into the the Mountain pose (when you push more from the palms, your head and chest will come closer to the floor – that is when the Mountain pose becomes the Downward Facing Dog pose - optional)

9. Look to the front, come on your toes and breathing in bring your LEFT leg to the front, between the palms (please note that, if you don't come on your toes and don't push the hips up, your foot will get stuck half way towards the front – this requires some training, but don't give up)

10. Breathing out, bring the back leg to the front, palms on the floor and forehead as close as possible to your knees.

11. Breathing in, straighten the body and continue bending backward from the hips, palms together and thumbs interlaced

12. Breathing out, come back into the standing position, palms together in front of your chest.

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