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Sun Salutation: Surya Namaskar Poses – An Excellent Exercise And A Complete Set Of Yogasana

Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) is said to be the best exercise for human beings. It is a set of Yoga poses done continuously, combined with synchronized breathing. Each posture counteracts the previous one and produces a balance between extensions and flexions. It comprises a set of some of the most important Yogasanas (postures) and Pranayama (breathing techniques) whose advantages have skillfully been incorporated into the Sun Salutation sequence. In some cases, mantras (called bija mantras) are chanted before and during the practice, which are also extremely beneficial.

Surya Namaskar also known as the Sun Salutation Pose or Salute to the Sun God is a flowing series of 13 postures that helps enhance flexibility and strength of the muscles as well as the spinal column. This exercise warms up the whole body while toning the abdominal muscles. This is why the Sun Salutation is appreciated so much by people everywhere, all over the world, in fact, from children to senior citizens. This Yoga exercise is also considered the best way to shed weight by burning calories and is most often recommended for obesity.

In all one Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) sequence includes 8 different Yoga postures; some repeated twice and are as follows:

• Namaskar – Salute
• Ardha Chandrasana – Half Moon Pose
• Padangusthasana – Hand To Foot Pose
• Surya darshan – Sun Sight Pose
• Purvottanasana – Inclined Plane
• Adho Mukha Svanasana – Downward Facing Dog Pose
• Shashtanga Dandawat – Forehead, Chest, Knee To Floor Pose
• Bhujangasana – Cobra Pose
• Adho Mukha Svanasana – Downward Facing Dog Pose
• Surya darshan – Sun Sight Pose
• Padangusthasana – Hand to Foot Pose
• Ardha Chandrasana – Half Moon Pose
• Namaskar - Salute

The Sun Salutation is a complete set of Yogasanas (postures), an excellent exercise that takes just a few minutes to do and is a great warm up routine prior to Yogasana practice. It calls for very little space, barely three by eight feet, but all the same ensures that you have adequate space to lie down, and enough to stretch your arms above your head while standing.

These Yogasanas (postures) are sequenced in such a way that they stretch your spine forwards and backwards alternately. When done the normal way, every asana (pose) is entered into and exited with alternate inhalation and exhalation (save the seventh one in which you hold your breath in external suspension). A full round of Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) constitutes 2 sets of the 13 postures with an alteration in the second set where you move the opposite leg first in the series.

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