You’ve probably come across the practice of Surya Namaskara, or sun salutations. Sun salutes can be sequenced in several ways, linked to a certain style of yoga or creatively structured into something new. The common thread throughout is connection and breath. Whether you’re feeling scattered or stagnant, moving through a cycle of consecutive postures with the breath links up all the dots to bring mind and body into balance. Sun salutes can be used to warm-up, as a moving meditation or as a complete practice in itself.
Winter is a great time of year to bring more sun salutations into your practice, bringing light into the dark corners of your winter existence. Check out this video, which leads you through 12 rounds of Satyananda-style Surya Namaskara. A traditional style of sun salute, the 12 postures in this style align the whole body. As you go through the poses, they relate to the 12 months, or moon cycles, in a year. Thus, sun salutes are also a great practice to balance the sun and moon energies or to mark a certain date of the year, such as Winter Solstice.
Every Winter Solstice, which is also International Yoga Day, we practice 108 rounds of Surya Namaskara as a community at The Space. In yoga, 108 is a sacred number, which is why there are 108 beads on a mala prayer necklace. There are many reasons that 108 is an auspicious number. The number 1 stands for God, or oneness, the universe or your own highest truth. 0 stands for emptiness and humility, and 8 stands for infinity and timelessness. This number also connects the Sun, Moon, and Earth. The average distance of the Sun and the Moon to Earth is 108 times their respective diameters. There are many occurrences of 108 throughout religion and science. If you want to know more, try a Google search.
Whether you’re practicing 108 rounds, or just a few, we hope that you can catch some sun this winter.
if you want to connect with us on Sunday June 20th, in the studio or on Zoom, for 108 rounds, find out more, sign-up or just donate, all proceeds go to Give India.
