Sun Salutation

File:Pant_Pratinidhi_1928_Surya_Namaskar_Sequence.jpg provided this double-page guide to the Sun Salutation at the back of his 1928 book The Ten-Point Way to Health: Surya Namaskars as well as in the body of the text, stating that it could be removed for use without damaging the text of the book.{{sfn|Singleton|2010|pp=180–181, 205–206}}]]

The name Surya Namaskar is from the Sanskrit सूर्य Sūrya, "Sun" and नमस्कार Namaskāra, "Greeting" or "Salute".{{sfn|Mehta|Mehta|Mehta|1990|pp=146–147}} Surya is the Hindu god of the sun.{{cite book |author=Dalal, Roshen |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC&pg=PA343 |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |page=343}} This identifies the Sun as the soul and source of all life.{{cite book |last=Suman |first=Krishan Kumar |title=Yoga for Health and Relaxation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ijWWEl5ktccC&pg=PA83 |year=2006 |publisher=Lotus |isbn=978-81-8382-049-3 |pages=83–84}} Chandra Namaskara is similarly from Sanskrit चन्द्र Chandra, "Moon".{{cite book |last=Sinha |first=S. C. |title=Dictionary of Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zzRvh1fRzEC&pg=PA18 |date=1 June 1996 |publisher=Anmol Publications |isbn=978-81-7041-293-9 |page=18}}

The origins of the Sun Salutation are vague; Indian tradition connects the 17th century saint Samarth Ramdas with Surya Namaskara exercises, without defining what movements were involved.{{cite book|title=Hindu Vishva |year=1980 |volume=15 |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fR41AAAAIAAJ |quote=Sri Samarath Ramdas Swami took Surya Namaskar exercises with the Mantras as part of his Sadhana.}} In the 1920s, Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi, the Rajah of Aundh, popularized and named the practice, describing it in his 1928 book The Ten-Point Way to Health: Surya Namaskars.{{cite book |last=Pratinidhi |first=Pant |author-link=Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi |title=The Ten-Point Way to Health {{!}} Surya Namaskars |year=1928 |publisher=J. M. Dent and Sons |url=https://pdfslide.net/documents/surya-namaskara-1928-the-ten-point-way-to-health-by-shrimant-balasahib-rajah-of-aundh.html |pages=113–115 and whole book |quote=The ten positions of a Namaskar are repeated here and may be detached without damaging the book. The pages are perforated for easy removal. |access-date=29 July 2019 |archive-date=23 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123075747/https://pdfslide.net/documents/surya-namaskara-1928-the-ten-point-way-to-health-by-shrimant-balasahib-rajah-of-aundh.html |url-status=dead }}{{sfn|Singleton|2010|pp=180–181, 205–206}}S. P. Sen, Dictionary of National Biography; Institute of Historical Studies, Calcutta 1972 Vols. 1–4; Institute of Historical Studies, Vol 3, page 307{{sfn|Alter|2000|p=99}} It has been asserted that Pant Pratinidhi invented it,{{sfn|Alter|2004|p=163}} but Pant stated that it was already a commonplace Marathi tradition.{{sfn|Singleton|2010|p=124}}

Ancient but simpler Sun salutations such as Aditya Hridayam, described in the "Yuddha Kaanda" Canto 107 of the Ramayana,{{cite web|author=Murugan, Chillayah |website=The Milli Gazette-Indian Muslim Newspaper |title=Surya Namaskara — Puranic origins of Valmiki Ramayana in the Mumbai Court order on Surya Namaskar for Interfaith discrimination and curtailment of fundamental rights |date=13 October 2016 |url=http://www.milligazette.com/news/14834-mumbai-order-on-surya-namaskar-interfaith-discrimination-and-curtailment-of-fundamental-rights |access-date=13 Oct 2016}}[http://sanskrit.safire.com/pdf/ADITYA_TRANS.PDF sanskrit.safire.com, Aditya Hrudayam with English translation][http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rama/ry502.htm Translation of Ramayana by Griffith] are not related to the modern sequence.{{sfn|Mujumdar|1950}} The anthropologist Joseph Alter states that the Sun Salutation was not recorded in any Haṭha yoga text before the 19th century.{{sfn|Alter|2004|p=23}} At that time, the Sun Salutation was not considered to be yoga, and its postures were not considered asanas; the pioneer of yoga as exercise, Yogendra, wrote criticising the "indiscriminate" mixing of sun salutation with yoga as the "ill-informed" were doing.{{sfn|Singleton|2010|pp=180–181, 205–206}}

File:Vishnu-devananda's_Soorya_Namaskar_positions_5_to_8.jpg called Vishnudevananda's 1960 sequence (positions 5 to 8 shown) in his The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga a "new utilitarian conception of Surya Namaskara", in which he rejected his guru Sivananda's view of it as a health cure.{{sfn|Goldberg|2016|pp=329–331}}]]

The yoga scholar-practitioner Norman Sjoman suggested that Krishnamacharya, "the father of modern yoga",{{cite web |last1=Mohan |first1=A. G. |author1-link=A. G. Mohan |last2=Mohan |first2=Ganesh |title=Memories of a Master |publisher=Yoga Journal |date=29 November 2009 |url=http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2590}}{{cite web |last=Anderson |first=Diane |title=The YJ Interview: Partners in Peace |website=Yoga Journal |date=9 August 2010 |url=http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2605}} used the traditional and "very old"{{sfn|Sjoman|1999|p=54}} Indian wrestlers' exercises called dandas (Sanskrit: दण्ड daṇḍa, a staff), described in the 1896 Vyayama Dipika,{{cite book |last1=Bharadwaj |first1=S. |title=Vyayama Dipika {{!}} Elements of Gymnastic Exercises, Indian System |date=1896 |publisher=Caxton Press |location=Bangalore |pages=Chapter 2}} as the basis for the sequence and for his transitioning vinyasas.{{sfn|Sjoman|1999|p=54}} Different dandas closely resemble the Sun Salutation asanas Tadasana, Padahastasana, Caturanga Dandasana, and Bhujangasana.{{sfn|Sjoman|1999|p=54}} Krishnamacharya was aware of the Sun Salutation, since regular classes were held in the hall adjacent to his Yogasala in the Rajah of Mysore's palace.{{sfn|Singleton|2010|p=175-210}} The yoga scholar Mark Singleton states that "Krishnamacharya was to make the flowing movements of sūryanamaskār the basis of his Mysore yoga style".{{sfn|Singleton|2010|p=180}} His students, K. Pattabhi Jois,{{cite book |last=Donahaye |first=Guy |title=Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K Pattabhi Jois Through The Eyes of His Students |year=2010 |publisher=D&M Publishers | location=USA |isbn=978-0-86547-749-0 }} who created Ashtanga (vinyasa) yoga,{{sfn|Ramaswami|2005|pp=213-219}} and B. K. S. Iyengar, who created Iyengar Yoga, both learned Sun Salutation and flowing vinyasa movements between asanas from Krishnamacharya and used them in their styles of yoga.{{sfn|Singleton|2010|p=175-210}}

The historian of modern yoga Elliott Goldberg writes that Vishnudevananda's 1960 book The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga "proclaimed in print" a "new utilitarian conception of Surya Namaskara"{{sfn|Goldberg|2016|pp=329–331}}{{sfn|Vishnudevananda|1988}} which his guru Sivananda had originally promoted as a health cure through sunlight. Goldberg notes that Vishnudevananda modelled the positions of the Sun Salutation for photographs in the book, and that he recognised the sequence "for what it mainly is: not treatment for a host of diseases but fitness exercise."{{sfn|Goldberg|2016|pp=329–331}}

File:Surya Namaskar.jpg, India]]

The Sun Salutation is a sequence of around twelve yoga asanas connected by jumping or stretching movements, varying somewhat between schools. In Iyengar Yoga, the basic sequence is Tadasana, Urdhva Hastasana, Uttanasana, Uttanasana with head up, Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dog), Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Dog), Chaturanga Dandasana, and then reversing the sequence to return to Tadasana; other poses can be inserted into the sequence.{{sfn|Mehta|Mehta|Mehta|1990|pp=146–147}}

In Sivananda yoga, the Sun Salutation sequence differs slightly from the Iyengar sequence (poses marked in italics): Tadasana, Urdhva Hastasana, Uttanasana, Anjaneyasana (low lunge), Phalakasana (high plank), Chaturanga Dandasana, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana, and then reversing the sequence to return to Tadasana.{{sfn|Lidell|1983|pp=34–35}}

The founder of Ashtanga Yoga, K. Pattabhi Jois, stated that "There is no Ashtanga yoga without Surya Namaskara, which is the ultimate salutation to the Sun god."{{cite web |title=Surya Namaskar in the words of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois |url=https://empowerpeace.typepad.com/empowerpeace/2010/07/surya-namaskar-in-the-words-of-sri-k-pattabhi-jois.html |website=Discover the Purpose |access-date=20 July 2019}} The school has two traditional Sun Salutation sequences, types A and B.

• The type A sequence of asanas is Pranamasana, Urdhva Hastasana, Uttanasana, Phalakasana (high plank), Chaturanga Dandasana, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Uttanasana and back to Pranamasana.{{cite web |last=Hughes |first=Aimee |title=Sun Salutation A Versus Sun Salutation B: The Difference You Should Know |url=https://www.yogapedia.com/sun-salutation-a-versus-sun-salutation-b-the-difference-you-should-know/2/11269 |website=Yogapedia}}
• The type B sequence of asanas (differences marked in italics) is Pranamasana, Utkatasana, Uttanasana, Ardha Uttanasana, Phalakasana, Chaturanga Dandasana, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Virabhadrasana I, repeat from Phalakasana onwards with Virabhadrasana I on the other side, then repeat Phalakasana through to Adho Mukha Svanasana (a third time), Ardha Uttanasana, Uttanasana, Utkatasana, and back to Pranamasana.

A newer variant, type C, incorporates Ashtanga Namaskara with a mix of the other two types.{{cite web |last=McBroom |first=Tory |title=How to Do Sun Salutation C Sequence in Yoga (Surya Namaskara C) |url=https://yogaanswered.com/how-to-do-sun-salutation-c-sequence-in-yoga |website=Yoga Answered |date=23 May 2022 |quote=Traditional Ashtanga practice recognizes two forms of Sun Salutations – Surya Namaskara A and Surya Namaskara B. However, as the Sun Salutation sequence grew more popular within other styles of yoga, it evolved to have more variations. Surya Namaskara C incorporates some of the elements of Sun Salutations A and B while bringing new poses into the mix.}}

{{further|Ashtanga Namaskara}}

File:Surya Namaskar sculpture at IGIA T3 (cropped).jpgs of the form of the Sun Salutation incorporating Ashtanga Namaskara in place of Caturanga Dandasana in Indira Gandhi Airport, Delhi{{cite news |work=Indian Express |date=4 September 2010 |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/destination-delhi/677151 |title=Destination Delhi}} (figures sculpted by Nikhil Bhandari)]]

In some traditions, including Pratinidhi's,{{sfn|Pratinidhi|1938|p=51}} Ashtanga Namaskara (Knees, Chest, Chin pose) is substituted for Chaturanga Dandasana. A Sun Salutation cycle incorporating this pose is:

In some yoga traditions, each step of the sequence is associated with a mantra. In traditions including Sivananda Yoga, the steps are linked with twelve names of the deity Surya, the Sun:{{cite web |title=Surya Namaskara |url=http://sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection§ion_id=1233 |website=Divine Life Society |access-date=19 July 2019 |date=2011}}

File:ACM-Surya-Pala dynasty-03670.jpg with a name of the Sun god Surya for each step of Surya Namaskar. 12th century Pala dynasty sculpture of Surya pictured.]]

Indian tradition associates the steps with six Bīja ("seed" sound) mantras and with five chakras (focal points of the subtle body).{{cite web |last1=Hardowar |first1=Radha |title=Surya Namaskar |url=http://shrisuryanarayanmandir.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/SURYA-NAMASKAR.pdf |publisher=Shri Surya Narayan Mandir |date=June 2018}}

File:5 Chakras map named.svgs, pictured. ]]

{{see also|Vinyasa}}

Many variations are possible. For example, in Iyengar Yoga the sequence may intentionally be varied to run Tadasana, Urdhva Hastasana, Uttanasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Lolasana, Janusirsasana (one side, then the other), and reversing the sequence from Adho Mukha Svanasana to return to Tadasana. Other asanas that may be inserted into the sequence include Navasana (or Ardha Navasana), Paschimottanasana and its variations, and Marichyasana I.{{sfn|Mehta|Mehta|Mehta|1990|pp=146–147}}

Variant sequences named Chandra Namaskar, the Moon Salutation, are sometimes practised; these were created late in the 20th century.{{cite web |last1=Ferretti |first1=Andrea |last2=Rea |first2=Shiva |author2-link=Shiva Rea |title=Soothing Moon Shine: Chandra Namaskar |url=https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/moon-shine |website=Yoga Journal |date=1 March 2012}} One such sequence consists of the asanas Tadasana, Urdhva Hastasana, Anjaneyasana (sometimes called Half Moon Pose), a kneeling lunge, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Bitilasana, Balasana, kneeling with thighs, body, and arms pointing straight up, Balasana with elbows on ground, hands together in Anjali Mudra behind the head, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Uttanasana, Urdhva Hastasana, Pranamasana, and Tadasana.{{cite web |last=Mirsky |first=Karina |title=A Meditative Moon Salutation |url=https://yogainternational.com/article/view/a-meditative-moon-salutation |website=Yoga International |access-date=23 July 2019}} Other Moon Salutations with different asanas have been published.{{cite web |last1=Venkatesan |first1=Supriya |title=Moon Salutations |url=https://www.yogauonline.com/yoga-practice-tips-and-inspiration/moon-salutations-cultivating-lunar-nectar-and-tapping-your-softer |publisher=Yoga U |access-date=23 July 2019}}{{cite web |last=Tomlinson |first=Kirsty |title=Moon Salutation sequence |url=https://www.ekhartyoga.com/articles/practice/moon-salutation-sequence |website=Ekhart Yoga |access-date=23 July 2019}}

The energy cost of exercise is measured in units of metabolic equivalent of task (MET). Less than 3 METs counts as light exercise; 3 to 6 METs is moderate exercise; 6 or over is vigorous exercise. American College of Sports Medicine and American Heart Association guidelines count periods of at least 10 minutes of moderate MET level activity towards their recommended daily amounts of exercise.{{cite journal |last=Larson-Meyer |first=D. Enette |title=A Systematic Review of the Energy Cost and Metabolic Intensity of Yoga |journal=Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise |volume=48 |issue=8 |year=2016 |pages=1558–1569 |issn=0195-9131 |doi=10.1249/MSS.0000000000000922 |pmid=27433961 }} The review examined 17 studies, of which 10 measured the energy cost of yoga sessions.{{cite journal |last=Haskell |first=William L. |title=Physical Activity and Public Health |journal=Circulation |volume=116 |issue=9 |year=2007 |pages=1081–1093 |issn=0009-7322 |doi=10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.185649 |pmid=17671237 |display-authors=etal |doi-access=free }} For healthy adults aged 18 to 65, the guidelines recommend moderate exercise for 30 minutes five days a week, or vigorous aerobic exercise for 20 minutes three days a week.

The Sun Salutation's energy cost ranges widely according to how energetically it is practised, from a light 2.9 to a vigorous 7.4 METs. The higher end of the range requires transition jumps between the poses.{{efn|Haskell, curious about the wide range of METs in Sun Salutation, repeated the study (Mody) which gave the highest value; using "transition jumps, and full pushups", he obtained "agreement" with 6.4 METs.}} Practitioners accustomed to this can find performing the sequence an "exhilarating process".

A 2014 study indicated that the muscle groups activated by specific asanas varied with the skill of the practitioners, from beginner to instructor. The eleven asanas in the Sun Salutation sequences A and B of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga were performed by beginners, advanced practitioners and instructors. The activation of 14 groups of muscles was measured with electrode on the skin over the muscles. Among the findings, beginners used pectoral muscles more than instructors, whereas instructors used deltoid muscles more than other practitioners, as well as the vastus medialis (which stabilises the knee). The yoga instructor Grace Bullock writes that such patterns of activation suggest that asana practice increases awareness of the body and the patterns in which muscles are engaged, making exercise more beneficial and safer.{{cite journal |last1=Ni |first1=Meng |last2=Mooney |first2=Kiersten |last3=Balachandran |first3=Anoop |last4=Richards |first4=Luca |last5=Harriell |first5=Kysha |last6=Signorile |first6=Joseph F. |title=Muscle utilization patterns vary by skill levels of the practitioners across specific yoga poses (asanas) |journal=Complementary Therapies in Medicine |volume=22 |issue=4 |year=2014 |pages=662–669 |issn=0965-2299 |doi=10.1016/j.ctim.2014.06.006|pmid=25146071 }}{{cite web |last1=Bullock |first1=B. Grace |title=Which Muscles Are You Using in Your Yoga Practice? A New Study Provides the Answers |url=https://www.yogauonline.com/yoga-anatomy/which-muscles-are-you-using-your-yoga-practice-new-study-provides-answers |website=Yoga U |access-date=22 July 2019 |date=2016}}

• Sun worship in Hinduism
• Burpee (exercise)

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Alter |first=Joseph S. |author-link=Joseph S. Alter |title=Gandhi's Body: Sex, Diet, and the Politics of Nationalism |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year= 2000 |isbn=978-0-812-23556-2 }}
• {{cite book |last=Alter |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Alter |title=Yoga in modern India : the body between science and philosophy |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-691-11874-1 |oclc=53483558 |author-mask={{long dash}}|title-link=Yoga in Modern India }}
• {{cite book |last=Goldberg |first=Elliott |author-link=Elliott Goldberg |title=The Path of Modern Yoga : the history of an embodied spiritual practice |publisher=Inner Traditions |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-62055-567-5 |oclc=926062252 }}
• {{cite book |last=Lidell |first=Lucy; The Sivananda Yoga Centre |title=The Book of Yoga: the complete step-by-step guide |publisher=Ebury |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-85223-297-2 |oclc=12457963 |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofyoga0000lide }}
• {{cite book |last1=Mehta |first1=Silva |last2=Mehta |first2=Mira |author2-link=Mira Mehta |last3=Mehta |first3=Shyam |date=1990 |title=Yoga: The Iyengar Way |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |isbn=978-0-86318-420-8 }}
• {{cite book |editor-last=Mujumdar |editor-first=Dattatraya Chintaman |title=Encyclopedia of Indian Physical Culture: A Comprehensive Survey of the Physical Education in India, Profusely Illustrating Various Activities of Physical Culture, Games, Exercises, Etc., as Handed Over to Us from Our Fore-fathers and Practised in India |publisher=Good Companions |year=1950 }}
• {{cite book |last=Pratinidhi |first=Pant |author1-link=Bhawanrao Shrinivasrao Pant Pratinidhi |title=The Ten-Point Way to Health=Surya Namaskars... Edited with an introduction by Louise Morgan |date=1938 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.scoerat.3650thetenpointwaytohealth |orig-year=1929 |publisher=J. M. Dent}}
• {{cite book |last1=Ramaswami |first1=Srivatsa |author-link=Srivatsa Ramaswami |title=The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-56924-402-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/completebookofvi00rama }}
• {{cite book |last=Singleton |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Singleton (yoga scholar) |title=Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-974598-2 |pages=180–181, 205–206 }}
• {{cite book |last=Sjoman |first=Norman E. |author-link=Norman Sjoman |title=The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=1999 |edition=2nd |orig-year=1996 |isbn=81-7017-389-2 |title-link=The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace }}
• {{cite book |author=Vishnudevananda |author-link=Swami Vishnudevananda |title=The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga |publisher=Three Rivers Press/Random House |location=New York |year=1988 |orig-year=1960 |isbn=0-517-88431-3 |oclc=32442598 |title-link=The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga }}

{{commons category|Surya Namaskar}}

• [http://postagestamps.gov.in/NewsPage.aspx?uid=107 Dep't of Posts, Gov't of India releases stamps on Surya Namaskara] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225203003/http://postagestamps.gov.in/NewsPage.aspx?uid=107 |date=25 December 2017 }} on International Yoga Day 2016.

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