Are you facing a time crunch? Does the hectic life leave you completely worn out to delve into any form of exercise? If you are keen to live a healthy and nourishing life amidst this time crunch, then there is no better option than the Surya Namaskar.

Pay homage to the ‘Sun’, the source of life on Earth–through the regular performance of Surya Namaskar. The dedicated practice of 12 dynamic and powerful yoga asanas of a sun salutation sequence activates the solar plexus(located behind the navel, the central point of a human body ) that heightens one’s creativity, intuitive abilities, and enhances the well-being.

Learn and Practice the 12 steps of Surya Namaskar:

Step 1: Prayer Pose (Pranamasana): Begin the Surya Namaskar practice with the Prayer pose (Pranamasana). Stand upright on a yoga mat with feet closely aligned with each other. Take a deep breath, expand your chest, and relax your shoulders. While you inhale, raise your arms and as you exhale, fold the hands in prayer position before your heart. It is the first namaskar towards the sun.

Step 2: Raised arms Pose (Hastottanasana): Retain the previous position. Upon inhalation, lift your arms up and slightly lean backward. Ensure your biceps are close to your ears. Try to stretch your whole body. The stretching loosens up the knots in the entire body.

Step 3: Standing Forward Bend (Hasta Padasana): As you exhale; bend forward at the hip and bring your arms downwards. Place the hands beside your feet. Make sure your knees are straight and spine is erect. The pose strengthens the back, abdominal muscles, and nervous system.

Step 4: Equestrian Pose (Ashwa Sanchalanasana): Inhale, extend your left leg behind as far as possible. Now, fold your right knee and place it close towards the right part of the chest. Keep your hands on the floor and spread the fingers. Look up and bend your neck slightly backward. This posture provides psychical benefits and increases flexibility in the legs.

Step 5: Staff Pose (Dandasana): Breathe in, stretch your right leg behind and bring your body into a straight line. Keep your body parallel to the floor. A great pose that tones the wrists, legs, arms, and prepares the practitioner for more challenging arm balances.

Step 6: Salute with Eight parts(Ashtanga Namaskar): Slowly bring your knees to the floor and breathe out. Rest your chin, chest, hands, feet on the ground and raise your hips and abdomen high. This yoga asana makes the chest muscles and hands strong.

Step 7: Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana): Tuck your elbows to the side of your body. Press your palms into the mat and lift your chest and head off the ground. Rotate your shoulder blades away from the ears and arch your neck backward. Gaze in an upward direction. It is a perfect pose to treat a headache and a backache.

Step 8: Downward Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana): Transform into the downward dog from Bhujangasana by elevating your hips up, keeping the heels on the ground, and making an inverted-V with your body. This yoga asana rewards the practitioners with multiple benefits such as relief from stress, improved circulation, enhanced respiration, better posture, to name a few.

Step 9: Equestrian Pose (Ashwa Sanchalanasana): Turn into equestrian pose from adho mukha svanasana. Repeat the step (4) again but with the opposite side. Inhale, bring your left foot forward and place it between your hands and then rest your left knee on the ground. Look upward towards the ceiling.

Step 10: Hand to Foot Pose (Hasta Padasana): Gently bring your right foot next to your left foot. Keeping the position of your hands intact, lift your body upward and slowly come into an Hasta Padasana Posture.

Step 11: Raise arm Pose (Hasta Uttanasana): Take a deep inhalation, stretch your arms up overhead, slightly arch your back. Try to stretch your body upward instead of backward and keep your biceps close to your ears.

Step 12: Mountain Pose (Tadasana): Finally, exhale, bring your arms down and stand upright in a relaxed manner. Feel the positive vibrations within your body and mind. Experience an unparalleled serenity and refreshment.

Practice the steps of Surya Namaskar twelve times and reap the maximum benefits of this holistic exercise.

To Know more about Surya Namaskar, join yoga teacher training in India.