Saturday, April 3, 2010

Surya Namaskar - Sun Salutation

In reading my Yoga Journal the other day (I love this magazine), I came upon an article called, "Shine on me: Start your day with reverence for the sun and harness its life-giving energy with Surya Namaskar."

In the article, they quote a man named Christopher Key Chapple, a yoga instructor and a professor of Indic and comparative theology at Loyola Marymount University.

To Chapple, ""Surya Namaskar is nothing less than the embodiment of the Gayatri mantra, a sacred prayer to the sun," which goes like this:
"As we sweep our arms up and bow forward, we honor the earth, the heavens, and all of life in between that is nourished by the breath cycle," he says. "As we lower our bodies, we connect with the earth. As we rise up from the earth, we stretch through the atmosphere once more, reaching for the ski. As we bring our hands together in Namaste, we gather the space of the heavens back into our heart and breath, acknowledging that our body forms the center point between heaven and earth." (Yoga Journal, March 2010, page 77-78)
Isn't that beautiful? The article goes on to describe and demonstrate Surya Namaskar Sun Salutatation.

I've done thousands of Sun Salutations and will think of this mantra each time I do it...and I wanted to share it with you.

Namaste!

1 comment:

Lori Lavender Luz said...

One thing I love about yoga is that no matter how many times you do a certain pose or sequence, there can always be something new.

Thanks for giving me something new under the Sun.