World Yoga Day: the Sun Salutation yoga sequence for everyday energy

Today is the International Day of Yoga, which aims to make the Indian teachings more accessible to people across the globe. Today is also the summer solstice, making it the longest day of the year and the official start of summer on the calendar. We at CALIDA are celebrating this day with the well-known Sun Salutation yoga sequence – we’ll take you through it, step-by-step, so that you can give it a go yourself.

by CALIDA

June 21, 2023 • 7 min reading time

Celebrate World Yoga Day with us!

World Yoga Day honours and celebrates the practice of yoga and has officially been recognised as International Day of Yoga since 21 June 2015. The day was introduced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has been successfully endorsed by the United Nations (UNO). The aim is to popularise and promote the traditional Indian teachings so that the health-promoting effects of yoga are made known across the world.

The date 21 June connects yogis and yoginis worldwide: they practise yoga, meditate and sing mantras together. Indian teachings and traditions are celebrated and made more accessible across society. Countless events are held in over 84 countries. World Yoga Day connects many people around the world and is a symbol of community and peace.

Yoga is very diverse and can be carried out in different forms. The great thing about it is that you don’t have to be a pro to start yoga! A nice exercise for beginners – and for more experienced practitioners – is the Sun Salutation. This is a yoga sequence that you can practise virtually every day to build energy and strength. Traditionally, the Sun Salutation is performed in the morning at sunrise. We’ll take through you it, step-by-step, so that you can give it a go yourself.

The Sun Salutation comes from Hatha yoga and is often a good sequence of movements that you can do to warm up during a yoga session. As the name suggests, the Sun Salutation was created to honour the sun. It involves a sequence of yoga poses (asanas) that flow into one another as you inhale and exhale.

The Sun Salutation offers the following positive effects:

It provides the body with strength and energy for a pleasant start to the day.
It connects the body, mind and soul, which contributes to inner calm.
It activates the abdominal muscles and supports the cardiovascular system.
The breathing rhythm used allows you to expand breathing spaces and create more respiratory volume.
It relieves tension and stretches the muscles.

Below, we’ll take you through the individual asanas for the Sun Salutation yoga exercise step-by-step. It consists of individual poses that dynamically flow into one another and are synchronised with your breathing. For this reason, it is important that you control your breathing, inhaling and exhaling deeply throughout the exercise.

The individual asanas (yoga poses) of the Sun Salutation.

1. Mountain Pose – Tadasana

Stand hip-width apart and roll your shoulders back.
Bring your hands into prayer position.

The 'Mountain Pose' yoga pose will get you off to a great start.

2. Mountain Pose with straight arms – Urdhva Hastasana

Continue to stand hip-width apart and stretch your arms overhead.
If you want to, you can stretch further back and open your chest.

The yoga pose "Mountain pose with arms outstretched".

3. Child’s Pose – Balasana

Kneel down on the mat and sit on your heels.
As you exhale, move your upper body forward and rest your forehead on the floor or on a pillow.
Place your arms along your body and breathe deeply in and out.

The yoga pose "Child's pose".

4. Low Lunge – Anjaneyasana

From Child’s Pose, slowly move up and put your hands down, supporting yourself off the floor. It is important that you keep your back naturally straight.
Stretch out one leg behind you and place the other leg in front at a 90-degree angle.
Activate your legs and make sure your hips stay centred.

The yoga pose "Low Lunge".

5. Plank Pose – Phalakasana

From the low lunge, we move dynamically into the plank: support your behind leg with your foot and step onto your toes. Bring your front leg back right away and support it parallel to the other with your toes.
Make sure that you don’t stretch your bottom up into a hollow back, but rather keep it in line with the shape of your back.
Stabilise your arms and position them stretched under your shoulders.

The Yoga pose "Plank".

6. Baby Cobra

You can move swiftly into Baby Cobra from Plank Pose by slowly bending your arms and lowering your legs and abdomen.
Keep your elbows close to your body and hold this position for a few breaths.

The Asana "Baby Cobra" as an introduction to the cobra Pose.

7. Cobra Pose – Bhujangasana

After Baby Cobra, you will then move into full Cobra Pose by stretching your upper body upwards. Pull your upper arms back to your elbows and continue to lift your chest forward.
Keep your breathing controlled and even and your gaze forward or tilted upwards.

The Yoga pose "Cobra".

8. Downward-Facing Dog Pose – Adho Mukha Svanasana

From the full Cobra Pose, you’ll then move back into Plank Pose and then into Downward-Facing Dog, controlled and in one go. You do this by pushing your bottom up while keeping your arms and legs straight.
Actively pull your shoulder blades apart and keep your neck relaxed. You should look towards your legs.
If you want to, you can put your heels down to stretch your hamstrings further or stay on your toes for a less strenuous effect.
Take a few breaths and hold this pose for a moment.

The Asana "Downward Facing Dog".

9. Low Lunge, Child's Pose, Mountain Pose

Now you can go from Looking Down Dog back into Low Lunge (see step no. 4).
From this posture you dynamically return to the child's posture and finally to the mountain posture with outstretched arms.
Finally, calmly and in a controlled manner enter the Mountain posture and bring your arms into the Prayer posture.
Namaste!

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