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Surya Namaskara A: A Breakdown
Sun Salutations De-Mystified
Sam Battersby
May 14, 2024
How to Stand
Stand at the top of your mat with about two fists’ distance between your feet.
Lift your toes up off the mat and press evenly into all four corners of your feet.
Slowly lower your toes back down to the mat, keeping the engagement in your feet. You’ll know you’ve got it because there will be a slight suction-cup sensation in the arches and a slight lift in the knee cap.
Hold your arms at your sides relaxed but alert, with your palms facing forward.
Draw your navel slightly in toward your spine while gently tucking your tailbone, engaging the core.
Roll your shoulders up and back, drawing the shoulder blades down the back and opening up the chest.
Consciously extend through the crown of the head, lengthening the spine as much as possible.
Now you are in Tadasana, or Mountain Pose in English.
Surya Namaskara A
This vinyasa sequence is also known by its English moniker of “Sun Salutations A.”
Vinyasa means to marry the breath with the movement. In a vinyasa sequence then, every inhale is linked to an expanding motion and every exhale is linked to a contracting motion.
Tadasana - Mountain Pose
Refer to the instructions above to come into your Tadasana pose. Settle in to your body, rooting through the feet while extending through the crown of the head.
Uttanasana - Forward Fold
Inhale to lift the arms overhead, while consciously drawing the shoulder blades down the back.
On the exhale fold forward, hinging at the hips and continuing to extend the spine.
Inhale to lift halfway, keeping the spine parallel to the mat.
Exhale to fold, this time really settling into the pose.
Bend your knees here as much as you need to. You want your belly and ribs to be glued to the tops of your thighs. As long as you are engaging the muscles as discussed you will feel the benefits of this in your hamstrings whether your knees are bent or not.
Phalakasana - Plank Pose
Inhale to plant the hands outside of your feet and step all the way back
While here, focus on:
- Spreading the finger tips wide and pressing evenly into each one
- Keeping the shoulders directly over the elbows, and the elbows directly over the wrists
- Pushing the mat away from you
- Spiraling your biceps in, so that the eyes of the elbows are facing the front of the mat
- Rocking forward on your toes
- Drawing the belly button in toward the spine to engage the core.
Chaturanga Dandasana - Low Plank
Exhale to lower down, bending the elbows and keeping the biceps glued to your sides
I prefer not to practice this pose as it can be hard on the lower back. My favorite modification is to lower the knees, the chest, and the chin to the mat on the exhale. This puts in a pose called Ashtanga Pranam. Make sure you still squeeze those elbows in and keep the active engagement no matter which pose you choose.
Urdhva Mukha Svanasana - Upward Facing Dog
On an inhale, keep your hands planted on the mat while shifting your hips toward your wrists and sweeping you chest forward.
While here focus on:
- Spreading the finger tips wide and pressing evenly into each one
- Keeping the shoulders directly over the elbows, and the elbows directly over the wrists
- Pushing the mat away from you
- Spiraling your biceps in, so that the eyes of the elbows are facing the front of the mat
- Drawing the shoulder blades down the back
- Extending through the crown of the head
- Engaging your quads and keeping them lifted off the mat
- Glueing the tops of your feet to the mat.
When you first begin this routine, I suggest looking straight ahead in this pose. As you build a consistent routine, play with looking toward the sky. Make sure you focus on alignment.
Adho Mukha Svanasana - Downward Facing Dog
Inhale to tuck your toes
Exhale to lift the hips high.
While here focus on:
- Spreading the finger tips wide and pressing evenly into each one
- Pushing the mat away from you
- Spiraling your biceps in, so that the eyes of the elbows are facing the front of the mat
- Drawing the shoulder blades down the back
- Extending through the crown of the head
- Melting the chest toward the mat
- Drawing the belly button in towards the spine.
Bend your knees if you need or want to. Straight legs are NOT a requirement of this pose.
Stay here for five full breaths. With each inhale, lifting the hips high and with every exhale melting the heart lower towards the mat
On your last exhale, bend your knees to prepare and look towards your hands.
Uttanasana - Forward Fold
Inhale to step forward, between your hands
While stepping up does require some prerequisite core strength, sometimes our anatomical proportions can make this more difficult. For instance, my arms are a little to short for me to step all the way up to my hands. If stepping up is difficult for you, try coming up onto the fingertips of your dominant hand before stepping forward with the same foot.
On the exhale fold forward, extending the spine and drawing the shoulder blades down the back.
Bend your knees here as much as you need to. You want your belly and ribs to be glued to the tops of your thighs. As long as you are engaging the muscles as discussed you will feel the benefits of this in your hamstrings whether your knees are bent or not.
Tadasana - Mountain Pose
Inhale to roll up slowly, vertebra by vertebra; stretching the arms high overhead.
Exhale to bring the hands down to your heart center.
Place and hand on your belly and a hand on your chest to connect with your breath here.
Remember the alignment cues for our first Tadasana and apply them here, too.
You have completed your first round of Surya Namaskara A.
Now do two more, keeping all of these steps in mind 😊
Next Steps
I recommend completing three rounds of Surya Namaskara A in the morning and just before bed at least twice a week.
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