5 yoga poses to perfect your sun salutation
What's the story
Sun salutation, or surya namaskar, is a powerful sequence of twelve yoga poses that pay homage to the sun. It blends flexibility, strength, and breathwork for a truly invigorating body-mind experience. Including certain yoga poses in your regular practice can drastically improve your comfort and flow in sun salutations. This blog post delves into five key poses that build strength, flexibility, and overall grace in the sequence.
Core strength
Strengthen your core with plank pose
The plank pose is a key exercise for developing core strength and stability, which are vital for transitioning smoothly between poses in sun salutation. By practicing plank pose daily, holding it for 30 seconds to one minute, you can greatly improve the endurance of your core muscles. This enhanced core strength translates to improved posture and alignment during sun salutations, allowing for a more seamless flow between poses.
Flexibility boost
Increase flexibility with downward dog
Downward-facing dog is a key pose that strengthens your sun salutation by promoting flexibility in the shoulders, hamstrings, and calves. Incorporating this pose into your daily practice helps lengthen and stretch these muscle groups. As a result, transitions like stepping from a standing forward bend to a lunge become more seamless and fluid.
Stability enhancement
Enhance stability with Warrior I
Warrior I is key to developing lower body strength and stability. By regularly practicing this pose, you'll strengthen your thighs, calves, and ankles while also opening up your hips. This strength and openness will provide a solid foundation for all your standing poses within the Sun Salutation sequence. Plus, the stability you gain in Warrior I will help you move with greater control throughout the entire flow.
Shoulder mobility
Improve shoulder flexibility with Cobra Pose
Cobra Pose is designed to open the chest and shoulders while strengthening the spine. By regularly practicing Cobra Pose, you can improve your shoulder flexibility and mobility. This is crucial for performing backward bends with ease within sun salutation sequences, such as transitioning from Downward Dog to Cobra or Upward-Facing Dog without experiencing discomfort or strain.
Endurance building
Boost endurance with Chair Pose
Chair Pose is a great way to build strength in the thighs, but it also helps develop endurance in the legs and lower back - these are the areas you use the most during sun salutations. By including Chair Pose in your practice, you're training your muscles to have more stamina, which means you'll be able to do more rounds of surya namaskar without getting tired so quickly.