Saturday, July 4, 2009

Health: SURYA NAMASKAR

In the picture: Between posture 5 & 6 there is one where you lie flat on your front - it is 13 postures including that. :)

Day after day, week after week, month after month – we go on and on at working hard and playing harder. We never take into consideration the wear and tear on our bodies. When we are young, we somehow manage. But as age creeps in and the hectic schedules begin to take a toll, most of us turn towards popping pills – to sleep, for strength, for energy, etc. But do we know if these are actually working or improving our systems or are just giving us momentary relief? A simple solution to relax your body is the Surya Namaskar. Please understand and believe it is not as complicated as one is led to believe. It is quite simple, actually. This is consolidated Yoga at its best set in 13 postures where your body is stretched to its limit and then relaxed. No, it is not as difficult as it sounds. When you stretch and relax your body – your body, mind and spirit relax. You can learn Surya Namaskar at any local Yoga class or from an instructor who can go home to you. I actually got a book on Yoga that had pictures and learnt the art. You get the optimum energy from Surya Namaskar when you do it before 12 noon facing in the direction of the Sun, in the open air, 12 cycles of 13 postures.Then again, all this might not be possible. To begin with, do one cycle of 13 postures at any time of day, inside your house, preferably facing east if it is before 12 noon or facing west after that. The only condition to be followed it that you ensure that your stomach is not too full.After a week, you can increase this to 3 cycles and then so on as per your convenience. If you do the Surya Namaskar correctly, you SHOULD NOT feel any ache or pain in your body even the first time. After two or three days, you will see that you are sleeping much better than usual. Whether it is five hours or more, your sleep will be undisturbed.After crossing 30, one begins to feel the jerks and pains while travelling by auto-rickshaws and low-slung cars. After a few days of Surya Namaskar, the pain will just disappear. Believe me, I am speaking from personal experience.Usually, in any form of exercise, women are asked to avoid doing them during their menstrual periods. This does not apply to Surya Namaskar. Do one to three cycles of Surya Namaskar during your periods and the pain in the abdominal region that occurs on Day One or Day Three (may be different days in everyone’s cases – this used to be the case for me) will never occur again.

Surya Namaskar not only heals your muscles. It also helps heal your internal organs by improving the flow of blood and increasing the activity of white blood corpuscles and improving the body’s immune system. Doing 12 Surya Namaskars of 13 postures each will take but half an hour of your time. Doing it seven days a week will help you lead a healthier life much longer.

21 comments:

  1. Agreed! I try to do 3-5cycles everyday (depending how late i have got up ;)) & it works!!! I also do some warm-up exercises before that & since I have started doing that regularly my complains of shoulder & back ache have reduced or almost gone. Touch Wood, sorry the floor like step 3. :)

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  2. I totally agree. I lost almost all my post-pregnancy fat with 12 cycles/day for just one month. Almost have a flat tummy now..for the first time in my life. I am totally sold on Surya namaskar.

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  3. Hi i am a psychologist and i do regular prectise of suray namaskar.Its amezing for stress relife.everyone shoud do it.

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    1. Hi, thank you for stopping by my blog and posting a comment. I do agree with you about the stress relief :)

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    2. Is SN helpful in losing weight? I am doing atleast 24 cycles/day for the last 5 months, but haven't lost anything.

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    3. Thank you for stopping by my blog!

      Not that I have heard of. You will definitely lose inches. The last para gives you details of the benefits of Surya Namaskar.

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    4. hello... i love to do surya namaskar... but i am not a practicing regularly... i am a mother of 2 and 28 yr old.. after i practice surya namaskar for 2 days i will have body pain the next day which causes me to stop performing it.. can u help me?

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    5. Hi, thank you for stopping by my blog. If you feel body pain after doing surya namaskar, than you are not doing it correctly. Please consult a yogacharya! all the best!

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  4. Hi Sundari,
    Great blog.
    I am 30 year old female.
    I have been doing surya namaskar for the past 3 days. The first day I did 5 cycles. The next day 10. I feel great, my joints already feel better. However, I am having a bit of pain in my lower back. It is not a shooting pain, feels more like an inflammation. The pain is not in the muscle, but in the spine. I don't know what I could be doing wrong. How far back is one supposed to reach in step 2? Could I be bending more than I am required to?

    Thanks
    -PM

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    1. Hi PM,
      thanks for stopping by my blog.
      I stretch as far as I can at Step 2. I would advise you to consult a yogacharya and learn the steps correctly. Pain occurs ONLY if the postures are wrong and not otherwise.
      regards,
      Sundari

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  5. Hi Sundari,
    I heard about Surya Namaskar, and by mistake tried doing it in the evening without any warm up. That day I got stiffness in my back and got tired. After 2 days I got very painful Cramps in the lower abdomen in the lower back and also in the knees, as I never had, is that possible I am getting those because doing it in a wrong way

    Thanks MS

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    1. Hi MS, as far as I am aware, there's no need for a warm up for Surya Namaskar. It's most effective when done before 12 noon (before the sun starts setting) but it should not do harm if done later. IF you feel any kind of pain, you must be doing it wrong. Please consult a yoga teacher for best results.
      Actually, aches and pains disappear when you do this batch of stretches correctly, while your muscles grow stronger.

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  6. Hi.. i started practicing surya namaskar and it has been 3 weeks..i feel fine and relaxed wen completing 3 or 4 cycles. Wen it goes above that.. i start feeling restless and sometimes i push myself to 6 cycles and end up having dizziness heavy head sometimes sleepy as well. Pls advice

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    1. I think it's best you consult a doctor or Yogacharya for advice. I just know how to do surya namaskar and have shared the benefits it's had on me. Thanks for stopping by

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  7. Respected Sir/madam.

    I am ishwarya, 23 years old. I was doing Surya namaskar for last three days.. During the exercise I was getting some pain in my body and abdomen. But I felt better my health condition.. Pls guide me.. What should I do...

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  8. Body pains at the initial phase but recovers slowly as the spine joints needs to open up from being closed for many years. So keep doing everyone. It is the best exercise so far.

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    1. Thank you so much Gaurav Sharma for stopping by and posting a comment

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  9. Hi Sundari. I have been doing Suryanamaskar for a while now. Two months ago I discovered that I was performing downward dog pose wrongly which caused pain in my right elbow. After that for 2 months I did not perform Suryanamaskar. Recently, since 3 days I have started performing Suryanamaskar again and am feeling no pain but a slight discomfort in the same right elbow. Should I continue performing Suryanamaskar ahead since this time I am performing downward dog pose correctly

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    1. If you are having any issues, like pain and all, it's best you consult a Yoga teacher. I have only shared my personal experience here, what works for me. It's to be used as a guideline, throwing light upon the advantages of doing surya namaskar. You must have noticed that I mentioned that it's best if you learn from a teacher. Thank you for stopping by and posting a comment.

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