Sun salutation- exercise for the mind, body and soul

Suryanamaskar or even known as saluting the rising sun is one of the most highly spoken of forms of exercise today because this ancient yogic ritual can do wonders for your body that no other exercise can, for your mind that no spiritual course can and for your soul that no meditation can. No wonder that’s why it is such a highly endorsed form of yoga by all the leading celebrities. Suryanamaskar is usually done in the morning to express gratitude towards the sun. Sun is the source of life for planet earth. Everything we eat, drink or breathe has an element of sun. Apart from being a great form of exercise, it also helps to build dimensions within us where physical cycles are in sync with the sun cycles.

Benefits of Suryanamaskar

·         Tones up the abdominal muscles.
·         Improves digestive system and helps to get rid of constipation.
·         Ventilates the lungs and oxygenates the blood.
·         Regularizes the function of all the glands.
·         Stimulates the nervous system and improves focus, concentration and memory.
·         Helps you sleep better.
·         Improves skin and hair texture.
·         Prevent menstrual irregularities and menopausal symptoms.
·         Helps to lose weight.
·         Improves muscle, spine and waist flexibility.
·         Helps you feel energetic and adds to the spirit of youthfulness.
·         Helps to relax the organs and muscles through deep oxygenation.
·         Helps protect the heart, tone the body and calm the mind.

How to go about it?

Suryanamaskar is a repetition of 12 postures which needs good strength and stamina. So jumpstarting a schedule is definitely not a good idea especially if you haven’t exercised ever or not stretched your muscles since ages. You need to give your body time to open up by doing some basic exercises, stretches, yoga asana, and flexibility exercises. Once you have reached a basic level of fitness you can start with 3-5 suryanamaskar and then increase it gradually to 10 and 20. The idea is to get each posture right, as the essence of doing this ritual lies in perfection. But one thing everyone needs to remember is that warm is extremely important before starting the postures. 

·         Neck: start with moving your neck to the left while breathing in and bring it back to the centre as you breathe out. Repeat on the right and do this 3 times. Rotate the neck clockwise and anti-clockwise 5 times each.

·        Arms and shoulders: stretch you arms in front of your chest and move your palms up and down, close your fist and rotate them clockwise and anti clockwise 10 times each. Place your fingers on your shoulders and rotate your arms clockwise and anti clockwise 10 times.

·        Knees and back: Bend your knees slightly with palms on your thighs, join the knees and move them forward and backward 5 times, then rotate the knees clock and anti clockwise 5 times each. Now stay in that position and arch your back, hold for 5 seconds and then round the back for 5 seconds. Repeat 5 times each.

·        Stomach: Stand straight with fingers interlocked and hands stretched above the head. Now raise your calves and bring them down, repeat 5 times.

·         Legs: stand with legs wide and knees straight, bend down and touch the floor, now turn your waist to your right and hold the ankle of the right leg for 10 seconds, repeat on the other leg.

 
Now once your body is suitably warmed up, you can start with the 12 posture course on bare floor or green grass.
 

1.      Pranamasana (Prayer pose): stand erect at the edge of your mat with feet together. Expand your chest and relax your shoulders. Now bring both your arms in front of the chest and join them in a prayer position. This posture induces a state of relaxation and calmness.

2.      Hastauttanasana (Raised Arms pose): inhale, lift the joint hands up and back pushing the pelvis forwards so that the biceps are close to your ears, the back is arched, stretching the whole body. This posture, stretches the chest, abdomen and spine and lifts the prana( energy) upwards to the upper parts of the body.

3.      Hasta Padasana (Hand to Foot pose):Exhale and bend forwards form the waist keeping the spine erect. Now place both the hands on the floor besides the feet. This helps to massage the abdominal organs like liver, kidneys, pancreas, uterus, ovaries and cause a good flow of blood to the brain.

4.      Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian pose):inhale, push the left leg back as far as possible and drop it to the ground, the right knee is bent in between both the hands.lift the spine and open the chest and look up.

5.      Parvatasana (Mountain posture): Exhale and bring your left leg back to the right, parallel to the ground and simultaneously push your hips up keeping the arms and legs straight and lowering your head between the arms forming a mountain like pose, try touching the heel to the floor. This pose helps to strengthen the arms , calves, legs and nerves. Take a deep inhalation while in the posture.

6.      Ashtanga Namaskara(Salute With Eight Parts Or Points): Exhale and gently drop both knees to the ground, slowly slide the body down and  bring the chest and chin to the ground. All eight limbs toes, knees, chest, hands and chin  touch the floor. The buttocks are kept up. Hold the breath. This posture develops the chest and strengthens arms.

7.      Bhujangasana (Cobra pose): On inhalation, lower the hips while pushing the chest forward and upward, elbows are bent so that the spine is arched and head is facing up. This posture helps to relieve tension is the back muscle and spinal nerves.

8.      Parvatasana (Mountain posture):Exhale and resume to posture 5.

9.      Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian posture): Inhale and bring the right leg in front between the hands , left leg remains back. Like posture 4

10.  Padahastasana (Hand to foot posture): Exhale, bring the left foot forward, join both the legs and resume posture 3

11.  Hastauttanasana (Raised arm posture): Inhale, raise the arms up and resume posture 2

1          12.   Pranamasana (Salutation posture): straighten the body, join arms in front of the chest and   resume posture 1.

Things to remember:

·         Try doing Suryanamaskar in the morning on empty stomach or in the evening 2 hours after a meal.

·         After the whole workout, lie down in shravasana on the back, with arms and legs relaxed on both the sides. Breathe deeply to feel the calm in the entire body.

·         Pregnant women should avoid doing Suryanamaskar.

·         People with arthritis, osteoporosis, slip disc, knee or back pain should consult a doctor before doing it.

·         Make sure you warm up well before doing the routine to avoid injuries.
 

Listen to your stomach!!

Only if your body could talk, like would be so much easier. But unfortunately that does not happen in real life. The most important part of losing weight and keeping it off is to listen to your body. We all wish it could just say what it wants. Although your body doesn't have an oral language, it does communicate. Certainly, you know when your body hurts because you feel pain. You know when it needs rest because you get the cues like yawns and sleepiness. But are you able to clearly hear your body communicate when it is time for you to eat and when it is time to stop eating?

Infants exactly know when to cry for food and when to stop taking the feed.  Changing your perception about being full is the critical first step toward reaching your ideal size. Notice that an infant does not keep feeding on milk until he or she is full. Full is actually an uncomfortable feeling. Wanting to get full from eating is an urge that develops later in life due to social pressure and outside messages from family and peers. Infants feed only until their hunger is satisfied and the stomach is comfortable. You were once an infant too and knew well how to listen your body signals but as you grew up, you changed your eating habits to accommodate social norms and emotions. But the good news is, that you can get closer to your original instincts once again. You just need to recognize and listen to your body signals.

Hunger is a natural part of the body and it is good to feel hungry. You are supposed to feel hunger so that you can know when it's time to eat because eating helps sustain life. You may be thinking that your hunger is out of control. Most often, it isn't out of control; rather, you have either denied or ignored your true hunger feelings for so long that you don't recognize them. However, there's a sort of fake hunger. It comes from stress and anxiety or other emotions, sometimes from appetite stimulants such as alcohol, prescription drugs, illegal drugs, or a lack of sleep. The fake hunger is just that. The communication doesn't come from a hunger pang; more likely it comes from the mouth, as in an oral chewing need, from emotional feelings, or from thirst.

Hunger is a pain, and it is felt somewhere above, below, or behind your belly button. Hunger feels different for different people. For some, it is almost like a muscle contraction. For others, it's an empty or void feeling. To become acquainted with your hunger, wait to eat until you feel a hunger pang. For most people, it takes about two to five hours after the previous meal to feel hunger. Pay close attention to your stomach initially to feel hunger. Identify where the physical feelings are located. Listen intently to any rumbling or growling.

A human stomach is a muscle of 25 centimeters ( 10 inches) which can expand and hold 2-4 litres of food and water but that is the discomforting situation. In our body we have 2 hormones which regulate appetite, Leptin and Ghrelin. Leptin is secreted by the fat cells especially after eating a meal which tells the brain that the stomach is full and one should stop eating. Ghrelin is secreted by the stomach lining when it is empty and tells the brain that the stomach needs food and one should eat something. Generally both the hormones work in sync and one goes up, the other goes down regulating your appetite. But when people eat more food than required and increase the fat in the body, the leptin also increases which may make you feel that you will lose weight by the hunger curbing signal of leptin, but here is a twist, as the fat in your body increases, the leptin becomes resistant and stops signaling the brain which means you eat more than your appetite without realizing when you are full. This makes you more fat.

How to eat in control?

·         Don’t be distracted with all the tempting food around you and in the grocery stores which can give you fake hunger pangs.

·         Do not skip breakfast and meals as it can get you more hungry making you eat more than required food.

·         Do not watch T.V or talk much while eating as it can divert your attention and you can land up eating more than your capacity.

·         Chew your food well as your brain gets the signal of being full from your stomach 20 minutes after eating. Eating too fast can only make you eat more realizing later how full and uncomfortable you are.

·         Do not eat when stressed as it can affect your ability to understand true hunger pangs and you tend to eat more.

·         Avoid taking large serving sizes as in a buffet spread as one tends to eat more in such situations.

·         When you get cravings to eat something for 10 minutes before you put something in your mouth. Sometimes cravings are fake as well. Try drinking water and see if the cravings vanish. If not then go ahead and eat something healthy.

·         If you don’t have time to eat later, it is alright. But do not eat more than your body needs just because you wouldn’t get to eat later. That will just add to more fat to your body.

·         Try to set regular meal timings as they keep your hunger and fullness undercheck. Eat meals at the same time every day.

·         If you don’t like to waste food, try taking little in your plate and another serving when you need more. This just saves you from finishing the excess food in your plate, saving you from excess fat.