Surya Namaskar (Teach Yourself The Sun Salute)

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The great energy and patience needed to write a book can be acquired only with blessings of those dear to me. Blessings of my parents and good wishes of my friends have inspired me to write this book and I am thankful to them. I specially thank Pranav Jha and my friend Talat Abidi from across the boarder for inspiring me.

Surya Namaskar is part of our heritage a gift from the sages of the vedic period. The word literally means “namaskar” or greetings offered to Surya the Sun God. It is neither an asana nor a part of traditional yoga. However, it is very good from the point of view of health and has therefore been included as part of yogic exercises. In ancient times the worship of Surya was part of daily rituals as the Sun is considered a powerful symbol of our spiritual consciousness. External and internal sun worship was conducted as a socio-religious function on public levels so as to regulate those powers of nature which are beyond human control. This process was developed by spiritual leaders who were of its benefits on a micro level to promote health and on a control level to create the right ambience social creative and economic growth.

The Sun has been worshipped from time immemorial. In the ancient times people offered homage to the Sun as a source of heat and light absolutely vital to life. The reverence and awe that marked their attitude came from the knowledge that it is impossible to think of life and all its activities without the Sun. in other words, without the Sun, all life and creation will come to an end. In most ancient cultures, Sun Worship formed the base of religions. People have worshipped the Sun in many divine images. Parsis have named him Mitra. Egyptians have worshipped him a sosiris, Greeks have worshipped him as Apollo and in India he is looked upon a s Surya Deva. All these gods hint at the process of modernization that the world is passing through. The Sun passing through. The Sun passes through three phases everyday. The first of these is the dawn when the Sun rises, noon is the second phase of the Sun while the third phase is that of the setting Sun. These three represent the three phase of life-creativity or development, enrichment or maturity and death or elimination. In the first phase, sunrise activated all creatures and the daily cycle of life starts. This phase is thus a symbol of creativity. At midday the Sun is at its zenith and transmits its power to all living objects, putting new life into them. As the Sun sets, it slowly loses its power and is therefore a symbol of death.

On another level the Sun is a symbol of indestructibility or immortaliy because it sets in the evening and rises again the next morning. The time of sunrise is touched with wonder and joy because it is associated with regeneration, with wonder and joy because it is associated with regeneration, when everything gets a fresh lease of life. It is an occasion to celebrate life. This is why in ancient India it was customary to do Surya Namaskar. In the Rigveda and the Yajurveda there are references to different ways of Sun-worship, though not in the form that we see today. In those days the Sun was worshipped with the chanting of mantras with the body in different poses. Thus Sun worship was not the series of exercises that it is today. The change from a number of poses to a co-ordinated series of exercise is a later development.