| You don't need to worry about trying to remember it. | | | | Breath: Inhale |
| The Sun salutation is simply a series of flowing poses, | | | | Pose 7: Crocodile |
| linked together by breath. It's also known as a Salute | | | | Breath: Exhale |
| to the Sun or in Sanskrit (the original language of yoga) | | | | Pose 8:Cobra or Updog |
| Surya Namaskar. | | | | Breath: Inhale |
| This series builds strength and flexibility in the muscles | | | | Pose 9: Downward Facing Dog |
| and spinal cord, it alternates flexion (forward bending) | | | | Breath: Exhale |
| and extension (gentle back bending) of the spine | | | | Pose 10: Lunge |
| through the series. It's great as a warm up to the rest | | | | Breath: Inhale |
| of your practice or just on it's own. Different styles and | | | | Pose 11: Forward Fold |
| levels of yoga have different variations of the series. | | | | Breath: Exhale |
| There isn't even a set number of poses in the series, | | | | Pose 12: Extended Mountain Pose |
| but typically it's twelve to fifteen poses. Ultimately you | | | | Breath: Inhale |
| could piece together a string of poses that works for | | | | Pose 13: Chair (not typical but I like to add this one in) |
| you and call it your own personal sun salutation. | | | | Breath: Exhale |
| A single round is made of two complete sequences of | | | | Pose 14: Extended Mountain Pose |
| the series, one for the right side and one for the left. | | | | Breath: Inhale |
| To get the most benefit I would suggest at least 2 | | | | Pose 15: Mountain |
| rounds of the sequence you choose, or two on each | | | | Breath: Exhale |
| side. | | | | A few other basic notes about the series is not to |
| A Basic guideline: | | | | stress out about the breathing. The key really to make |
| Pose 1: Mountain Pose with hands at heart center | | | | sure you are breathing and not holding your breath, the |
| Breath: Exhale | | | | rest will come in time. Making sure to breath in or out |
| Pose 2:Extended Mountain pose | | | | as the case may be with each pose will keep you |
| Breath: Inhale | | | | moving along faster and warm-up your breath and |
| Pose 3:Forward Fold | | | | your body very easily and very quickly. |
| Breath: Exhale | | | | There are many variations of this series online, in |
| Pose 4: Lunge | | | | books and elsewhere and they will all work. Don't |
| Breath: Inhale | | | | worry about following them word for word or |
| Pose 5:Downward Facing Dog | | | | movement for movement. Let the movement take |
| Breath: Exhale | | | | over and enjoy your practice, these should not be a |
| Pose 6: Plank | | | | memory test! |