Secrets of Sun Salutation -Part 1

Sun salutation is an integral part of the yoga practice. It is a sequence of 12 postures and the practitioner move in a flow from one posture to another posture in a cycle. In this blog, let me describe the way how I have interpreted this sun salutation practice.

Energy Generation & Leakage: At first, let us see how to generate energy. Energy is generated by movement. For example, Earth generates energy by rotation.  Exercises produce movement to the body and hence with proper form of exercise, it is possible to generate energy.

Secondly, the energy gets leaked out when the posture of the body is not correct. The gravitational force to the body plays a key role in the leakage of current. Engaging the core and retaining the neutral spine posture are important to avoid the leakage of energy. For example, a slouching sitting posture leaks the energy to the ground. An upright posture with the neutral spine retains the energy. An engaged core with the pelvic levelling retains the energy. An unengaged core with pelvic tilting spills the energy to the ground.

Spine Alignment: In sun salutation practice, let us observe the cyclic alignment of the spine with the reference to the gravitational force. For this, I have a drawn the arrow marks from the core for each of the postures. One can observe the movement of spine in all the major directions from the core which is the centre of mass for our body.  The energy is generated mainly due to the movement of the body and alignment of spine taking into account the gravitational force that acts on the body. The spine takes six different alignments in one cycle of sun salutation.

Throughout the practice of sun salutation, we engage the core and retain the neutral spine and hence we prevent the leakage of energy to the ground.

Left Hemisphere activation: For the Ashwa Sanchalanasana or the equestrian posture in step 3 & 9 of the sun salutation, we intentionally use the same right leg to move forward in posture 3 and backward in posture 9. This is solely to activate the left hemisphere of the brain. The peripheral motor system activation is contralateral to the brain stimulation. The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body. The left hemisphere is all about logical thinking, analytical reasoning & decision making while the right hemisphere is associated with the creativity & intuition. In other words, the left hemisphere of the brain is associated with stimulation of the body while the right side is associated with the relaxation.

So, the practice of sun salutation is in a way stimulates the body due to the activation of the left hemisphere of the brain. This is one such reason why the body generates heat by the practice of sun salutation.

I will cover some other key aspects of sun salutation in my next blog.