How many Surya Namaskara have you done in your career as a yogi?
A few years ago, my friend, yoga teacher Julie Marx, and I jokingly tried to count how many chaturanga dandasananas we had done up to that point. We quickly figured a number that shocked us. With a little multiplication and addition we realized that when it came to the four limbed staff pose we were hundred-thousandaires if not millionaires! That’s a hell of a lot of chaturanga’s, but not unusual for a couple of ashtanga & vinyasa lovers!
Even with so many sun salutes and vinyasas tallied up, I’ve heard “Do your downdog as if it’s the first time” enough times to always appreciate the nuances and seek new perspectives in even the most daily of postures.
However, the other night, I couldn’t sleep. I was feeling restless so I found my mat. I was practicing in the light of the full moon – feeling reflective I suppose. The thought occurred to me – to do a salutation as if I had in fact practiced this same ritual millions of times.
I cannot describe the weight I felt in my arms. The knowledge. The power. The grace. The ease. The breath. The momentum. The courage. The reverence. It was all there as I lifted my arms over my head into Urdvha Hastasana. Every sun salutations at once lived inside this one movement. I could hardly breathe. I was all breath. It was a miracle of touching the earth, tilting my spine, and reaching beyond.
What if you only had time for one sun salute one morning or evening, and you stood on your mat with all the gravity, perseverance, and experience of the collective force of Surya Namaskara that lives inside of you?
What if all of those coordinated inhales and exhales have been accumulating and amounting to something? What would it be? What does it feel like not to do your Surya Namaskara like a beginner, but instead, to salute the sun with all the wisdom, and the collected power of the expert breather that you are?
