surya namaskara

Surya Namaskara 

Surya Namaskara, or the Salutation of the Sun, which is very commonly practiced in most forms of yoga, originally evolved as a type of worship of Surya, the Vedic solar deity, by concentrating on the Sun for vitalization. The practice supports development of the koshas, or temporal sheaths, of the subtle body.^[16]Main article: Surya Namaskara

The physical aspect of the practice 'links together' twelve asanas in a dynamically expressed series. A full round of Surya namaskara is considered to be two sets of the twelve asanas, with a change in the second set where the opposing leg is moved first. The asanas included in the sun salutation differ from tradition to tradition.^[17]

Benefits[edit]

The physical aspect of what is called yoga in recent years, the asanas, has been much popularized in the West due to the vast amount of benefits.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]} Physically, the practice of asanas is considered to:

• improve flexibility^[25][26]
• improve strength^[25][26]
• improve balance^[25][26]
• reduce stress and anxiety^[25][26]
• reduce symptoms of lower back pain^[25][26]
• be beneficial for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)^[25][26]
• increase energy and decrease fatigue^[25][26]
• shorten labor and improve birth outcomes^[26]
• improve physical health and quality of life measures in the elderly^[26]
• improve diabetes management^[27]
• reduce sleep disturbances^[25][28]
• reduce hypertension^[29][30]
• improve blood circulation^[31]
• reduce weight^[32][33]