11 Amazing Benefits of Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskar)

There are many benefits of Sun Salutation, also known as (Surya Namaskar). This powerful yoga exercise brings the body, mind, and spirit together and helps you relax, feel energized, and rejuvenated.

Sun Salutation is also a very efficient way to lose weight by providing plenty of advantages for your health and well-being. This yoga routine is a complete body workout including 12 different yoga poses (asanas).

Sun Salutation is a proven ancient technique that everybody can practice, beginners, and advanced yogis.

Once you master it, 12 rounds of Surya Namaskar every day in the morning will be easy for you.

Sun Salutation is a very simple and effective method to burn calories and reach your body goals. This yoga sequence is widely popular for many good reasons.

Surya Namaskar strengthens and lengthens muscles, joints, and ligaments. It boosts your metabolism, energy levels, and cardiovascular system if you practice it regularly.

Surya Namaskar is a complete body routine. It may be challenging for beginners as it works the core, upper, and lower body at the same time.

Here are some of the best benefits of the Sun Salutation. Read on to the end of this article for my best tips on how to practice this powerful sequence.

Regular practice of Surya Namaskar can help you:

1. Improve deep sleep and combat insomnia.
2. Increase strength, flexibility, and endurance.
3. Relieve stress, anxiety, and depression.
4. Improve focus and concentration.
5. Regulate blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
6. Improve digestion and detoxification.
7. Boost metabolism and calorie-burning efficiency.
8. Increase energy and vitality.
9. Improve overall blood circulation and heart health.
10. Strengthen the immune system.
11. Restore hormonal balance.

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1. Improve deep sleep and combat insomnia.

Doing Surya Namaskar daily is a healthy and safe way to improve your sleeping habits. This total body workout is very effective to boost your health and well-being.

After practicing, you generally start eating healthy and feel healthier every day. You become more flexible, stronger, and more confident in your body. You look lean and toned.

You start to enjoy every moment each day. Your attitude changes. You learn discipline, regular sleeping, and eating times. This benefits and changes you from within.

2. Increase strength, flexibility, and endurance.

Sun Salutation also burns a lot of calories. You sculpt your arms, and shoulders, abdominals, and legs while improving your flexibility. You tone your whole body and keep your heart rate elevated for maximum benefit.

12 sets of Surya Namaskar make you do 288 powerful yoga poses in a short amount of time. It provides a good cardiovascular workout with warm-up poses and more intense asanas.

3. Relieve stress, anxiety, and depression.

Sun Salutation stimulates the thyroid gland and the nervous system. This regulates hormonal production and stabilizes menstrual cycles. You will feel calmer and able to handle stress better.

Sun Salutation elevates your mood and helps you relax, calm down.

4. Improve focus and concentration.

Sun Salutation requires you to train your focus and concentration, first to learn the different poses that make the whole sequence, then to practice them regularly without interruption.

5. Regulate blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Sun Salutation helps you lose weight by regulating your blood sugar and cholesterol levels. An early morning practice brings the best results if you do the postures correctly and breathe deeply.

One set of Surya Namaskar burns many calories and even more if you do it 12 times. Change doesn't happen overnight but regular practice pays off.

Sun Salutation is a powerful tool to maintain internal health, increase longevity, and lose weight at the same time.

The 12-pose sequence is more sustainable than many other methods as you become more aware of your body and the foods you need.

6. Improve digestion and detoxification.

Sun Salutation gets your whole body working, massage your internal organs, increase your blood flow to improve your digestion and detoxification.

7. Boost metabolism and calorie-burning efficiency.

Sun Salutation is a great exercise in the morning to get your metabolism going. 

Step off your bed, drink a few glasses of water and start your yoga practice. It will improve your strength, flexibility, and stamina while burning a lot of calories.

8. Increase energy levels and vitality.

This powerful workout helps you feel energized, revitalized and refreshed.

Sun Salutation is a great way to get ready to take on the rest of the day.

9. Improve overall blood circulation and heart health.

Regular practice of Surya Namaskar maintains good health and reduces the risk of heart diseases. It is a highly recommended yoga sequence that greatly benefits practitioners.

10. Strengthen the immune system.

Sun Salutation boosts the metabolic, endocrine, and immune system.

It increases fat burning efficiency and promotes good health. Surya Namaskar is a great way to get back and stay in shape.

11. Restore hormonal balance.

From top to bottom, every part of the body is improved by Sun Salutation.

The sequence has positive effects on your hormonal balance, muscles, and organs, such as the brain, heart, liver, intestine, stomach, kidneys, and pancreas.

How to practice Sun Salutation or Surya Namaskar?

Sun Salutation is a wonderful way to express your gratitude to the Sun God. There would be no life form on Earth without the Sun.

Surya Namaskar is a set of 12 yoga postures. Practice them in the morning, right after you wake up. Hold the postures as long as you feel comfortable and go as fast as you like.

If you hold the poses for a long time, you will deeply stretch muscles and connective tissues. You will improve your strength, flexibility, and stamina. Stronger and longer muscles burn more calories, even at rest.

On the other hand, if you transition between postures rapidly, you will get an excellent cardiovascular workout. Your heart rate will rise, your blood circulation will improve, and your metabolism will work faster.

Sun Salutation is one of the best yoga sequences to get your raise your heart. It gets your whole body working, improves your digestion, and helps you start the day on the right foot.

Make sure to practice the different yoga poses correctly. Take the time to learn them one by one if you are new to Sun Salutation. Always listen to your body closely and go slowly in the beginning. Practice safely to avoid injuries.

Practice one set of Sun Salutation (12 poses) if you are a beginner. Let your body adapt to the workout. After learning the asanas and when you get enough endurance, you can increase how many sets you do each day.

Here are the 12 poses of Sun Salutation or Surya Namaskar:

1. Prayer pose or Pranamasana
2. Raised Arms pose or Hasta Uttanasana
3. Standing Forward Bend or Uttanasana
4. Equestrian pose (Low Lunge) or Ashwa Sanchalanasana
5. Doward Facing Dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana
6. Knees, Chest, Chin pose or Ashtanga Namaskara
7. Cobra Pose or Bhujangasana
8. Doward Facing Dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana
9. Equestrian pose (Low Lunge) or Ashwa Sanchalanasana
10. Standing Forward Bend or Uttanasana
11. Raised Arms pose or Hasta Uttanasana
12. Prayer pose or Pranamasana

If you are a beginner yogi and want to try out Sun Salutation, try the following program over 30 days:

• Day 1 - 3: learn the poses and do 1 set of Sun Salutation.
• Day 4: take a break and rest your body.
• Day 5 - 7: repeat what you have learned for 2 sets of Sun Salutation every day.
• Day 8: take a rest and listen to how your body feels.
• Day 9 - 11: do 5 sets of Sun Salutation each day.
• Day 12: rest for a day to let your body adapt.
• Day 13 - 16: complete 8 sets of Sun Salutation per day.
• Day 17: have one day off to heal from the challenge.
• Day 18 - 22: do 10 sets of Sun Salutation every day.
• Day 23: take a break and feel proud of yourself.
• Day 24 - 30: complete 12 sets of Surya Namaskar.

The different sets of 12 postures every morning helps you burn calories effectively, build strong muscles, and relax at the same time. Sun Salutation is a very good initiation to the many benefits of yoga.

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Alex Assoune (MS) is a global health and environmental advocate. He founded Panaprium to inspire others with conscious living, ethical, and sustainable fashion. Alex has worked in many countries to address social and environmental issues. He speaks three languages and holds two Master of Science degrees in Engineering from SIGMA and IFPEN schools.