How to do Suryanamaskar (With Illustration) - Health, Fitness, Meditation and Prayer

How 12 Rounds of Surya Namaskar is all your Body Needs

Surya Namaskar or the salutation to the Sun God has long been accepted by Indian culture to provide a deep aligning of the mind, body and spirit. these asanas passed down from ascetics and refined by yoga Gurus has been practised for centuries early in the morning as a form of salutation to the Sun God Surya.

The modern day or current popularity of Surya Namaskar can be directly attributed to Sr sri Ravi Shankar and his Art of Living good living cell - as the popularity and following of Pranayama by millions can be attributed directly to Baba Ramdev.

How to Do Surya Namaskar


The Surya Namaskar yoga consists of 12 asanas in an inviolable sequence

# 1. Stand with your palms together (Namaskar pose) and your feet together in Pranamasan

# 2 Ardha Chandrasan-  Lift the arms up and back in a slow fluid movement so as to stretch the entire body. Keep the arms close to the head and push the pelvis slightly forward to stretch better.

# 3 Bend forward from your waist to touch the mat

# 4 With both palms on the mat, move your right leg backward with knee on the floor. Left foot should be between the palms and head tilted looking up

# 5 Take the left leg back, keep the arms straight, feet on the ground in an inclined plank

# 6 Parvatasana - Raise the hips up while looking down. Palms and feet are on the ground. The position as the name suggests is like a mountain or an inverted "V"

# 7 Lower the knees, chest, chin to the floor. Raise the hips slightly.


# 8 Bhujangasana - Raise your chest and look up like a cobra. Back should be in an arc.

# 9 Repeat Parvatasana - Raise the hips up while looking down. Palms and feet are on the ground.

# 10 Go to position # 4 with the alternate set of feet - right foot at the front and the left leg stretched back.

# 11 Position # 3, ie bending forward from the waist while touching the ground

# 12 Same as position # 2 - Ardha Chandrasan - arms raised up and the body stretched outward.

End with the Namaskar which is the start of the second leg of one cycle in which you move the right leg forward first in Step # 4

Check out the illustration of Surya Namaskar .

600 Calories on Treadmill - Tum dee dum

I worked out 600 calories on treadmill today. This is by far my BEST EVER effort on a treadmill. I had done 600 calories one roughly 10 months back when I was preparing for the marathon. However then since my concentration was on jogging - I couldnt log much calories even though I worked out longer.

Today's workout log

Calories Burnt - 600 cal
Workout - walking on incline on treadmill
Distance covered - 5 kms
Time - 50 mins

Maximum incline - 13
Maximum intensity - jogging for 1 min at 7 km per hour speed on 13 incline.

Followed this workout with some crunches, leg press and 6 minutes on the Vibration Plate

Feeling - good!

This workout came about after losing around 1.5 kgs this week because of an upset stomach which compelled me to a minimal diet. I feel positively lightweight and timble toed ;-)

Sandra Bullock - Gravity and Age Defying Fitness

I just read the review of Gravity in which Sandra Bullock plays a lost in space astronaut. At 50, Bullock is getting rave reviews for her yummy appearance.

Bullock was always one my favorite people on screen. With this performance (which I will be sure to watch) my admiration for her has gone up a notch or two. Just one generation back - 50 was considered to be irretrievably old. Male actors have transcended the 50 years barrier with meaty roles for sometime. Women havent been so lucky. Good roles yes - but "gravity" defining roles at 50 - cant remember any!

Bullock's role which must have demanded a load of stamina is a tribute to her fitness. Sandra trained specifically for her "weightlessness" in the movie. She admits she pushed her body to the extreme during training.

Read about how Sandra trained for Gravity here.

Bullock's fitness regime is apparently a combination of dance routines for cardio, yoga and pilates. She revealed on Today Show to Jay Leno recently that she does kick boxing and rides a bike whenever she can and runs when she is in Austin.

Sandra Bullock Workout Regime

Sandra's workout by as prescribed by her trainer Eden Paul includes
Squats
Reverse Lunges
Push ups
Dumbbell Workouts
Scissor Kicks for those killer abs
Side Lunges

Sandra reportedly has been working recently with Simone De La Rue at the Body by Simone Dance Studio on
Yoga, Pilates and Dance Cardio. She apparently puts in one hour every day six days a week with Simone to get her killer looks.

The number 1 in DVD workouts at Amazon


Best of Fitness DVDs

Sandra Bullock Diet

What diet does Sandra follow? Sandra apparently maintain her looks and fitness by a healthy eating habit. She has revealed at times that she doesnt have a specific diet plan as such but avoids junk food. She apparently cheats a day a week.

Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred

Such an example of health and fitness coupled with true beauty and acting skill - deserves a shout.

Keep it up Sandra!