Salutation to the Sun

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Yoga Poses or Hatha Yoga, Position Yoga and/or Postures with their Breathing and Relaxation techniques are a valuable support for your health. 
They help you to cure and sustain your sanity. 
Yoga Poses have a very incisive affect to your body functionality since their movements and position yoga are made to massage, tone and stimulate your organs all over your body. 
A Yoga posture is never a static pose but a dynamic one that involves your whole body. It is not only an gymnastic Yoga exercise since it request your concentration and attention upon different parts of your body, to give them the necessary energy needed to stabilize their sane functionality of your whole body and since a sane body leads to a sane mind is this a great preparation for your meditation too. 

Yoga exercise facilitate and accompany your meditation and you'll get better results and easier entries in your meditation states.
Furthermore get you with the Yoga Poses or Hatha Yoga an instrument to cure various dysfunctions of your body you might suffer of.

It's a good idea to create a pleasant atmosphere or background through 
meditation music for executing your Hatha Yoga Poses and to concentrate your attention better.

It's implicit that before executing almost any of the following yoga exercise you should let proceed them of "The Salutation to the Sun" (see below), since it is something that prepares you and your body for the yoga poses. 


But first and foremost should you learn to breathe in a right way, since 
breathing is on of the most important facts for good sanity and mind lucidity; most people are breathing in a very insane way.

You can sit or lay down supine in a comfortable position. 
Respiration is a three phase process: 
Lower respiration, the middle respiration and the higher respiration.

The low or abdominal or diaphragmatic respiration: 
Focus your concentration to the lower part of your Lungs, put your hands on your abdomen. 
Inhale deeply and slowly through your nose and pump your abdomen lightly up, exhale while deflating your abdomen. 
Repeat this exercise a few times.

The middle or thoracic respiration: 
Concentrate to the middle part of your Lungs, bring your hands up to the thoracic chest; inhale deeply and slowly while opening your thoracic chest widely; by exhaling close it. 
Repeat it a few times.

Higher respiration or clavicular breathing: 
Concentrate to the higher part of your Lungs, bring your hands to the roots of your neck; inhale deeply and slowly while lifting your shoulders up, by exhaling let them go down.
This part of the correct breathing is less profound then the other two phases. 
Repeat it several times. 

Related Article: Diaphragm Breathing and the Relaxation Response 
After you've learned breathing correctly in the three phases proceed to execute  the "Complete Yogic Breathing or Respiration".
Inhale deeply and slowly while pumping lightly your abdomen up, thereafter open your thoracic chest and hereafter lift your clavicle up while finishing with the inhalation process. 
Exhale slowly while deflating your abdomen, close your thoracic chest and let shift down your clavicles.

You'll have never more a flu if you learn to breath well. 

The following exercises or asana are the foundation to prepare your body and mind to a good meditation.

Do not force your body, only the parts which have to support you should be forced, all the rest of your body not involved in your support should be relaxed. 
Those exercises have to be done lightly and fluently like a dance, every 
movement flows into the other. 
You should obtain a feeling of "pleasantness" from these exercises. 
Don't execute them like gymnastic, it's instead a preparation from which your mind will obtain lucidity and wellness through better body functionalism, you'll perceive more energy and power as well as youthness from all your being. 

These exercises invigorates al your organs, improves la digestion and the elimination; strength the muscles all over your body, elasticized your spinal column and improves your respiration. 

Executed in the morning right after standing up, prepares your body and mind for the day. Executed in the evening prepares your body to sleep well.

Before starting your exercises prepare yourself a little through relaxing and calm yourself. 

The Salutation to the Sun

Learn here more about: What is the Salutation to the Sun?

Its very important to focus your attention to your breathing during the following exercises. 
Try to keep every final position for about 5 -10 complete respirations. 

For the first position press your palms lightly one against the other 
and make three deep and complete respirations finishing with 
exhaling all air from your lungs. 
Then raise your arms slowly up while inhaling contemporary slowly through your nose. The inhaling process starts together with your first movement and ends when you've raised up completely your arms and you are completely bended  backwards. 
All movements should be done in slow motion.

Beginner Practice
by Sri Dharma Mittra from Pranamaya, 53min
Maha Sadhana, or 'Great Practice', presents the jewels of wisdom from Sri Dharma Mittra's more than 50 years practicing yoga - an extraordinary life spent in service of self-realization.

Here again the whole exercise to print it out if you like

Warm up before the yoga exercise

Position of the Tiger  (Sardulasana)

On all fours, arms and thigh united, parallel, in the way that they form a right angle with your bust. Perceive your body's weight on your hands and knees. By inhaling curve your back and stretch your neck backwards, forming a concave bow, by exhaling lift up the sacral zone  withdrawing your abdomen and bending your neck until you reach with your chin your breastbone forming with your back a convex bow. During the movement, follow the slowness of your respiration, perceive your spinal colon which looses stiff joints from downwards to the upper wards. Repeat several times.

The Salutation to the Sun
1) Stand facing the direction of the sun with both feet touching each other. Bring the hands together, palm-to-palm, at the heart.	2) Inhale and raise your arms upwards. Slowly bend backwards, stretching your arms above your head.	3) Exhale slowly bending forward, touching the earth with respect until the hands are in line with the feet, the head touches your knees.
4) Inhale and move the right leg back away from the body in a wide backward step. Keep the hands and feet firmly on the ground, with the left foot between the hands. Raise the head.	5) While exhaling, bring the left foot together with the right. Keep arms straight, raise the hips and align the head with the arms, forming an upward arch. Remain so and stop respiration for a little time	6) Inhale and slowly lower the hips to the floor, (hips should be slightly raised above the ground) and bend backward as much as possible
7) Exhale and lower the body to the floor until the the feet, knees, hands, chest, and forehead are touching the ground.	8) Inhale and slowly raise the head and bend backwards as much as possible, bending the spine to the maximum.	9) While exhaling slowly and keeping the arms straight, raise the hips and align the head with the arms, forming an upward arch.
10) Slowly inhale and and bend the left leg at the knee taking a wide forward step. Keeping the hands firmly rooted, place the left foot on the ground between the hands. Lift the head upwards.	11) Exhale slowly and keep your hands firmly in place, bring both feet together to align them with the hands. Touch your knees with the head, if possible.	12) Inhale slowly and raise the arms upwards. Slowly bend backwards, stretching your arms above the head. By exhaling return to position #1.

After you've finish all the exercises lay down supine and relax for some 
complete respirations. 

See also The Headstand King of the Asana's

Enjoy this Hatha Yoga Poses and exercises, you'll experience that they give you much energies for your daily life and a good feeling of happiness....

 

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