Exploring the Sun Salute

I have never been a fan of the Sun Salute, Surya Namaskara (blasphemy, I know!), what many consider to be a foundational element to modern yoga. I have never felt particularly comfortable or profound when practicing it, even when I could execute it proficiently. I have always felt like it was a bit athletic, an idea that was reinforced when I read that it was an exercise in the early 1900s practiced by wrestlers and adopted later by yogis (Yoga Body by Mark Singleton). It seems more like a wrestling exercise than a yogic one.

It doesn't help that my tradition, Ghosh, doesn't really incorporate the Sun Salute. So I have never practiced it with much devotion, and I have never been taught it with any precision or inspiration. I have practiced it thousands of times, been guided through it (with questionable guidance) on many occasions, but still can't find its resonance.

It's hard to deny that the Sun Salute is an important part of modern yoga. As far as I know, it dates to Krishnamacharya in the 1930s, trickling down to us (alongside the idea of vinyasa) through his students Pattabhi Jois, Iyengar and Desikachar. Now it is the backbone of every "power flow" class that draws its inspiration from Jois' Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga (AVY), and that is most of them.

I am curious about it now, though. My respect for Krishnamacharya's teachings has grown tremendously in the past year, and I am beginning to see great depth in Jois' system of AVY. So there must be something to this Sun Salute thing.

I am going to study Krishnamacharya's writings and descriptions of the purpose and execution of the Sun Salute alongside the writings of Pattabhi Jois and some of his senior students (namely Gregor Maehle, Richard Freeman, David Swenson and Kino MacGregor). I will also look into Iyengar's writings and Desikachar's. Same for Srivatsa Ramaswami, one of Krishnamacharya's longest standing students. I will post my findings and comparisons, trying to shake out the source and purpose of this commonplace exercise.

Oh, and I will practice Sun Salutes with devotion as I try to understand them.