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There have been days when a single sun salutation is all I have capacity for and I love them for that. They meet me with what I’ve got. There are many ways to modify a sun salutation and in today’s practice I stair-step three variations.
Sun salutations are a series of poses linked with breath. I have a deep love for vinyasa yoga because of this. Vinyasa, loosely translated means, placing something somewhere on purpose. I’ve come to experience vinyasa as something living inside the transitions from one pose to the next. The middle space where “nothing”is happening. Where the breath is almost suspended. It’s my favorite place to pay attention and watch how the body moves in relationship to its breath. Today, give your awareness to that space, when you’re not in the one pose you just came from, and haven’t landed in the next.
There are different versions and traditions of sun salutes. The one I do here is Surya Namaskar, as adapted into the Krishnamacharya lineage.
Once you know the poses, they become alive all on their own without much thought, leaving room to connect with yourself on a deeper level. The sequence becomes a moving meditation. I’m in awe at how much I’ve learned about myself inside a sun salute. They are rhythmic, adaptable and meditative and yet not ONE is the same from the last.
Remember, take what you want and leave the rest. Warm up with a knees-down chaturanga. Take knees, heart and forehead to the floor (never rest on your chin!!). Do a baby cobra for the first few rounds or ALL the rounds. It’s less about doing things “right” and more about honoring your body and what it needs.
DON’T RUSH your heart openers. Don’t rush your stretch. Your body will tell you when it’s time to move and how.
Most importantly, love yourself. <3
~Poem
This is the first poem I wrote for my first book, The Space (in)Between. It’s an attempt to describe the cover and the impact this mudra has on my life. I hope you feel in this practice what I’m trying to say here in this poem!
If you brought a journal to your practice and wrote a few words down, or enjoyed the company of a blank page, I’d love to share some journal prompts with you. Under Sunday Prompts you can find all the ways I’ve experimented with writing that truly soothes my soul.
Thank you for practicing with me today!
~~
Nicole
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