Settling on your mat

THE BLACK STUFF
One of Dublin's best yoga teachers, Mari Kennedy, who teaches in The Yoga Room and Clonlea Yoga Studio, introduced the idea of settling onto your mat like a pint of Guinness. Such a lovely image and one which the class of predominantly Irish students wholeheartedly identified with, even if it was only 9:45am! The idea, she goes on to explain, is in the ritualistic pause that follows after a Guinness is drawn before you can savour it. There is a savouring in the period of anticipation too, similar to the anticipation at the start of a class, and the sense of achievement at making it onto your mat. We would all benefit from starting our practice by pausing, and letting everything settle – letting go of all the busy thoughts of the day and clearing a space for the present. It leaves an inner smile when you look around the class and visualise all the little pints of Guinness practising their Sun Salutations, without even spilling a drop!

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Sun Salutation, a closer look

SUN SALUTATION ROOTS
The origins of the Sun Salutation/Surya Namaskara are uncertain. The earliest text illustrating the classic Sun Salutation we practise today, was written in the 1930s by Krishnamacharya. But it is not known if he was simply recording a sequence handed down for centuries from teacher to teacher or if he created it himself. He went on to teach the sequence to his students, including K. Pattabhi Jois and K.B.S Iyengar.

Traditionally practised in the morning as a salute to the rising sun, the Sun Salutation/Surya Namaskara is multi functional and can actually be practised at any time of the day. When practised in the morning it wakes up the system and gets you ready for the day ahead. Practised in the evening it helps you unwind and relax. It is the perfect way to start building a home practice. The three versions strengthen and stretch all the main muscle groups, build stamina and prepare for more challenging asana. They also build heat and increase circulation throughout the whole system, which aids digestion and benefits all the internal organs.

The repetitive and meditative quality of the movements relaxes the mind and body, reducing stress and anxiety and increasing mental clarity. As you move through each pose in the Sun Salutation/Surya Namaskara, you take either an in-breath or an out-breath. This makes it a good start to your practice and establishes the link between the breath and the movement. When done slowly it also encourages a calm breath which triggers the parasympathetic nervous system.

There are three main versions of Sun Salutation/Surya Namaskara. Sun Salutation/Surya Namaskara C, also called Sun Salutation/Surya Namaskara Classic, is the best version to start any practice with. You step back from your first Forward Fold/Uttanasana, to Anjaneyasana/Low Lunge, which is kinder on the joints while you give your system a chance to warm up. It also offers a softer decline to the floor through Knees, Chest, Chin, rather than Chaturanga Dandasana/Four Limb Pose. Coming all the way down to the ground offers a gentler backbend with Bhujangasana/Cobra, instead of a full Urdhva Mukha Svanasana/Upward Facing Dog. You can also incorporate a soft bend in the knees for the forward folds, allowing time for the hamstrings to warm up.

Sun Salutation A, or Surynamaskara A, is also the perfect way to start to your practice. Chose from one of the two option for Sun Salutation A above. In the first option you come down to the floor through Knees, Chest, Chin. You can stay with this version if it suits or move to the second option of Chaturanga Dandasana/Four Limb Pose and Urdhva Mukha Svanasana/Upward Facing Dog when your shoulders and back are warmed up enough to support the correct alignment.

Sun Salutation/Surya Namaskara B, or Sun Salutation/Surya Namaskara B, is actually the most challenging version of the three. It builds on the poses of Sun Salutation/Surya Namaskara A, with the addition of Utkatasana/Chair, and Virabhadrasana I/Warrior I. Warrior I requires your hips to be very open, and exposes any instabilities or tightness you might have in knees, hips or lower back. It also offers a lovely stretch in the psoas, strengthens and stretches the thigh, calves and ankles, and stretches the shoulder and neck when the raised arms are added into the pose.

Click on any of the above sequences and print them out to use as a visual aid for your next home practice.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

The benefits of Savasana

ASSIMILATION
Savasana, or Corpse Pose, is the ultimate asana for reintegration. It is considered to be one of the most essential, and the most tricky asana to master! It gives the challenge of relaxing, while remaining conscious, in order to absorb the effects of the asana and let go of all the efforts of our practice. During the practise a wide range of different muscle groups have been worked. Finishing the practice with Savasana gives the body a chance to reset and settle. Yoga poses were cleverly designed over 2,600 years ago, to help achieve this. A muscle is much more willing to submit and melt when it has been gently stretched and strengthened. By letting all the muscles dissolve into the support of the ground, it helps to release stress.

TAKE YOUR TIME
Stress can be emotional or physical, but the result of it is the same. It is linked to many mental and physical ailments. Learning to relieve stress is a very important tool in the hectic society we live in. It is recommended to take 5min of Savasana for every 30min of practise. Surrendering to the moment, and letting the teacher control when we re-enter the busy outside world, gives us permission to totally let go, slow down and absorb. This is something so many people don’t allow themselves to do very often.

Savasana reduces fatigue and headaches, helps relieve stress and mild depression, relaxes the breath, lowers blood pressure, triggers the parasympathetic nervous system and increases blood flow to all the organs of the body, nourishing your whole system. All the benefits of each asana from the practice, continue to process through the system. When we take time to build a bridge, that connects from the practice back out to our busy lives, the integration is smoother, and we carry the tranquillity we have cultivated into our day. We are better able to tackle the outside world again!

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru