Whether you’re a pro or totally new to yoga, Sun Salutations are an essential part of your practice. Fiture’s yoga instructor, Victoria Gibbs, told Elite Daily that a Sun Salutation sequence can be an “energizing, full body practice that works the body from head to toe” — and it’s so easy to incorporate into your day. Click through for some Sun Salutation sequences you can do at home.
Gibbs walks us through the three “breath-based sequences” — A, B, and C — so you have a step-by-step guide to follow for Sun Salutations at home. While Gibbs mentions these workouts are low-impact, Sun Salutations are also great if you’re looking to “improve mobility of the entire body,” “reduce stress and anxiety,” and give yourself “a challenging cardio workout.”
To begin the first Sun Salutation, Gibbs says to start in a Mountain Pose by “rooting down through [the] outer edges of both feet” on the mat as you “reach your arms up overhead.” You’ll hold this pose for one breath and “inhale as you reach up.”
When you inhale, transition into an Upward Facing Dog pose. Gibbs says to keep your arms straightened, press “the tops of the feet down,” and keep your knee caps lifted and hips up and off of the mat. You’ll also want to “lift the head, chin, and chest up for a slight heart opening backbend.”
Perform the Upward Facing Dog as you inhale, and move into the Downward Facing Dog as you exhale. As you straighten up into this pose, Gibbs says to keep your “head and neck completely relaxed” while pulling your belly “up and in towards the spine.”
You’ll want to “step or hop to the top of the mat” for a Half Lift pose with your flat back and “palms on the shins, tenting up on the fingertips, or palms flat on the ground.” This will be your final pose before returning to the Forward Fold and then the Mountain Pose to complete Sun Salutation A.
The guide for Sun Salutation B begins with a Mountain Pose as well. Gibbs says to make sure you’re “engaging the glutes” and “feeling for your shoulders falling away from your ears and pulling the belly back and in towards the spine.”
Also following the Sun Salutation A guide, you’ll move on to the low plank (Chanturanga), Upward Facing Dog, and Downward Facing Dog next, alternating between breathing in and breathing out. Gibbs says the one breath per pose helps you to “foster a deeper mind and body connection.”
This is when things start to differ. You’ll want to step forward in your Downward Dog pose with your left leg to get into a Warrior One pose. Gibbs says, “Energetically pull your left hip back in space, so that [your] two hips face forward like head lights on a car.”