How To Modify Your Sun Salutations

"Movement without awareness is exercise. Movement with awareness is yoga." 😏

That's why I LOVE Surya Namaskar A. A set of postures that date back more than 2,500 years to a time when ancient cultures revered the sun and saw this sequence as a way to prepare themselves for daily life. It's a short but sweet sequence that moves us through all sorts of bodily stretches, building heat in a rhythmic and (hopefully) graceful cadence. It's a moving meditation; movement WITH awareness.

But the question is, with all this awareness in mind, can you modify the sequence to suit your own level of practice, your energy, or your intention for the day?

The answer: a resounding hell yes! There’s already a precedent for modifying the sequence, given that the exact poses in Sun Salutations vary among the different traditions of yoga.

Sun A has long been considered a warm-up for the practice of yoga, and most vinyasa teachers still use it as such. When guided intelligently you can use the set sequence to progressively work heat and movement into the whole body.

But how do we modify our Sun Salutations in a way to suit our level or energy of the day?

Your day, your rhythm.
Be sure to settle into your own rhythm of movement and stillness. If you're able to flow in a manner where breath aligns with movement, then do so. But there's always the option to take a little more time and linger in any particular posture, building up to flow or simply appreciating each posture for what it is. This is your practice, own it.

Transition with intention.
The transitions are as important as the poses. Feel into the action within each transition, before landing and momentarily holding the posture. If you tend to rush things, then try to intentionally slow your breath. As your breath deepens, your movement will naturally become slower, mimicking the pace of your breath. A quick cheat code on the breath: In yoga, as you inhale, you typically lift or expand your body in some way; as you exhale, you lower or release your body.

Modification > Volume.
My favourite way to adjust the intensity is to modify the asanas and transitions themselves, as opposed to reducing the volume of rounds you might do. This gives you a chance to get through all of your rounds and an opportunity to build strength and endurance in a nurturing way. Read on below to see how you can modify the sequence.

Choose how many rounds.
Your practice, your choice! Generally we teach Sun Salutations in sets of three to five, so choose a number that suits you. You can always start the day with one and just keep going until you're done.

Like I said, I love to progressively build into my rounds of Sun Sals by modifying the postures and transitions themselves. So here are my favourite tips (and how I teach my students in our mentorship signature class) to modify Sun Salutation A.

ROUND 1
Reach the arms up, look up. Bend the knees as much as needed in the first forward fold. Bring the hands to shin bones for a half-way lift. Step back to High Plank. Lower the knees down to supported High Plank. Keeping the knees down, point the toes, lower the hips and arch your back to the lift chest into a modified version of Upward Facing Dog. Tuck the toes, push back to Downward Facing Dog, keeping a slight bend in the knees. Step or walk the feet forward to half-way lift, then forward fold again with bent knees. Reach the arms up, palms meet above head. Pull the prayer down through Samasthiti and land in Tadasana.

ROUND 2
Arms up, look up (Urdhva Hastasana). Forward fold with the knees bent. Finger tips to the earth or hands to shin bones for half-way lift. Step back to High Plank and hold for the inhale. Option to keep knees lifted here, lower to Chaturanga (Low Plank) on knees or toes on the breath out. Full or modified Upward Facing Dog to Downward Facing Dog. Step or hop forward top of mat, half-way lift and forward fold. Rise to Urdhva Hastasana, then Samasthiti, to Tadasana.

ROUND 3 AND BEYOND
Same as round 2, with length added to each posture while working towards the full expression. As your body warms up, you can increase difficulty by jumping forward and back, holding High Plank and Low Plank for longer and moving in a rhythmic flow that combines your movements with your breath.

The moral is, there's no right or wrong. And I love that about Sun Salutations. They offer a complete full body sequence that I can modify to suit my needs. If you can do only one thing a day, make it a good 5 rounds of Sun Salutation A 🔥