an ancient practice that has stood the test of time. ☀️

This week, our yoga pose breakdown series culminated into the Surya Namaskar | Sun Saluation Yoga flow.

Watch the talk through video below:

As I step away from creating on social media platforms for a bit, and hone in on my studies… I leave you with the full yoga flow to practice.

It truly only takes a minute to flow through, and this flow ignites the breath and moves the body in all directions to start the day.

My Yoga Teacher Training ends at the end of May 2024 – where I will graduate with a 500 hour Yoga Teacher Certification.

I am excited, nervous, all of the feels etc. as I zero in on realizing a dream.

In June 2024 I will return to you, arms full of new ideas and yoga, meditation and self-study to share.

Before I go though, I want to summarize the beautiful story behind the sun salutation, since you’re here, dear friend. If you want the whole deal, check out this Yoga International deep dive article on the history of this beautiful flow. 🌄

The Sun Salutation

a love letter from student to Teacher

Traditionally, a student and teacher relationship was sacred and revered… to the point where a student would be indebted to the teacher as a sort of “graduation fee”. (guru dakshina)

There is a beautiful story in the Yoga Sutras, that explains the mythological story behind the sun salute flow. According to the tale – Hanuman (the great monkey hero of the epic Ramayana) was enchanted by the Sun (Surya) since birth… in fact he mistook the sun for a mango as a baby and tried to eat it. The gods interfered and it was decided that Hanuman needed a teacher. That teacher was none other than Surya himself… who told Hanuman he had no time for a student.

Hanuman was determined to be Surya’s student, committing to racing across the sky backwards, as he faced his teacher and absorbed his teachings. (In fact, if you were to practice a few sun salutation flows one after the other, you would find yourself shuffled backwards on your mat!)

Hanuman learned from Surya up to his graduation point, at which point Surya told him there was no fee…. teaching a worthy student was reward enough. Hanuman was humbled, and told his teacher he could only offer his gratitude and “namaskars” (respectful greetings). And so, the Surya Namaskar was born… an homage to the sun, with a respectful greeting.

This moving prayer of thanks, has withstood hundreds of years, and is still practiced to this day.

Try it out for yourself, and see how you feel! If you don’t want to follow a video, the audio cues have been uploaded to my Spotify, so you can just pop in a pair of headphones and flow through the yoga asana as many times as you would like! 🥰

I am so exited to see you all again in June!!!

My nose will be in the books between now and then, but please reach out if you want to discuss a CUSTOM yoga / meditation class! I will always make time for custom requests. 🙏

I offer a free 15 minute consultation to discuss how yoga / meditation would look in your life. Please fill out the form on my offers page if you’re interested – I love to chat yoga any day! 😊

Wishing you an incredible weekend, and couple months ahead.

You will be sure to hear from me again.

With Love,

Esta