Here Comes The Sun Salutation

by Martha
(Cleveland, Ohio, US)

My favorite yoga pose is the Sun Salutation. The reason I like it so much is that through a series of 12 simple moves I feel that I work every major muscle group and it gets my heart pumping.

It is something that I can do when I don't have a lot of time because if I do just 3 sets I am ready to face the day in less than 10 minutes. It is a great way to stretch the spine and I find that it is best done first thing in the morning.

My overall flexibility has increased by doing this exercise because when I first started doing it I couldn't bend down and touch the floor in one fluid motion. Not surprisingly, I have watched my little 11 year old,7 lb. dog do the "down dog" part of this exercise every morning and he is still very agile and flexible in his old age.

I first started doing yoga because my left arm was getting numb while I was bent over a drawing table. I went to a chiropractor who suggested I start stretching my spine and I took yoga classes for 5 years. Although I no longer take classes, my body still "remembers" the poses.