Sun Salutation Yoga: Arms Up

Series Summary

Yoga is a group of ancient spiritual practices originating in India. Outside India, Yoga is mostly associated with the practice of postures of Hatha Yoga, or as a form of exercise, although it has influenced other spiritual practices throughout the world. Hatha Yoga focuses on the purification of the physical as leading to the purification of the mind, and on vital energy. Hatha Yoga, in its many modern variations, is the style that most people actually associate with the word "yoga" today.

One popular sequence of Hatha yoga asanas is known as Surya Namaskara, or Sun Salutation. In this sequence, a lot of emphasis is placed on bending and stretching the back and spine. In this free video series, a yoga instructor will teach you how to perform the many poses and positions of Sun Salutation yoga, from the simple beginning of arms up and forward bends to warrior one, hip flexor stretches, and the wild thing pose. You'll also learn four variations on Sun Salutation yoga, as well as the locust, half frog, and bow poses. With these yoga tips and techniques, you'll keep your back and body in great shape!

Video Transcript

"What I love about the super fun Sunsalute is it has everything in it, lots of forward bends, lots of backward bends. We can throw in all the twists and all the open closing poses that we want. So the first position is a simple arms up. So if Annika, you would exhale. Focus your eyes, inhale, arms up. And exhale back to zero. We can add a little back bend to that. And if I show you how to get into a standing back bend a little bit more easily, it doesn't have to have any pain or any pinching whatsoever. So what Annika is going to do is take her hands flat out in front of her. You're going to lift the side body, the rib cage, away from the hips. Then we're going to press the head of the arm bone back. Keeping her hands flat, she's going to spread the thumbs out. And what happens is her shoulder blades tip right underneath her heart, lifting your heart up. Inhale and reach your arms behind your ears. And then there's a very lovely back bend with no pain. Exhale back to zero."