Day Three of the 30-Day Sun Salutation Challenge

The task is to do just one yoga Sun Salutation every morning, and every night, for thirty days. Journal your results.

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Day 3 of the Sun Salutation challenge

It is critical to remember that the asana are primarily BREATHING exercises. This means that, so long as you have voluntary control of your breathing, there is NO reason that anyone and everyone cannot do this.

1. If I was paralyzed, I would VISUALIZE the movements.
2. If confined to bed, I would visualize and match the breathing, try to tense and release my muscles in synch with a video, perhaps.
3. If in a wheelchair, I would do the same, but add flexions of wrist and ankle.

Understand? You are doing what YOU can. Yoga Asana are YOUR edge, the furthest YOU can go while still breathing in an uninterrupted stream. That breathing (inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth) is FAR more important than being as flexible and strong as a teenaged gymnast.

4. If dealing with limits, I modify the movements with raised platforms (stairs work very nicely for this: the higher the stair that you rest your hands on, the less weight you are supporting, and the easier it is. PAIN NEVER GOES ABOVE A “3” ON A SCALE OF 1–10.

5. In general, inhale on expansions, exhale on contractions. Match the “curve” of the breathing to the movement. One way to think about this is the “Be Breathed”…