By Sejal Shah | Posted on : December 31, 2020
Would you like to take the 108 Sun Salutation Challenge? This Art of Living Surya Namaskar count and guidelines will help you get ready for it.
On April 7, 2012, in a global event organized by the Art of Living, about 1.3 million people all over the world took the Yogathon Challenge. This consisted of practicing 108 Sun Salutations in one session. Thousands of participants around the world managed to complete this yoga challenge. Surya Namaskar, or sun salutation, is a yoga sequence of 12 yoga postures that energize the solar plexus region. The solar plexus or Navel Chakra is an important center in the body and is connected to many energy channels. Sun Salutation's benefits are immense and its practice is quite well known throughout the world. Yet doing 108 Sun Salutations at a time can be challenging and requires stamina, physical fitness, and above all mental resolve and discipline. It is possible and there are thousands proved it. Here's a recommended routine for four weeks to help you build up to your target of 108 sun salutations.
Sacred Number 108!
Yogis all over the world love the sacred number 108. This number also connects the Sun, Moon, and Earth: The average distance of the Sun and the Moon to Earth is 108 times their respective diameters. Also, there are twelve constellations and 9 planets when multiplied it comes to 108. This number has a lot of significance in different cultures across the globe. Many yogis perform 108 Surya Namaskar routinely and on special occasions.
Take the 108 Sun Salutation challenge
Doing 108 Sun Salutations can be challenging and requires stamina, physical fitness, and above all mental resolve and discipline. The practice has to build gradually. Here is a recommended routine for four weeks to help you build up to your goal of 108 sets i.e. 54 rounds. By the time you reach this number, you will find a leaner you!!! [If you are completely new to yoga asana practice, for a week or two, prepare your body with this gentle joint freeing sequence.]
Each day prepare yourself with a few rounds of yogic breath, breaths of joy, and a gentle joint freeing sequence and warm-ups. And then with a feeling of gratitude towards the sun, Surya Namaskar Yoga sequence. You can do it with the mantra or chants for Surya Namaskar to enjoy your practice even better.
A word of caution: Please enter into this 108 Sun Salutation Challenge only after your health care provider’s permission. It is best to learn any yoga posture, including Surya Namaskar, under the supervision of an in-person certified Yoga teacher. This way, the teacher can help correct alignments and monitor your progress. If you have chronic or acute back pain or high blood pressure or heart conditions, hernia, or recent surgeries or procedures, please consult a physician and stick to their advice before you practice Surya Namaskar. Women during pregnancy and monthly cycles can avoid the practice of Sun Salutations.
The Art of Living Surya Namaskar count to prepare for the 108 challenge
Suggestive progressive training chart for 54 Surya Namaskara sets i.e. 108 Surya Namaskara
Once you reach the mark of 108, this is how you can slowly back off:
You gradually built yourself to reach the mark of 108, but the story doesn’t end here. Edmund Hillary climbed Mount Everest, spent a few hours there enjoying the view but eventually had to come down. If you’d like to continue this regimen of 108 Sun Salutations every day, by all means, go ahead. But whenever you feel like stopping, it is strongly advised that you don’t stop abruptly. That would be like hitting the brakes in an accelerated car. Just like the journey up was gradual and step-by-step, so should your return. You don’t want to crash land.
This is because as you build up the pace as your body gets used to vigorous yoga pose practice. Reducing the intensity gradually gives your body a chance to recover from the intense workout and improves the resilience of the warmed-up muscles. Here’s a recommended schedule for two weeks starting from the day you completed 108 Sun Salutations.
Remember these 3 tips while you take the 108 Surya Namaskara challenge:
Eat healthily. Keep yourself well hydrated. Drink 3-4 liters of water per day.
Rest well. Sleep early and wake up early to practice and prepare for the challenge.
Let go and relax your body as you lay down in Yoga Nidra after you finish your Surya Namaskar practice.
How can I relax my body after Surya Namaskara?
Ensure you relax properly after Surya Namaskara practice. Instead of plopping down into a chair or immediately starting your next task, it is better to do some relaxing postures for various parts of the body that are engaged more in doing Sun Salutations. In fact, during the relaxation, the effect of all the stretches will percolate to a deeper level giving you the real benefits. Some of the postures that can help are:
Gomukhasana (Cow face Pose) is a great way to relax the overworked arms.
Vajrasana (Hero’s Pose) - Sit in Vajrasana for 5 minutes to relax your legs.
Natrajasana (Dancing Shiva Pose) – This pose relaxes your spine and back.
Pavanamuktasana (Wind relieving Pose) - Roll in this yoga posture to ease the tension in the back. This is an excellent way to massage the back.
Yoga Nidra - Lie down on your back for Savasana (Corpse Pose) and take your attention to various parts of the body with gentle breaths as per these guided instructions. Yoga Nidra cools the body and restores it to normal temperature.
With regular practice, you can easily reach the summit of 108 Surya Namaskara. As soon as you start, you can feel the effects of your practice too – increase energy levels through the day, better digestion, sharpness, and focus. Over a few days of practice, you will figure out what rhythm suits you the best. Doing it fast is like aerobics work out and doing it slow can be meditative.
The latter works best for those who are pressed for time. A few rounds of Sun Salutation can provide a comprehensive body workout in 10-15 minutes! As a routine practice, 6 rounds or 12 sets of Sun Salutation are sufficient.
You can also do it as a warm-up exercise followed by other intense yoga postures. If you are practicing Surya Namaskars as part of your warm-up, you can do them at a somewhat faster speed.
When you practice them as part of the yoga posture practice, you can keep slow to medium speed. After a few rounds, the body feels light and flexible and the stretches in the active yoga postures become deeper.
Disclaimer: Please enter into this 108 Sun Salutation Challenge only after your health care provider’s permission. If you have a backache or any other conditions mentioned under Precautions and Contraindications, please consult your healthcare provider and stick to his/her advice. Please understand and follow all the tips and guidelines mentioned in this e-book. The writer or the Art of Living Foundation is not responsible for any injuries or any other conditions you may incur due to participating in this challenge or otherwise.
Create a wellness routine
Sun Salutation followed by some breath work (pranayama) and meditation is a complete package for your everyday wellness. Now that you have learned how to do Sun Salutation, would you like to get a glimpse of some powerful breathwork and meditation with a live instructor and know more about how to meditate daily? Join Beyond Breath now!
New to yoga? Explore Yoga 101: A Simple Guide to Practice and Philosophy to Help A Beginner.
Want to master the Sun Salutation practice? Download a free e-book here for step by step systematic guidance.
Sejal Shah, E-RYT 500 Sri Sri Yoga Teacher, YACEP, C-IAYT, Meditation Teacher, SKY Instructor, NYU Post Graduate Medical School approved Yoga-CME retreat facilitator, Mind-Body Wellness Writer, Homeopath. She can be followed on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
