I am having difficulty with the exact number of sun salutations at the beginning of the practice. I practice flow yoga, the primary series of ashtanga yoga. Normally I do 5 sun salutations type A and 3 sun salutations type B. But with this number of sun salutations I do not start the process of perspiration until some time later in the flow, normally at the seated postures. Do you think I need to add more repetitions of sun salutations until I start perspiring or is it OK as I am doing now?
What is the value of perspiration in your practice?
Hi InnerAthlete,
Good question. I though that perspiration was essential in flow hatha yoga systems from the beginning and sun salutation started this process.
But I know that when I am concentrated on the breath using bandhas and drishti correctly perspiration appears and I feel I have a better practice.
To then answer your question I would choose option 2, it is okay as you are doing now.
I have several Ashtanga references, and some do say to vary the number of salutations to account for weather, temperature, and your capabilities…and even so, the suggestions are no less than three. I find in quite interesting how you say that often you don’t start sweating until the seated sequences – meaning you don’t sweat for the entire standing sequence. If that’s the case, the number of salutations is only a subset of the total flow you’ve done to get perspiring, and I don’t think that raising the total to 5 each would get you sweating before Padagustasana.
For me, the first drops will start falling around the 3rd Sun A…but I’m at the extreme end of the sweating bell curve – I sweat eating ice cubes. My first two Sun B’s are always accompanied by “sweat in the eyes” making those Vira A’s in the B’s somewhat challenging. One thing about this, however – I consciously choose to do fewer than five each, in part because I’m a sweater, but also because five sun B’s are exhausting. I am excusing the additional work due to my sweating, which is something I’m wrestling with. Answering InnerEgg’s question about the value of my own perspiration, I don’t yet know.
I do find that by maintaining Ujjayi and Drishti, I maintain sweating all through the primary series.
What is the goal of your practice ? In the eye of the ancient yoga teachers it should be to prepare your body for meditation, so if you feel after a couple of rounds you have loosened up and warmed up , opened up and connected with your body enough , it is good to move on to the next exercises until you are ready to sit down and with that body of light that is loose , flowing with prana ( life energy) and open , and start to work on relaxation to concentration to eventually meditation.
So to answer your question : You are the one that knows…
yoga retreats Portugal – yoga retreats Europe – yoga retreats
best yoga retreats