Near the Solstice

Monday evening will be the winter solstice. Often, yoga teachers get together to mark such events with a special practice. We do 108 "sun salutes" (aka "Surya Namascar"). A sun salute is a simple sequence of yoga poses. Did you ever do "burpees" in junior high school PE? That's about the closest analogue of which I'm aware.

In each sun salute you:

1. Start standing
2. Raise the arms overhead
3. Sweep the arms out to the sides as you fold forward to touch (the neighborhood of) the floor
4. Arch up so that you flatten the back like a table top (careful with your neck!)
5. Step the feet back
6. Drop into the low part of a push up
7. Put the tops of the feet on the floor. Push the upper body up so that you're doing a back bend. Tops of feet, palms of hands on floor. Spine vertical. Fronts of the legs just off the floor
8. Reverse (sorta). Lift your bottom so that your body forms an inverted "V". Arms and legs straight
9. Step the feet between the hands
10. Arch up (like item 4.)
11. Fold forward (like item 3.)
12. Sweep the arms out to the sides and then overhead as you stand up straight.

That's pretty much it. Now do 108 of those. I probably won't do that many on Monday evening. On a "normal" active yoga class, I might lead the class in a third that many.

A group of local yoga instructors is going to meet at a nearby studio, late Monday afternoon. Angel and I are planning to join them. The Old Amigo has to teach a "gentle yoga" class that evening, so it'll be quite a winter solstice.

Hope you're all well.

Cheers