This is how my practice starts, with the Sun Salutes.
I begin with four rounds of Sun Salutes. In the morning I start facing east and work my way through each direction.
As I lift to Upward Salute I am thankful for the sun and all that the world has been offering me.
Swan diving forward, exhaling, reaching chaturanga dandasana, I am grateful for the earth below me, that it grounds me and is full of much needed nourishment.
I inhale into upward dog, thankful again, to the heavens but also feeling my self grounding through my hands and feet while lifting my heart and head to the sun, stretching and opening myself to the possibilities of the day.
And I fall and lift back to adho mukha svanasana. (downward dog) Here I take five deep, long breaths. I feel my breath radiate through each cell of my body, scanning my body for any areas that may need a little extra tender loving care. I go to those areas and mentally dissolve the stress. I have decided that I will not hold onto tension each day but that it will release through asana. I am thankful that I have learned to use my mind to release bodily pain.
I lift, inhale, to tadasana. My hands meet together in prayer position at my heart center.
When I move through the Sun Salutations with an intention of gratitude, I am tuned in; from the tiniest cell in my body, to the sun and earth, I am thankful each morning through Sun Salutes. It works for me. It enlivens me.
“As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world. ” — Adabella Radici
