How to prevent injury caused by classical Surya Namaskar (SN) ?

Surya Namaskar (SN) means Sun Salutations. It is a set of asanas which are done one after the other in a form of a sequence. This rhythmic sequence is done with proper inhale and exhale, thus helping in breath awareness and entire body movements.

There are many different schools which follow different styles of SN. But widely classical Shivananda style is practiced.

Though we hear there are multiple benefits we can gain from SN, which is true. But very often we do also hear practitioners saying that SN is causing back pain, sometimes even wrist and knee pain as well.

“I will not have back pain but after doing few rounds of SN’s I get back pain”. 
“SN is not for me, it makes my back and knee pain worse.”
“Usually I sit in Baddhakonasana, during SN.”

Can you relate the above statements in yoga class …..

We hear these statements often in class. But has anyone thought what is the root cause of these issues???

What are the mistakes done while practicing without our knowledge???

Many facing these issues hardly discuss or think of an alternative methods to overcome the problem in a beneficial way. The SN style followed might be correct, but the same might not be working for your body. If this is so, then why not try with different variations of SN ?

With all the above problems and also few other health issues, the classical SN’s wouldn’t be really comfortable to continue or start with.

So let’s get to understand the reasons for BACK, KNEE and WRIST pain while or after practicing SN:

• Inactive Core –  Core covers the entire abdominal muscles. The weak/inactive core is the main reason for lower back pain. Tilting the pelvis posterior/anterior and deepening the curve of lumbar spine, leads to weak/inactive core. This puts more pressure/load on the tail bone thus gradually leading to lower back pain.
• Inactive Quads – Inactive quads are the main reason for knee pain during SN. Thighs are the huge muscle group in humans. But these are hardly engaged in asanas, thus unknowingly more weight/pressure is pushed on knees. Since the quads are not engaged (inactive), it leads to external rotation of quads and feet most of the times. This makes the tendons around the knees weak and gradually leading to knee pain.
• Hyper extended Elbows – Hyper extended elbow joint will have less strength in arms and this is the reason for wrist pain. If you are hyper extending the elbows during your practice or by nature if you have a hyper extended elbow, it will slowly add pressure on wrist as your shoulders are inactive. Thus leading to wrist pain.

Therefore, the knowledge about the active core, active quads and hyper extended elbows should be understood before practicing SN. Awareness and correct knowledge about these will help us overcome the pain.

So, how is SN taught differently at LotusSeal? What are the benefits and which style of SN to follow?

At LotusSeal, we usually teach different modifications/variations for each and every asana in SN, thus making SN safe and friendly practice to our body. Also we share the knowledge and importance of posture alignments, its benefits and we ensure each and every practitioner is having a safe practice, irrespective of their health issues.

Let’s get into the details of each and every asana in SN, and how it is made friendly for all practitioners in LotusSeal.

• Hasta Uthanasana – Start by keeping feet’s shoulder distance apart and big toes parallel to each other. Place the palms on hips and give a gentle forward push to the hips with the thumb from back. Constantly keep moving the elbows together behind. This will help to open the chest without any pressure on lower spine. 
• Padahastasana – Place feet slightly apart and parallel to each other, bend the knees, push hips back and touch the palms next to feet on floor or hold shin bone. This is the key to protect the lower spine from the pain.
• Ashwa Sanchalanasana – Align the knee and ankle of front leg to avoid knee pain. You can place the back knee on floor for the extra support. Never push the knees ahead of ankle, if you are having knee pain.
• Dandasana – Bending both the knees soft closer to the floor help to protect back muscles, and at the same time works on core and quads. So even the variations has same benefits. But make sure spine and pelvis is in neutral position.
• Ashtanga Namaskarasana – Doing a puppy pose with the forehead or chin on floor is the excellent way to protect both wrist and back. Another variation is placing the forearms down instead of palms.
• Bhujangasana – Here go with the variation of keeping the forearms and elbows on floor, thus it avoids arching the lower back as only chest is opened and at the same time your wrists are safe.
• Parvatasana – Always go with knees bent and feet’s hip distance apart to protect the spine, this will ease the back pain. You can also choose to place forearms and elbows on floor to protect wrist.

Practice Surya Namaskar with the above variations and notice the changes gradually.

Wish you all a safe practice.