Sun Salutations A & B

Most dynamic yoga classes (vinyasa, Ashtanga, etc.) begin with a series of poses know as Sun Salutations. These poses are designed to warm up your body, preparing you for the practice to come. Portions of the sun salutation sequence are also used as vinyasas (transitions) in vinyasa yoga classes.

Outside of a yoga class, Sun Salutations can be a wonderful way to start your day, warm up before a workout, or get the blood flowing after sitting for a long car or plane trip.

There are different variations on Sun Salutations and many ways to modify these poses to work for your needs. Most often, yoga classes use two traditional sequences: Sun Salutation A and Sun Salutation B.

Sun Salutations A & B

The picture above is a sketch I made for a workshop on yoga basics. It shows the poses in Sun Salutation A on the inside of the circle and the poses for Sun Salutation B on the outside of the circle.

For either sequence, you would begin at the top of the circle (12 o'clock position) in mountain pose (tadasana) and move clockwise around the circle.

You could take as many rounds as you like, but typically 3 to 5 rounds of each will give you a good warm up. The first time through each sequence, you may want to move more slowly. You can hold each pose for a few breaths, finding your grounding and alignment. As you warm up, pick up the pace and move one breath at a time.

Here's a listing of the poses in each series:

Sun Salutation A

• Mountain pose (tadasana)
• Reach arms overhead
• Standing forward fold (uttanasana)
• Standing half-forward fold (ardha uttanasana)
• Step back to High to low push-up (chaturanga)
• Cobra (bhujangasana) OR Upward facing dog (Urdhva mukha svanasana)
• Downward facing dog (Adho mukha svanasana)
• Step forward to Standing half-forward fold (ardha uttanasana)
• Forward fold (uttanasana)
• Mountain pose (tadasana) with arms overhead

Sun Salutations B 
*(same as A, but with the addition of Chair pose and Warrior I)

• Mountain pose (tadasana)
• Chair pose (utkatasana)
• Standing forward fold (uttanasana)
• Standing half-forward fold (ardha uttanasana)
• Step back to High to low push-up (chaturanga)
• Cobra (bhujangasana) OR Upward facing dog (Urdhva mukha svanasana)
• Downward facing dog (Adho mukha svanasana)
• Step right foot forward to Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I)
• Step back to High to low push-up (chaturanga)
• Cobra (bhujangasana) OR Upward facing dog (Urdhva mukha svanasana)
• Downward facing dog (Adho mukha svanasana)
• Step left foot forward to Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I)
• Step back to High to low push-up (chaturanga)
• Cobra (bhujangasana) OR Upward facing dog (Urdhva mukha svanasana)
• Downward facing dog (Adho mukha svanasana)
• Step forward to Standing half-forward fold (ardha uttanasana)
• Forward fold (uttanasana)
• Chair pose (utkatasana)

A few things to consider while moving through your Sun Salutations:

• Keep a slight bend in your knees while bowing into your forward fold
• You can drop your knees to the mat or stay on your toes for your high to low push-up
• You can lower all the way to the mat before taking cobra or take upward facing dog from your low push-up (elbows no more than 90-degrees)
• You can walk forward from downward facing dog with one step or many steps 
• Breathe fully in each pose, never rushing

While it's best to learn Sun Salutations in class with the guidance of an experienced teacher, you can easily take these sequences home to become part of your daily routine.