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Today is International Yoga Day and I couldn’t help but talk about the 108 sun salutations.
International Yoga Day is celebrated on June 21 every year, this date corresponds with the summer solstice, the day on which the sun reaches its greatest distance from the equator and the entire cosmos undergoes its second spiritual birth. It is the official start of summer, of a new season.
According to Hindu tradition, the god Shiva began to transmit his teachings as a guru on this day. And according to what is written in the Vedas, the ancient Indian writings, venerating the sun and light, symbols of immortality, brings prosperity and health to the body and mind.
Precisely to honor the sun and the light, on the days of the solstice, it is traditional to practice 108 sun salutations. It is an almost sacred ritual, a regenerating experience. Purifies the body and gives energy balance. The 108 Sun Salutations become an evolutionary and transformative practice on many levels. It means impressing on ourselves that everything is cyclical.
Why is International Yoga Day celebrated?
In December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly, on the proposal of Indian Prime Minister Modi, requested and obtained official recognition of the International Yoga Day on June 21. Recognizing that yoga promotes a holistic approach to personal health and well-being, and that wider dissemination of its benefits would help improve population health worldwide.
Since it was established, every year, celebrations and thematic events have taken place in all countries of the world, including Italy.
The benefits of sun salutation
The sun salutation, or Surya Namaskar in Sanskrit, is a dynamic sequence of positions to be performed in a specific order, which brings profound benefits to body, mind and spirit.
If it is practiced for at least 15 minutes a day, its effects are comparable to those of a complete yoga practice.
In fact, it is enough to practice ten sun salutations every day to allow the body to let go and eliminate stress and tension. Furthermore, it tones the joints, muscles and internal organs, improves posture, flexibility and balance, stimulates the cardiovascular system, oxygenates the blood and strengthens the heart. It helps fight insomnia, improves digestion, strengthens the immune system, promotes the elimination of toxins. And many other benefits.
When the body begins to pick up the rhythm and one sun salutation follows another, what happens in the body and mind is something unique.
The body moves regularly, always performing the same movements, sequence after sequence. The rituality of the gesture and the strength of the breath allow the brain to switch off from useless inputs by entering deeply into the practice. In this way the mind gets lost in the rhythm and begins a state of moving meditation where everything else disappears.
The body begins to produce heat and burn toxins, in this way it purifies and cleans itself.
By practicing with intention you develop discipline and willpower.
The devotion and strength that this practice develops creates a very strong yogic and spiritual practice, where motivation leads to transformation.
The continuous execution of the sequence helps you practice and act without expecting anything in return, it is an offering to yourself, of your time and energy to celebrate light and life through simple movement, inhaling and exhaling.
But why exactly 108?
The answer to this question is infinite: from religion to astrology, from science to linguistics, the recurrence of this number has something incredible.
In the symbolism of yoga and eastern philosophies, Hindu and Buddhist, and more generally throughout Eastern culture, the number 108 is a sacred number with a strong symbolic value.
Here are just a few examples:
- It connects the practitioner with universal energy, in fact it is a very recurring number also in meditation and in the recitation of mantras. The latter are usually repeated 108 times or in its multiples to favor the resonance of cosmic vibrations.
- The Mala themselves, the famous rosaries used in devotional practices, whether Tibetan or Indian, have 108 beads.
- Some texts list 108 places sacred to Shakti, the 108 Shakti Pitha, the main places sacred to the goddess scattered throughout India. Places of pilgrimage which, according to tradition, have great healing powers. Each place is associated with a part of the goddess’ body.
- The number 108 also represents the union of Shiva and Shakti.
- Sanskrit contains 54 feminine letters and 54 masculine letters for a total of 108 letters.
- There are 108 Upanishads.
- In Tibetan Buddhism, there are 108 human vices and 108 qualities of the Buddha.
- In Japan, at the end of the year, the bells ring 108 times to greet the new year.
- There are 108 temptations that separate man from Nirvana.
- Ayurveda recognizes 108 main points, the Marmas, in which energy is concentrated.
- In the Chakra System, there are 108 Nadis (energy channels) that meet in the heart chakra, Anahata.
- Many martial arts are based on 108 moves and in Tai Chi there is the practice of 108 movements.
- In mathematics every number has a meaning: 1 God, 0 the void and 8 the infinite.
Even in the scientific field many coincidences lead back to the number 108:
- The diameter of the Sun, for example, is 108 times the diameter of the Earth.
- While the Moon is 108 times its diameter from the Earth.
The practice of the 108 sun salutations becomes an extremely energizing and purifying sequence on a physical, mental and subtle level. A true journey into yoga and oneself. A way to know your limits and face them with every inhale and exhale.
Have you ever practiced the 108 Sun Salutations? Share your experience in the comments!