Sun salutations. The bane of every YTT student (at the beginning).
Learning the correct alignment, memorizing the Sanskrit names and teaching the sequence – these caused quite a bit of headache in Weeks 2-5. Who knew there were so many cues for these (seemingly) simple poses? My downward dog has never been the same since. You can literally talk for 5 minutes about 1 pose, including cues, regressions, and adjustments.
Doing this repeatedly at the start of the YTT Program really drilled it into us, which was probably its intention. Now I can’t think of sun salutations without thinking of the Sanskrit name first.
I definitely contributed my fair share of whining when it came to sun salutations. But I’ve honestly come to appreciate sun salutations as an amazing way to warm up the body and preparing your body for the crazy flows and postures that follow after. Taking 3-5 breaths in each pose also helps in getting our minds focused and centered at the start of the class.
It’s quite fun to add our own spin to the chaturanga in our sequences too 😛
