In the west, Surya namaskars are generally associated with building heat and sweat. If you want a sweaty class, just add in some Surya namaskars at the beginning, is what I was told. This probably was one of the reasons that I did not like Surya namaskars apart from the fact I could not do a Chaturanga before. I used to think, if I need to sweat, I could easily run up and down the hills of SF. This was quite unsettling as I always felt there was more to this.
Then I ended up at KYM, where one can find the real explanation to all things Yoga. One of my teachers at KYM mentioned that Surya namaskar is a complete exercise. The namaskars have built in counter poses, forward bends and backward bends, flexions and extensions. When you do the Surya namaskars, you will work out the shoulders, spine, the hip joints, hamstrings, hands, chest, neck, ankles, toes and more. Downward facing dog is similar to an inversion in its benefits. If you just add in a few parivrtta trikonasana (revolved triangle) at the end, you have worked out most of your body. Pranayama is built into this sequence. Of course, it is a prayer to the Sun, who is the sustainer of life to enhance good health. This is a way to take in the radiance of the Sun inside you to energize and begin the day.
In the Vedic times, people used to recite mantras during the hold between an inhale and exhale, which would make the practice very deep. At KYM, I have practiced Surya namaskars having outsourced the mantra recitation to the teacher and it was a very beautiful experience. Namaskar itself is not done in a hurry; every inhale and exhale is long to go with the mantra. Each inhale could be 7 seconds or more in length. Just slowing down and concentrating on the powers of the Sun was a new way to practice.
The gayatri mantra is also a mantra of the Sun, among others. Strangely, Sun is portrayed as a woman. Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswati are the three names of the Sun. The morning sun is Gayatri, Savitri is the noon sun and and Saraswati is the setting sun.
Surya namaskars with or without mantras is a great sequence to practice when there is just 30 minutes of yoga time in a day. I can say for sure, practicing this in the morning is way better, as the body tends to remember for a few hours to breathe slow as you carry on with your daily life.
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