Benefits of habit “Do a sun salutation”

✓ Eases waking up in the morning
✓ Relaxes tense muscles
✓ May help with back problems
✓ Increases focus
✓ Reduces stress

First step:

✓ 1 sun salutation this week

Progress:

1. This week, do 1 full sun salutation in the morning, right after waking up.
2. Next week, do 2 full salutations.
3. Keep increasing, until you do sun salutation every morning.
4. If you feel the need, you may also add earth and moon salutations in different times of the day.

Helpful tips to make it a habit:

✓ Same time is key. Just as you wake up every morning at the same time, your routine sun salutation should be done at the same time as well to make it a habit faster.
✓ Trigger your mind. Have your sporting gear or yoga mat somewhere visible, so as soon as you get out of bed, you wouldn’t have a reason to forget it.
✓ Let the app help. In addition to the alarm clock, you may also set a reminder for your sun saluting time that you will find in this app.
✓ Reward yourself. Once you’ve gone 2 weeks of doing the salutation every day, reward yourself by getting new trainers or sweat pants. Dress well for sun salutation, just like any other exercise.
✓ Celebrate small victories. Every time you perform this habit, congratulate yourself! Say “I’m awesome” or “I’m so cool” out loud and with a smile on your face.

Tips for beginners:

✓ Know your cycle. A typical sun salutation has 10 poses. Start with Standing straight and lift your arms up, inhaling. Then bend down and hug your knees. Stretch up with your hands on your shins and lift your shoulders up, as well as your bottom. Then step back on your right foot into a low lunge, arm upward. Lower your arms down, bring the foot back and find yourself in downward facing dog pose. In this pose, straighten yourself into a plank, then lower yourself halfway down. Gaze up into upward dog pose and back into downward dog pose. Step forward and lift back into standing position. Repeat while exchanging legs in lunges.
✓ Do it slow. If you’re using this salute to wake up or to warm up, do every pose slowly and consciously. Don’t overstretch, otherwise you may risk injury.
✓ Know your limits. At the beginning, it may be hard to keep each pose for more than couple of seconds, so make sure to not push yourself too much. Rather increase your strength and stamina over time and watch yourself improve.