Those Marathon 108 Surya Namaskars

I am a huge advocate of yoga and have been practicing the same for more than three years now. Yoga happened to me quite by chance and it wasn’t much of a planned thing.

I was on my way to a swimming school to enroll for swimming classes when I happened to cross Yogatree – a Yoga center nearby. I noticed the board without paying any heed to it. At the swimming school, I paid the fees and enrolled for lessons that were due to begin the following week. Just two days before the due date, the swimming school called up to cancel classes for the next two months due to an immediate maintenance work of the pool. Yogatree flashed in my mind at that moment for no particular reason. I looked them up on Google and found myself there the very next day.

That was the beginning of my introduction to the magical and fascinating world of Yoga. And, with the bunch of dedicated, passionate and enthusiastic teachers, the love that I imbibed for Yoga was quite natural. Today Yoga has become a way of life for me.

The location advantage of Yogatree suited me very well – just 2 Km. from my house meant less haggling with the infamous Bangalore traffic. In fact, I would walk my way down to class and back. The two great friends I made there were unexpected add-ons that further brightened up my Yoga experience. The three of us would look forward to those four days a week of catching up and practicing together.

Due to some personal situational difficulties I haven’t been going to class for the past three months. While I am religiously practicing the asanas at home, I miss my yoga class for various reasons. One of those is the 108 Surya Namanskars that we would practice every once in a while – usually on weekends.

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Pic Credit: www.modernagespirituality.com

Surya Namaskar also known as Surya Pranam or Sun Salutation, for the uninitiated, is a set of 12 yoga asanas that are gracefully sequenced together. Six distinct asanas are repeated twice during the sequence. The first set of six is dedicated to the right side of the body and the next set to the left side of the body. Surya Namaskar is done to express gratitude to the sun for sustaining life on earth and has an immensely positive impact on the mind and body.  It is a great cardiovascular workout too.

When I heard about 108 Surya Namaskars for the first time, which was just within a month of joining Yogatree, I thought this was crazy and undoable. However, on the insistence of my teacher I participated in my first session of 108 Surya Namaskars. The thought was daunting and I was absolutely sure I wouldn’t cross even 25 rounds. But to my surprise I was able to complete the entire session. We did it in sets of 9 and though I did miss a round or two here and there I sustained through to the end of the session.

I was immensely proud of myself and it gave a boost to my confidence as my flexibility was really bad then. Not that it’s great now, but I have hugely improved. After that, I always ensured that I made myself available for every 108 Surya Namaskar sessions.

However, for the last three months I have been missing those marathon Surya Namaskars as I have been practicing at home. I can mindfully do 10-12 Surya Namaskars at a time but 108 just doesn’t happen. I lose my focus and haven’t been successful yet.

Hoping that circumstances will change sooner than later and I can get back to class again.

An Addendum:

The number 108 has a special significance and is considered sacred. I googled to find some.

  • The numbers 1, 0, and 8 represent one thing, nothing, and everything (infinity). 108 thus represents the ultimate reality of the universe as being simultaneously one, emptiness, and infinite.
  • Vedic mathematicians considered 108 as a number of the wholeness of existence. 108 also connects the Sun, Moon, and Earth. The average distance of the Sun and the Moon to Earth is 108 times their respective diameters.
  • Prayers malas have 108 beads.
  • There are 108 pithas or sacred sites in India.
  • In Hindu tradition, there are 108 Mukhya Shivaganas or attendants of Shiva.
  • Lord Krishna had 108 gopis in Vrindavan.
  • The Sri Vaishnavite Tradition has 108 Divya Desams (temples of Vishnu)

For more read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/108_(number)

Post in response to the theme for Bar-A-Thon: The Blogging Marathon

Author: neelstoria

Traveling, Gardening, Trekking, Hiking, Storytelling, Writing, Nature, Outdoors, Yoga, DIY

31 thoughts on “Those Marathon 108 Surya Namaskars”

  2. I remember mine 97 Suryanamaskar which fteched me second position out of 100 odd participants in a competition way back in 2012. After that I was literally not able to walk for couple of days 😅

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  8. I’ve done a lot of Surya Namaskars too (though not 108), however I do less of those now. Try out various poses, though not the very difficult ones. Those need some help initially. I’m always interested in reading about yoga poses and looking up interesting videos.

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    1. Good to know that you are into yoga too. I think you mustn’t let go of surya namaskaram even though you are interested in other asanas now. Maybe about 6 times whenever you do your yoga. Just a thought 😊

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  12. I had always wondered about the significance of 108 but never bothered looking it up. Thanks to this post, I know now 🙂
    I have been doing a slightly modified version of Surya Namaskar all these years but I too want to improve my flexibility, might as well try the complete Surya Namaskar today 🙂
    Hope you are able to do 108 Surya Namaskars on the trot very soon!
    Cheers

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