Om, or AUM, is the primordial sound and is said to be the essence of the ultimate reality. Chanting it can help connect with the universe at a deeper level. (Getty Images)
Summer solistice is the longest day of the year, with the greatest amount of sunlight in one day. Yoga is another source of energy for the body – through the improvements it makes in flexibility, oxygenation and circulation. To honour and harness the energy of the sun on International Yoga Day on June 21 is a good idea
The solistices – June 21 and December 21 of every year – are directly related to the sun’s position. Both summer and winter solistices are important astronomical events, marked with traditions and celebrations across cultures. It’s easy to see why.
The sun is a source of energy for life on Earth. It sustains plants, which provide food and oxygen for life-forms. Sunlight is essential for helping the body produce vitamin D; aiding release of serotonin by the brain; regulating circadian rhythm, and stimulating production of melanin for skin health. Summer solistice is the longest day of the year, with the greatest amount of sunlight in one day. To honour and harness the energy of the sun on the upcoming summer solistice on June 21 is a good idea.
Yoga is another source of energy for the body – through the improvements it makes in flexibility, oxygenation and circulation. Breathing exercises – the various pranayamas – are designed to take in energy from the atmosphere and channelise them properly throughout the body.
On June 21 – the Summer Solistice and International Day of Yoga – here are some yoga techniques you can do. Do these in a group, perhaps with soothing music in the background. Plan a yoga picnic outdoors by the sea or riverside. Organise a yoga trek. The options are endless!
The Common Yoga Protocol
Designed for the Ministry of Ayush by a committee of eminent yoga gurus – heads of leading yoga Institutions. Watch the Ministry of Ayush video here.
The 45-minute program serves as a guide for yoga practitioners and consists of:
- ‘Loosening practices’ or Sukshma Vyayam for neck, shoulder, trunk and knee
- A set of dynamic asanas, including standing, sitting, and lying-down poses
- Breathing practices – Kapalabhati Kriya; Anulom-Vilom breathing, Sitali & Bhramari Pranayama
- Simple meditation. Passively observe the breath at the nostrils and then move on somewhere between the bridge of the nose and space between the eyebrows.
This protocol can be preceded by a few minutes of institutional or individual prayer and conditioning, etc.
An Alternative Regimen of Relaxing Asanas
Even a brief session can help us relax, improve flexibility, and reduce stress. This simple, focussed yoga routine, done in the specified sequence, focusses on quality rather than quantity.
The 15-minute protocol begins with conditioning in Sukhasana or Vajrasana, includes pranayama exercises, and finishes with Savasana.
Connecting with the Sun
Simply remaining mindful of the sun as source of life-sustaining energy is also a form of yoga. Those who have the inclination, could further connect with the sun by meditating on the crimson-coloured sun in the heart chakra.
Honouring the Sun
Revere the sun, if you wish to. Yoga’s sun salutation (Surya Namaskar) – a series of poses coordinated with breathing, chanting associated mantras that enhance the energy-uptake, and meditation – is a form of sun-worship. A strenuous exercise, it falls in the dynamic-asanas category and brings in energy and health benefits, and shatters lethargy. It makes for a great cardio workout, too!
Do the set of 12 poses as per capacity – 5, 11, 21 rounds are the commonly practised numbers. Yoga students who have enough practice often do 108 rounds of sun salutations on special days, including on International Yoga Day.
Chair Sun-Salutation
There is a sitting version (watch here) of the sun salutation practice. It has all benefits of the exercise relating to the limbs, joints, internal organs, mind and brain – minus the strain involved in the traditional version.
Long before the UN took up Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s suggestion for an International Day of Yoga Day, 62-year-old Jorge Veiga e Castro, a yoga guru in Portugal, also known as Amrta Suryananda Maha Raja, had suggested June 21, the ‘day of light’, to be observed as World Yoga Day. He had been celebrating this day since 2001 in Portugal with his disciples. HR Nagendra, Founder-Chancellor of Bengaluru-based S-Vyasa Yoga University, met Suryananda in the early 2000s, took up the cause and conveyed it to PM Modi. Suryananda was conferred the Padma Shri in 2015.
Om Chanting – Loudly or Mentally
Om, or AUM, is the primordial sound and is said to be the essence of the ultimate reality. Chanting it can help connect with the universe at a deeper level.
- Sit in any meditative posture, with eyes closed and body relaxed. Feel the breath at the tip of the nose.
- Start chanting Aum verbally, softly – each Om should be two seconds long.
- After a few minutes, change the loud chanting to mental chanting – try to hear the earlier loud chants reverberating within you.
- Think of a source of light close to the heart chakra as you do this.
- Stop after 10 minutes, or as per individual capacity, and gently release the posture.
For those more inclined to intellectual activity…
Read on yoga. Or listen to podcasts and watch videos on various aspects of yoga – Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Raja Yoga.
All information contained in this article is indicative only. Please learn yoga from an instructor at a school or studio first; always consult your physician or doctor to check for suitability and limitations before starting any new exercise regimen.