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Today on #anwen-meditates I want to share with you how to practice Sun Salutation A (or Surya Namaskara A). In the video I focus mostly on my breath. Why is that? I have heard from many yoga teachers:

"You can be practicing the poses of yoga, but if your breath is not aligned with your actions then you are not in yoga. You can also just be doing a daily task such as gardening, and if your breath is aligned with your actions then you are in yoga."

I love starting my morning with sun salutations, as it allows my body to wake up and my breath to fall in synch with my movements. Proper breathing while practicing sun salutations provides me with a grounding and energizing wholeness. If you can, I recommend doing sun salutations underneath the morning sun, as this allows you to feel the sun's radiating energy (and a little bit of Vitamin D never hurt anyone!). Without further ado, let's begin saluting the sun!

Tadasana - Mountain Pose

Inhale and exhale. Stand in mountain pose, arms by your side, feet grounding into the earth.

Urdhva Hastasana - Upward Salute

Inhale. Reach your arms up to the sky, going into a little backbend here if it feels good.

Uttanasana - Standing Forward Bend

Exhale. Swan dive forward, folding over your legs.

Ardha Uttanasana - Standing Half Forward Bend

Inhale. With a flat back, come up halfway.

Uttanasana - Standing Forward Bend

Exhale. Bend forward, folding over your legs once again.

Chaturanga Dandasana - Four-Limbed Staff Pose

Retain Breath - Step back into plank position and lower down, keeping your elbow close to your body.

Urdhva Mukha Svanasana - Upward Facing Dog

Inhale - Push away from the earth with your palms, arching your back up to the sky.

Adho Mukha Svanasana - Downward-Facing Dog

Exhale - Bring your hips up to the sky, your heels down to the ground, pushing through all corners of your feet and hands, letting go of your head. You can stay here for a few breath cycles if it feels good.

Uttanasana - Standing Forward Bend

Retain Breath - Step your feet forward between your hands, folding your body over your legs.

Ardha Uttanasana - Standing Half Forward Bend

Inhale. With a flat back, come up halfway.

Uttanasana - Standing Forward Bend

Exhale. Bend forward, folding over your legs once again.

Urdhva Hastasana- Upward Salute

Inhale. Reach your arms up to the sky, going into a little backbend here if it feels good.

Tadasana - Mountain Pose

Exhale. Lower your arms and stand in mountain pose, arms by your side, feet grounding into the earth.

Hi friends! If you didn't catch my last posts, I am creating a new tag #anwen-meditates to post my own health videos and tutorials. I am creating a Steemit health channel - all of my videos and tutorials are for the wonderful users of Steemit! I am planning on sharing many tutorials, including yoga, guided meditations, breathing exercises, and more. I am also uploading the videos to YouTube in the hope of attracting more users to Steemit.

I have been practicing yoga and meditation for 8 years now, and these practices have been critical in shaping who I am today. My constant practices have brought me inner peace and stability during crazy times, have healed physical and emotional injuries, and have taught me how to be PRESENT!

I am really excited to be able to share these practices with you all. I am first going to share tutorials and videos that you can do right now, wherever you are. These can be used as breaks from the information overload of Steemit / life in general, when you wake up, before you go to bed, or really any time at all. I hope you enjoy :-)