108 Sun Salutations for the Vernal Equinox
Thank you for joining us for this powerful tradition!
But why 108? Practicing 108 Sun Salutations is a long-standing tradition performed at significant times of change like the shift of seasons, the turn of a calendar year, a birthday, or anniversary. Representing new beginnings and coming full circle, the 108 is a ceremonial journey of clearing out mental cobwebs and emotional stagnation.
108 is a sacred number in the yogic practice and in Hinduism signifying the number of completeness.
There are 108 beads on a mala (a traditional string of beads,) much like the Catholic rosary, as a way to guide prayer or intentions.
We have 108 energy lines in the body connecting at the heart chakra.
The Sun is 108 times the diameter of the earth
We will be breaking up the practice into 12 sets of 9 salutations each. The numbers 12 and 9 are also prevalent throughout history as numerals of import, showing up in patterns mathematically in nature and littering our culture with references.
12 months of the year
12 lunar cycles
12 hours of daylight on the vernal equinox
12 animals in the Chinese new year cycle
12 is considered the number of perfection or full cycle
12 apostles
12 days of Christmas
12 jurors on a jury
Odin had 12 sons
12 petals on the heart chakra symbol
12 is referenced throughout literature, entertainment, sports, the arts, technology, and important breaks in measurements.
9 months in pregnancy
The Enneagram is a system of connecting 9 points of circle
There are 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit
And many more
Modifications: Performing the 108 is not a race nor is it a goal or something to achieve. It is a sacred, albeit taxing, physical, mental, and emotional practice designed to honor all the feelings of change, positive and negative. Push yourself to feel, however, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.
SKIP THE VINYASAS! You can skip the Chaturanga/Up Dog and go straight to Down Dog. Feel free to do this every time or whenever you need a break.
Do Chaturangas ON YOUR KNEES! Substitute Cobra for Up Dog.
SIT ONE OR MORE OUT. Take a break in Child’s Pose. Perhaps go through the Sun Salutation in your head or allow for mental space to settle on the intention while you physically sit one out.
Setting Intentions: At the beginning of each set of 9 Sun Salutations I will set an intention for that series. The intention can be a prayer, a wish, or an aspiration and is only meant to give you a focal point, something in which to direct your movement and channel your energy. Minds and bodies are connected and both work better and benefit when they are in action together. Do what feels right to you. I’m a guide, not your mother. You do you.
12 Intentions: Begin each set of 9 Sun Salutations in Tadasana (Mountain Pose) at the top of your mat. Listen to the intention and focus on the words during your set. Let the idea of them wash over you and keep you going as you find your energy or resolve waning.
TIP: Use a set of 9 objects (coins, stones, shells, beads) to keep count of your vinyasas sliding one from one corner of your mat to the other as you return to the top of your mat at the end of each salutation. Then, shift them to the other side for the next set.
Darkness is the embodiment of the unknown. It’s the breeder of fear. Fear can overwhelm us, make us run or stop us in our tracks. But fear also allows space for bravery. When we experience darkness and crippling uncertainty, it is then we have the opportunity to show up in bravery and face death. We often fear death but only in death, in ending, can space for new, fresh beginnings spring forth. Death, or more so, endings, are thought of as a place of fear but in reality is a place to face your fears, a place to show up, to test the strength of your spirit - to be brave enough to jump into dark waters without seeing below the surface but suspecting and trusting what is on the other side is good, worthy of the pain it will take to arrive there. Allow your ego to step aside, stand down and take the plunge.
Acceptance of the truth of things as they are, not as what you think they are or should be is represented by water. Flowing, back and forth and wherever you are carried, going with the flow instead of fighting. When the harmony of acceptance is obtained, you neither struggle against the current, or truth of things as they are, nor are consumed by them. You work in symbiance, benefiting from the sugre of combined, congruent energy. Focus on acceptance, surrender to the truth.
Peace is granted in your body when you find grace for others and yourself. Set your intention toward releasing judgement of others and yourself. When you can let go of the expectation of perfection or the assumption that the world will go the way you want, or think it should, or how you planned, you can achieve peace in the very fiber of your being, from the physical release of tensions and anxiety in your muscles and nervous system to the mental release of tension and anxiety of your emotional body.
Patience, this intention follows the intention set toward peace, but works in tandem. Sometimes you find peace, feel peace, know it and understand it but the feeling, the peaceful state, doesn’t last. Have patience. Your grace will wane. Give it time. Time is the great healer of heart, bodies, and spirits. It can take a lot. Trust that time is doing its job. Have patience. Believe in it.
Endurance. These are not easy things I’m asking of you. They sound like lovely things to have and as if as you get closer to them, you’ll lessen the hardships of living. However, it’s harder before it’s easier. The emotions are more real, the depth of pain can be deeper. Not only must you have patience and trust in the process, but the grit to keep going. Endurance isn’t something you just have or that you find. It’s something you earn by going at the hardships, the mountain, the block in your path, again and again. Do not give up. Your intention is to face your pain, the hard stuff, and to believe in your own power to pass through it.
Cleansing- another intention that sounds beautiful and poetic. It’s not. If you need to be cleansed it’s because you carry the stench of your negativity, your whining, your hard thoughts, your moments of meanness, you self abuse, all of the ugly things humans can be. But to set your intention to cleansing means there IS hope. You can wash it off. Revisit the water and the abrasives that carry through it. Face the hard truths about yourself at your worst and allow the water and what it carries to scrub it off you - expose the raw and vulnerable but shiny and clean person you are.
We’ve arrived halfway. We’ve practiced through death and endings, patience and perseverance and now we experience birth, new life, possibility. Again and again you experience new life - each time your mind wakes to another truth. Each time you know those truths in your soul, not just the surface of your mind. You take it in like food. You are born to a new version of yourself. Set your intention to the hope of all new possibilities, the freshness of new life, and the Springtime of your being.
Wisdom, and with it, understanding, is not simply knowing truths but also not wasting the truths you learn as you go. When you know truths and you live into them in the moment but then let them pass, returning to the “old, dead” version of ourselves, you are setting aside your wisdom. Let’s get better at that. Set your intention to the wisdom and understanding of life in yourself. You are worthy of it. It’s FOR you. Hold on to the truths you discover. Remove yourself from your life and reflect on the journey, keeping the things you learn with you as you reenter your life.
Release of Self is more than selflessness. It’s not only the idea of thinking of others but of identifying yourself as part of the whole. You are a part of the whole, an important piece of the balance of energetic exchange. You are integral yet no more integral than any other creature, living thing, or object with life force, prana, energy, not just breathing and blood but with any energy field, electromagnetism. Set your intention to entering the circle of life and the connection of all things.
When you allow circumstances outside of your control or sources of perceived security control your feelings, you are sacrificing your emotional stability. Nobody wants to feel unsteady but it takes practice. Practice steadfastness. Practice emotional maturity. Set your intention to look inward for advice and to let go of knee jerk reactions. Trust in your own self control and when the proverbial shit hits the fan, take a step back instead of jumping in. Honor the spirit inside you.
Wrap yourself in the warmth of the coming sunshine. Let joy wash over your heart. As each of these intentions falls into place, you are less tethered to the control that stems from fear and there is more emotional space free. Allow that space to fill up with joy. As you grow in your mindfulness and awareness, truly, you can see the imminent positivity of the world around you and your internal self can reflect it. Grow with the flowers and let the joy of the world be your joy as well.
Think of someone you love without fail. Think of that love born out of understanding and willingness to listen and hear, the love that allows for you to set aside your basest reactions and feelings (your inner toddler) and be open to sharing. Now extend it to the next person you think of, and the next, then to the next person you see. This is the love that turns you into a whole person. Sometimes this is the intention that feels furthest out of reach and, yet, still the one that feels most important, most essential. Set your intention to drop your guard, to uncross your arms, to press out your chest, to smile easily, and to envelope everyone you encounter with love.
When you have completed the last set of 9 Sun Salutations, take a few minutes to clear your mind in savasana. Let the feeling of the practice be present in you but give yourself a few minutes to be silent and still.
Thank you for sharing this with me, my darlings. Thank you for honoring tradition, for making it yours, for digging deep, being brave enough to look inside and having the fortitude to do something about what you find there. The light in me honors the light in you. Namaste.