In previous posts we’ve looked at how to do the Sun Salutation with kids. In the next few post I want to talk about the meaning behind the Sun Salutation. Introducing these topics to kids can lead to an interesting discussion and you can find out what they think about it. Plus, looking at all levels of yoga, body, mind, and spirit, injects meaning into a ritual.
The Sanskrit
name for the Sun Salutation is actually Surya Namaskar.
Surya means Sun, it represents our Consciousness. Namaskar is a two part word. The first part, Namas, means “bow” or “salute.” The second part, kar, refers to the “do-er” of everything. This Sanskrit root kar, can also be found in the word karma which means the stuff we do, our action. The English word creator, also has the root kar at the beginning.The whole word Namaskar has various translations, the most common is Salutation, another is “making obeisance.”