Surya Namaskār Surya Namaskār Surya Namaskar (Sanskrit: सूर्यनमस्कार ; IAST: "Sūrya Namaskāra"), Salute to the Sun or Sun Salutation, is a Yoga practice incorporating a sequence of gracefully linked asanas. The nomenclature refers to the symbolism of Sun as the soul and the source of all life. Mark Singleton argues that the sun salutation is relatively a modern practice that developed in the 20th century. Some scholars attempt to attribute modern Surya namaskar practice to a student of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, the yoga teacher K. Pattabhi Jois. It includes modern day Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and the Visesha Vinyasa Sun Salutation subroutine from Vinyasa
Ashtanga vinyasa yoga the practice have been made since its conception. Nancy Gilgoff, an early student, describes many differences in the way she was taught ashtanga to the way it is taught now. According to her experiences, some of the differences include: Pattabhi Jois originally left out seven postures in the standing sequence, but later assigned Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana and Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana before the Intermediate Series was given; Utkatasana, Virabhadrasana A and B, Parivritta Trikonasana, and Parivritta Parsvakonasana were not in the series at this point; and Jois did not give her vinyasa between sides of the body poses or between variations