As the Summer Solstice approaches, we find ourselves at a significant midpoint in the year. The days are long, the sun reaches its highest point in the sky, and nature is fully expressing itself in abundance. The energy of the season is expansive, vibrant, and alive.

The Summer Solstice invites us to pause and reflect.

It offers an opportunity to check in with ourselves, acknowledge how far we have come, and consider where we are headed next. Yet, while the solstice represents a peak of light, it also reminds us that all things move in cycles. From this moment forward, the days will gradually shorten. Nature teaches us that growth and release, expansion and contraction, are inseparable parts of the same journey.

Interestingly, this same wisdom is reflected in one of yoga’s most familiar practices: Surya Namaskar, the Sun Salutation.

The History of Surya Namaskar

Surya Namaskar, commonly known as Sun Salutations, is a dynamic sequence of postures linked together through breath and movement. While many practitioners recognize it as a warm-up sequence at the beginning of class, its roots run much deeper.

The earliest reference to Sun Salutations in yoga may be found in the Rig Veda, the oldest of the ancient Hindu scriptures. One of its hymns refers to the sun god Savitri—the sun before sunrise. After sunrise, the sun is known as Surya.

The literal translation of Surya Namaskar is:

Surya = Sun
Namaskar = Salutation or Bowing in Respect

Historically, practices honoring the rising sun may have evolved into what we now recognize as Surya Namaskar. The sun was revered as the source of life, vitality, illumination, and energy for all beings.

The modern Sun Salutations practiced today were popularized in the early twentieth century by T. Krishnamacharya, often referred to as the “Father of Modern Yoga,” and later expanded upon by his students, including Pattabhi Jois and B.K.S. Iyengar.

Today there are many variations of Sun Salutations, including:

• Classical Surya Namaskar
• Surya Namaskar A
• Surya Namaskar B
• Surya Namaskar C

There is no single “right” way to practice them.

Traditionally, Sun Salutations are:

• Practiced with one breath per movement
• Used at the beginning of practice to warm the body
• Practiced 108 times during the Summer Solstice
• Paired with Ujjayi breath
• Adapted and modified according to individual needs

Yet beyond the physical sequence lies a deeper story.

More Than a Warm-Up

In yoga, Surya Namaskar is often described as an offering to Surya, the sun god who symbolizes illumination, vitality, and life-giving energy.

But perhaps the most important thing the sun does is reveal what is already there.

The light does not create the landscape. It simply allows us to see it.

Yoga asks us to do something similar.

Rather than becoming someone new, yoga invites us to uncover what has always been present beneath the layers of distraction, conditioning, fear, and expectation. The practice is not about adding something to ourselves. It is about remembering.

Surya Namaskar becomes a roadmap for that journey.

The Hero’s Journey on the Mat

Joseph Campbell’s theory of the Hero’s Journey describes a pattern found in stories across cultures and throughout history.

The hero begins in their ordinary world.

Something calls them beyond what is familiar.

They encounter challenges and obstacles.

They experience losses, revelations, and transformation.

Eventually, they return home carrying new wisdom.

The purpose is not self-improvement.

The purpose is a return to one’s true self.

Every round of Surya Namaskar tells a similar story.

Tadasana: The Beginning

We begin standing in Tadasana, Mountain Pose.

This is the moment before awakening begins.

Like seeds beneath the soil, transformation often starts quietly and invisibly long before we see evidence of change.

Urdhva Hastasana: The Calling

As the arms rise overhead, we reach upward.

This gesture represents longing.

A desire to move beyond what is familiar.

The call toward growth, expansion, and possibility.

Uttanasana: The Descent Within

In the forward fold, we turn inward.

Growth often begins with release.

With surrender.

With a willingness to look honestly at ourselves.

Before transformation can occur, we must first be willing to descend beneath the surface.

The Middle Journey: Challenges and Obstacles

As we move through the sequence, we encounter effort.

Strength.

Resistance.

Uncertainty.

The postures themselves are not the point.

Awareness is.

What arises during practice—patience, frustration, determination, self-judgment, presence—becomes information.

The mat becomes a mirror.

Chaturanga: Surrender

Eventually we lower ourselves toward the earth.

Chaturanga invites us to let go.

To release control.

To trust the process.

Often it is within surrender that insight begins to emerge.

Bhujangasana: Awakening

As we rise into Cobra Pose, the heart opens.

The chest expands.

Awareness broadens.

This moment symbolizes awakening.

Not because we have become someone different, but because we have remembered something essential.

Awakening rarely occurs at the beginning of the journey.

It emerges after effort.

After humility.

After uncertainty.

After surrender.

Returning Home

And then, eventually, we return.

Back to Tadasana (Mountain Pose).

Back to where we started.

Yet not exactly the same.

We return carrying greater awareness, wisdom, and presence.

This is the true gift of the journey.

The Wisdom of the Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice teaches a similar lesson.

The goal is not to remain at the peak.

The goal is not to cling to the light.

The solstice marks a turning point.

Nature reminds us that growth and release, expansion and contraction, are all part of a larger cycle.

Just as the sun rises and sets.

Just as the breath expands and contracts.

Just as every round of Surya Namaskar begins and ends in the same place.

The practice invites us to trust the unfolding.

To honor the ascent.

To honor the descent.

To honor the awakening.

And to honor the return.

Because in the end, these are not separate stages.

They are all part of one continuous cycle.

A Solstice Reflection

As you move through your Sun Salutations this season, consider the journey they represent.

Where are you being called to grow?

What are you being asked to release?

What insight is waiting to emerge?

And what part of yourself are you being invited to remember?

The Summer Solstice reminds us that the light reaches its highest point only to begin its return.

Surya Namaskar reminds us that the same cycle exists within us.

With every breath.

With every practice.

With every season of life.

The light has never been somewhere else.

It has been within us all along.