Yoga Basics #3: All Things Sun Salutation B (video included!)

Welcome back to Yoga Basics!

First we covered the deep dark myths of taking a yoga class then we dove into Sun Salutation A and EVERYTHING you need to know about saluting the sun. This week is a continuation of that… because I realized including both Sun Salutation A and B was gonna make for one long ass blog post.

So, before getting down to business here, I recommend refreshing your Sun Salutation A movements so you can link these two bad boys together 🙂

So, why are we still saluting the sun?

I like to think of Sun Salutation B as a continuation of A. Most of the moves are the same with a few difference I point out below.

Sun Salutation B also gives you a bit more wiggle room to adjust the movements according to what’s to come in class. For example, if I’m teaching a class more focused on twisting, I try to incorporate that into my Sun Salutation B. I do however always keep my Sun Salutation A the same.

Linking both sequences together makes for a solid ~10 minute practice which is great for getting energized in the morning or winding down at night, depending on how fast you go through the movements and how long you hold each pose.

 

BREAKING IT DOWN: SUN SALUTATION – B

Side note: This is the version of Sun Salutation B I teach in classes, typically. As I’ve previously mentioned, the Sun Salutation B you are familiar with might look slightly different depending on what yoga tradition it comes from. 

 

SUN SALUTATION B: THE MOVEMENTS

 

Utkatasana // Chair Pose

One of my favorite yoga teachers refers to chair pose as “awkward and fierce” which also perfectly describes me 🙂 I wish I was kidding…

I didn’t realize it until I looked it up right now, but chair pose is called awkward pose in a few yoga traditions and in sanskrit it literally means fierce. Hence awkward and fierce. Who knew?

Form Cues:

• Bring your feet, knees and thighs together
• Squeeze through your legs as you bend your knees and lower your butt
• Engage through your glutes, like you’re doing a squat!
• Engage your core — your back shouldn’t excessively round and your butt shouldn’t be sticking out.

 

Warrior One // Virabhadrasana One

Form Cues:

• Ground your back foot down on the mat at a 45 degree angle
• Really plant down through your pinky toe on that back foot
• Wrap your back hip forward so both hips are squared to the front.
• Drop your tailbone while drawing your ribs together to avoid excessive back bending.

 

VARIATION // High Lunge

I personally prefer to teach a high lunge variation for Sun Salutation B instead of Warrior One. Coming from a personal training standpoint, I personally don’t like how the back knee in Warrior One gets tweaked. There’s nothing wrong with it, I just don’t love the pose from an anatomical standpoint.

Instead I teach the below high lunge variation.

Form Cues:

• Make sure your front knee is at a 90 degree angle and stacked right over your ankle.
• Square both your hips so they’re facing forward
• Stay strong in your back leg and do your best to straighten it while powering through your raised back heel.

For the rest of the form cues for poses in Sun Salutation B, refer back to this post.

SUN SALUTATION B: VIDEO

Typically I like to lead my classes through 3 rounds of Sun Salutation A followed by 3 rounds of Sun Salutation B. After reviewing the moves above for basic form and alignment cues, follow along with my flow below!

Heads up, I cue the Warrior I variation the first two times and High Lunge the third time.

After doing 3 rounds of both Sun Salutations, you’re probably sweating a bit 🙂 Don’t forget to come back next Tuesday for another installment of Yoga Basics. Woot woot!

 

OUTFIT
Coastal Vibes Ditch Dull Leggings c/o Nualime
Cool Racerback Tank – Lululemon
Photographed at Breather – get 1 free hour by using code KAYLACITY