Vol. 7, Issue 7, Part D (2021)

Abstract
Surya Namaskar is well known and vital technique with the yogic repertoire. It is versatility and its application makes it one of the most useful methods to induce a healthy, vigorous, active life and at the same time prepare for spiritual awakening and the results of awareness. Yoga Asanas was first mentioned in the Atharva Veda Samhita (1500 BCE), which uses the term asana in a specifically Yogic context. The word yoga means ‘unity’ or ‘oneness’ and is derived from the Sanskrit word yuj, which means ‘to join’. This unity or joining is described in spiritual terms as the union of the individual consciousness with the universal consciousness. The Sanskrit word ‘asana’ derives from the verbal root meaning to sit or to be present. In context to the Yoga tradition asanas means to be established in a particular posture` and the textual context indicates the latter meaning. There are various references in the Vedas, Brahmanas and Upanishads which indicate that the practices must have already been in existence prior to their being noted in these texts. Several Yogis scrutinized their relative merits by analytical comparisons and thus formulated a complete course of posture training. A few early postures, mostly meditative, in turn passed through a series of a modification before the whole system of physical education was finally perfected by the early Hatha Yogis.