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Lower back, upper back, neck, shoulders, wrists, hips, knees and ankles

Surya A: Midline Focus

A sun salutation focused on steadiness and precision of movement.

Transitional120 to 240 seconds
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How to do it

  1. 1

    Stand with your feet together and parallel

    A narrow base with the feet pointing straight ahead. This is the detail that makes the version, and it is harder to hold than it sounds.

  2. 2

    Draw yourself tall before you move at all

    Ribs over pelvis, a gentle sense of the middle of your body working. That light engagement stays on through every round.

  3. 3

    Reach up and fold without letting the feet drift

    The feet stay exactly where you put them as the body moves over them. A partial range, a bend in the knees, or hands on the thighs all keep the quality high.

  4. 4

    Step back and forward along the same line

    Each foot returns to the spot it left, so the narrow base is rebuilt every single round. Arms out to the sides rather than overhead is a good option here.

  5. 5

    Work for two to four minutes with control

    Fists, fingertips or hands on blocks for the floor positions. Stop the moment precision starts to slip rather than adding rounds.

What to watch for

The feet widening. The narrow, parallel base is the entire exercise, so the moment your feet drift apart to make balancing easier this has become an ordinary sun salutation. Shorten the range instead of widening the stance.

Ways to adjust it

  • Partial range
  • Arms to the sides
  • Small range
  • Stop if symptoms spread
  • Gaze neutral
  • Short holds
  • Fists or fingertips
  • Hands on blocks
  • Partial knee bend
  • Hands on the thighs

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Sun Salutation versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

One movement is a start. A session is the thing.

A few questions about your body and how it is today, and Vinys builds a session around it, including which movements to leave out.

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From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.