Holistic Nature of Surya Namaskar for the Millennials, Reviewing and Investigating its Scientific Rationale

Abstract

Introduction Surya Namaskar is an age old traditional and sequential set of sun prayer postures designed for holistic and good human health and societal well-being [1]. The benefits are diverse over a number of physical health systems and include psychological security as well through aerobic conditioning under the sun [2]; it is a classical requirement for future generations [3]. Need of the study-in the present and futuristic time the outdoor activity levels have reduced drastically. Individuals who exercise also prefer the indoor environment in a gym. This may produce a sun deficient population. In this scenario the holistic nature of Surya Namaskar may be very beneficial and may give a dose dependent daily boost for health. Aim was to review publications on Surya Namaskar and to investigate the findings for its holistic nature as applicable to millennials. The review question was "what is the rationale of Surya Namaskar based yoga practice for holistic promotive health for futuristic generations"? Methods Databases Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), PubMed and Google Scholar were used as search engines. Key words were Surya Namaskar and Yoga. 16 Full texts and 18 abstracts were extracted for review purposes based on their suitability for the research(review) question. Results & Analysis-DOAJ provided 2 full texts review articles, PubMed provided 10 articles (1 full text and 9 abstracts were seen at PubMed with key terms "Surya Namaskar", "Yoga". Many articles described low energy requirements for Surya Namasakr. Google Scholar provided 2010 results of different nature and suitable a total of 36 articles based on research question were selected for review from the literature search. Discussion Surya Namaskar shall be performed facing the Sun and it is sequence of 12 poses repeated one after the other in succession and interposed with pauses for slow breathing with focus on Sun God. It may also include chanting of mantras which give additional benefits. Based on review of the selected articles following areas of health were seen as a prominent focus for health for futuristic humans. Surya Namaskar as a daily dose of vitamin D-vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is directly produced by skin. Daily sun exposure during various asanas can increase the levels of vitamin D synthesis [4-6] and can work as a daily supplement, the asans may be performed at a suitable environment preferably during warm ambient sunlight in the morning [4-7]. Flexibility training-Surya Namaskar has been shown to increase dynamic flexibility of the chest wall [8,9]. It involves backwards and forward bending in the second and Abstract Background and Introduction: Surya Namaskar is a popular yogic practice. It is mainly an outdoor activity done in front of the rising sun. It has many beneficial promotive health effects. In the present-day outdoor activity and sun exposure is limited; Surya Namaskar may mitigate the ill effects of modern lifestyle.