Surya Namaskar, also known as sun salutations, is such a simple yet daunting topic for a lot of yoga teachers and we as modern practitioners only know it from the lens of it being very physical. I want to be able to have a little more clarity generally about the practice of Surya Namaskar because I feel like it’s become oversimplified in modern-day yoga.
On the show today, I have Pradeep Sattwamaya who was one of my first yoga teachers, someone whom I started practicing asana and did a little bit of my teacher training with, and who’s had a huge impact from a distance on a lot of the yoga that I am practicing today. Pradeep is here to help us trace the origins of Surya Namaskar and its uses in our modern-day yoga.
Pradeep has been doing yoga since he was seven years old. He started learning yoga from his father with just a few simple poses. He’s been teaching and mentoring many yoga students and yoga teachers. A lot of teachers I know are influenced by him.
What I enjoy about Pradeep is not only is he a very simple and humble person, but he also embodies a lot of yoga and makes it very relatable so he can take all these complex aspects of yoga, simplify them, and make them very relatable.
I feel like this is something that we as yoga teachers need to literally sink our teeth into a little bit more so I hope you find this conversation enriching and very helpful!
Pradeep is the Global Head of Yoga at Shvasa. He is currently pursuing his studies in Yoga texts, Ayurveda and modern Neuroscience. Pradeep successfully built a chain of yoga studios in Bangalore which was later acquired by a major Health/Fitness brand. He currently resides in Mysore, a heritage city with a close connection to Yoga traditions.
