surya namaskar

108 Sun Salutations for Edinburgh Community Yoga

This morning I connected with others from Edinburgh Community Yoga (ECY) to practice 108 sun salutations in person at Beetroot Sauvage. Many others joined us online, guided by the Meadowlark team. Thank you to all who sponsored me and supported this fundraising event. The aim was for me to raise £108 and you helped me to reach £248; collectively ECY raised £8541.

My ego was challenged as I took Balasana (child’s pose) a few times instead of Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward dog), admitting my body needed a moment of rest. Being present and observing my mind and my physical body was a reminder of yoga philosophy - svadhyaya (self study). At times movement rather than stillness was needed in downward dog, alongside finding an inner stillness that was guided by my breath. Eventually finding a sense of peace in savasana, active rest, as the support of the earth through my yoga mat gave me permission to rest and restore, after a strong practice.

I’m thankful to be part of the teaching team at ECY who’s invaluable work support so many individuals and groups. Their mission aligns with my belief that yoga is an inclusive practice that should be accessible to all. A practice that is kind, full of compassion, can support healing and is free from bias, prejudice or discrimination. 

Committing to practise 108 Sun Salutations for me, was a reminder to find inner strength whilst supporting others who may need guidance on their path. We are all connected and in that comes with it, a sense of community and the path of karma yoga.

Why 108?

108 is an auspicious number, it is a number which can be divided by the sum of it’s digits, a Harshad in Sanskrit, which means joy-giving.

There are 108 beads on a mala necklace, which in a yoga practice, is used to guide a meditation practice through chanting or repeating silently 108 times.

In Ayurveda, the medical side of yoga, there are 108 marma (accupressure) points that lay on the surface of the body.

There are 108 nadis, energy channels, that come together at the Anahata (heart) chakra.

In Sanskrit, there are 54 letters, each can be seen as feminine or masculine, so 108 in total.

There are 108 Upanishads one of the sacred yoga philosophy texts.

108 is a number that is highlighted in Buddhism and Hinduism. There are 108 texts in Tibetan Buddhism, and 108 names for each deity in Hinduism.

Stonehenge is 108 feet in diameter.

The diameter of the sun is 108 times the diameter of the earth; the average distance between the earth and the sun is 108 times the sun’s diameter'; the average distance from the earth to the moon is 108 times the moons diameter

Personally it brings to mind my maths teacher, Mrs Kay, dancing around the classroom when we discovered the Fibonacci sequence. Fibonacci was the nickname of the Italian mathematician Leonardo de Pisa. She explained how this could be seen in nature through the golden ratio - the spiral sequence of leaves and petals on some plants. Nature’s formula: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610. This sequence adheres to the #goldenratio When you divide any number in the sequence by the number before it, the result is close to phi (1.618) every time. Decimal parity breaks down numbers into single digits; the number 377 is broken down to 3+7+7= 17 1+7=8. When the first 24 numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are broken down to decimal parity the same 24 numbers are repeated in a sequence. When you add the 24 numbers together you get 108.

Mrs Kay would have had no idea my maths classes with her would resonate with me 30 years later in my yoga practice!