Stand tall in Sakura Salutation
Sun variation good for the wrists, shoulders and back
It’s the end of sakura season and the cherry blossoms fall as tender leaves make their first appearance. I’m in High Park to share a sweet Sun Salutation variation called Sakura Salutations.
This all-levels move mobilizes wrists and shoulders and brings length to the back body while cultivating grace in action. 1. Stand tall and willowy, balanced between effort and ease. 2. Spread your arms wide and inhale as you gather the hands together and up as if scooping an armload of cherry blossoms with the intention of showering them over your head. 3. Join the backs of your pinkies, ring fingers, middle fingers and index fingers until you find yourself in the M part of YMCA. 4. Keeping the backs of your hands together, turn the fingers forward, then skyward, and exhale as you swan dive over your legs into a forward bend. 5. Inhale and unfurl the spine, lifting half way up. 6. Then exhale to fold in again. 7. Imagine you are gathering blossoms from the ground as you inhale all the way up to stand, twirling your wrists. 8. Exhale your arms down and return to your starting position. Fleeting beauty: According to the High Park Nature Centre, sakura trees are the first to bloom, with flowers that are nearly pure white with a hint of pink near the stem. The blossoms last for about a week, before the leaves flush out. The blossoms are seen as a metaphor for life itself, luminous and beautiful, yet fleeting and ephemeral. YuMee Chung is a recovering lawyer who teaches yoga in Toronto. She is on the faculty of a number of yoga teacher training programs and leads international yoga retreats.