Honor the Summer Solstice with 108 Sun Salutations
For centuries, yogis have been performing 108 sun salutations, Surya Namaskars, during the summer solstice to honor the sun and its energy on the longest day of the year. Today, June 20, 2025, is this year’s summer solstice and it’s the first year I decided to practice the 108 sun salutations. Here’s why.
Performing 108 sun salutations in a row is a crazy concept and certainly a daunting physical challenge. I’ll admit that even as a yoga instructor who teaches 16+ classes per week and is in good physical shape, I was intimidated by the physical aspect of the 108 sun salutation practice. But the more I read and studied about the special tradition behind the practice, the more I felt called to the summer solstice ritual.
So before actually practicing, I wanted to learn all about why 108 was the chosen number for this summer solstice practice and why it was practiced in the first place. From what I found, the number 108 has many special meanings across religions, cultures, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and architecture. Essentially, the number continuously pops up across the world and I think it’s safe to say that the speciality of this number connects us all because such a wide variety of people honor this number. In yoga practice, specifically, the 1 represents focusing on one thing—your breath, the 0 symbolizes having zero expectations by letting go of your thoughts and preconceptions, and 8 represents the symbol of infinity to remind us that the flow of life and energy is infinitely connected.
A sun salutation, Surya Namaskar, alone is a sequence of yoga poses which flow together with one breathe per movement and is regularly incorporated into Vinyasa or Power Yoga practices. The poses and sequence of the flow (at least how I practice it) look like this:
Flowing through each of the above 10 movements/poses is one full sun salutation. Now imagine doing that 108 times in a row! By now, you might be thinking that I (and all other yogis practicing 108 sun salutations) are crazy and/or incredible, but really the key to this kind of practice is focusing on your breath, going at your pace, and taking breaks when needed.
I am proud to say that I did complete all 108 sun salutations today (which took about an hour) but even if I hadn’t, I know that it is the intention and focus behind the practice that matters. For me, the 108 sun salutation practice was about giving myself time to reflect on my mat about how the past 6 months have gone (since the winter solstice) and how I would like the next 6 months to go. When I first started flowing, my mind was all over the place and I was moving at a fast pace with shallow breath. But as I continued to flow, my breath started to lengthen and slow down, my pace and my mind also started to slow down. There were points were I felt emotional but many times where I found myself feeling truly happy and smiling. Towards the end, I felt myself connect inward on a deeper level. It truly felt as though I was letting go of the pain, stress, and weight of the past and becoming lighter to move forward to this summer season of high energy and abundance.
When I finished all 108 sun salutations, I sat on my knees with my eyes closed and my body naturally swayed in a circle—making me feel as though I was connected to the earth’s rhythm. I felt energetically charged and restored and felt so connected. Now I can’t say how a practice like this might make you feel but for me, it was exactly what I needed.
Here’s to the energy of the summer solstice. May you enjoy the longest day of the year and the energy that comes with it, wherever it may take you.
