Yoga for weight loss: 5 mistakes you're making while doing Surya namaskar

Surya namaskar or sun salutation is a sequence of 12 powerful yoga asanas. It has a great, energizing impact on the body and the mind while also making for an amazing form of cardiovascular workout.

Surya Namaskar consists of 12 postures - Pranamasana, Hastauttanasana, Hastapadasna, Ashwa Sanchalanasana, Dandasana, Ashtanga Namaskar, Bhujangasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Ashwa Sanchalasana, Hastapadasana, Hastauttanasana, and Tadasana.

Breathing technique: Focusing on the breathing is an important feature of yoga. During surya namaskar, your body movements and your breathing should be in sync

When we bend forward to touch our palms down instead of moving our shoulders away from the ears, we tend to bring it down towards our ears so if you want to extend your knees make hips the tallest part of your body.

Instead of squeezing the hips and pushing the thigh down, we tend to lower our thigh or allow our hips to fly out.

Hasta uttanasana appears twice in a single round of surya namaskar. The purpose of this asana is to warm up and strengthen the spine.

One of the asana in Surya Namaskar (chaturanga dandasana) requires your body to be straight and parallel to the ground with the support of palms or toes.

The cobra pose and the upward-facing dog pose (urdhva mukha svanasana) are pretty similar. You could be confusing them and be doing something that is totally different.

Surya namaskar in particular and the practice of yoga in general requires your undivided attention for you need to perform it correctly.

It requires your body and your mind to be aligned towards focusing on each and every breath and position.