Monday motivation: Shilpa Shetty encourages 10 rounds of Surya Namaskara | Watch

‘Let’s start the week with SuryaNamaskara’: Shilpa Shetty Kundra spills the fitness tips on how to ‘make you calmer and promote overall flexibility’ with 10 rounds of Yoga's Sun Salutation | Check out the viral video and health benefits of the exercise inside

If there is only one exercise that you have time to perform as you kickstart a new work week, let it be Surya Namaskar and take fitness inspiration from Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra who she encourages 10 rounds of it as Monday motivation in her latest workout video. Spilling the fitness tips on how to “make you calmer and promote overall flexibility”, Shilpa was seen performing Yoga's Sun Salutation and we are inspired.

Taking to the social media handle of her Yoga app named ‘Simple Soulful App by Shilpa Shetty’, the actor shared a video that gave a glimpse of her robust workout routine. Donning a pink, grey and black camouflaged crop top, teamed with pair of matching tights, Shilpa pulled back her silky tresses into a high braid hairstyle to keep her tresses off her face during the intense exercise session.

Standing on a Yoga mat in Anjali mudra, Shilpa raised her hands above her head, bent backwards and performed the sun salutation. The caption read, “#TransformingMondays Let’s start the week with SuryaNamaskara (sic)."

Revealing some health benefits of the exercise, the caption stated, "This asana helps tone the spine, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, wrists, back and leg muscles; overall promoting flexibility. It also regulates the interconnectedness of body, breath and mind, making you calmer. Let’s perform 10 rounds (sic).”

Benefits:

One round of Surya Namaskar, by practicing the 12 asanas, burns 13.90 calories approximately. This Yoga asana is known to strengthen one’s back as well as the muscles.

It revitalises your body and freshens up one’s mind if performed at sunrise. Performing it in the afternoon instantly energises the body while performing it at dusk helps one to unwind.

Performing Surya Namaskar also helps in getting a glowing skin as it improves blood circulation. Other benefits for the exercise include bringing down the body’s blood sugar levels, improving the metabolism and ensuring regular menstrual cycle for women.

Ancient yogis believe that this asana also activates the second brain which is called the Manipura Chakra or the Solar plexus and is located in the navel area. As a result, an individual’s creative and intuitive abilities are believed to increase.

Dedicated to the vedic-hindu solar deity Surya, the Yoga asana involves a sequence of 12 powerful yoga poses that together complete a Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation. These 12 steps are performed in the order that involve Pranamasana (prayer pose), Hasta Uttanasana (raised arms pose), Hasta Padasana (standing forward bend pose), Ashwa Sanchalanasana (lunge pose), Chaturanga Dandasana (plank pose), Ashtanga Namaskara (eight limbed pose), Bhujangasana (cobra pose), Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog pose), Ashwa Sanchalanasana (high lunge pose), Hasta Padasana (standing forward bend), Hasta Uttanasana (raised arms pose) and again Pranamasana (prayer pose).