Do a sun salutation (surya namaskar). Splendid! Now another. One more … keep going.

Keep practicing for the next two months, and soon you’ll be in sync with the thousands of other folks who’ll be gathering in cities around the world for a Global Yoga Mala on September 21 (which is also the UN International Day of Peace). A mala is the sanskrit word for a strand of prayer beads, used across many religions, that bears 108 beads. The yoga mala, then, is a series of 108 sun salutations. The whole thing may sound like a big love-in, but its aim is pretty down-to-earth: to raise awareness and unite yoga practitioners around the world.

Okay, maybe it’s a love-in.

Me? My ass has never made it through 108 sun salutations. Time to practice ….