This is the Hardest Part of Yoga
SAVASANA!
What is Savasana:
Savasana (SA-VAH-SUN-aa) or corpse pose, is a restorative posture that provides an opportunity for deep relaxation, healing, and rest for the mind, body, and spirit. Savasana is a restorative yoga posture that is practiced usually at the end of a yoga practice. Yet, it can also be practiced on its own or in the beginning of class in order to settle into the the present moment. The body lies face up with the legs comfortably spread and the arms relaxed alongside the body. Palms can be facing up for receiving or down for grounding, whichever is most comfortable, keeping in mind everyday is different. This pose has many benefits as well as deeply important reasons to add this into your yogic practice.
Have you ever tiptoed out of class or started rolling up your mat, as the yoga instructor guides class into Savasana? Does stillness intimidate you? Have you felt the time pressure mount and the urge to rush off? Do you think it will energetically affect your post-workout bliss? Most of us have been there, but do we really know what we’re missing when we jump off the mat and skip this asana? (Asana means yoga posture or pose.) This is an important time in yoga as it allows time for us to recover from the sequence of postures that challenged the body, mind, and/or spirit. This pose and the time in this pose allows the body to both relax and prepare for meditation and the closing of the practice which typically follows corpse pose or savasana.
Why Savasana can feel Challenging:
If you decided NOT to roll up your mat and give savasana a try have you found yourself to suddenly feel itchy, become more aware of soreness in the body, have feelings surfaced, was there a sensation of discomfort, a busy mind, did you get bored? Did you find yourself wanting to move, fidget, drink water, scratch your nose, or crack your knuckles, or simply jump up to roll up your mat?
First things first - this is completely normal! Yoga is a practice, and it is called this for a reason. So before we move on, I invite you to take a slow deep breath in and sigh it out! You are incredible just where you are in your practice right now in this very season of life. Our self-acceptance of where we are in the present moment is a gift we can give ourselves over and over again. It’s common for us to resist the true settling nature of Savasana. With compassion as well as non judgment and the constant invitation to return to our breath, stillness, and the natural relaxed state of the body we can truly begin to feel at ease. This practice of savasana is extremely restorative and helps initiate the recovery process following any type of yoga practice!
Benefits of Savasana:
Savasana is referred to as the great balancer, especially in terms of our nervous system. When we are practicing yoga much of the asana practice is designed to up-regulate the body, stimulate, and even provide healthy stress. This is when corpse pose is introduced as the yin to the yang. Savasana is the down-regulator. It shifts the body away from the sympathetic nervous system to the parasympathetic side, and we experience a calming, peaceful, healing energy and vibration.
Calms central nervous system, aiding the digestive and immune systems.
Calms the mind and reduces stress.
Reduces headache, fatigue, and anxiety.
Helps lower blood pressure.
Provides deep, meditative rest, allowing for the repair of cells and tissues.
Relieves fatigue, stress, and even depression.
Reduces anxiety.
Alleviates insomnia.
Balances the vata dosha (associated with the air element and dryness in Ayurveda).
Leaves you feeling rejuvenated and one with self.
Increases long-lasting energy levels and productivity.
Helps you gently and positively end your yoga session.
Promotes spiritual awakening and awareness of higher consciousness.
A love letter from Savasana:
To all those who meet me in the stillness of peace,
Wiggle out the noise in the mind and body, inviting new energy to sooth and guide you home. Take a moment to feel the connection to the earth below. Your awareness of life force energy is all you need to feel the blissful nature of stillness and find sweet peaceful release. I invite your breath, like a wave, to carry you inward as you inhale and exhale. As each wave of the breath supports your choice to flow in the energy you create. I will lie with my unwavering choice to love, nourish, and heal. A choice of support we both deserve and need. I sweated it out, twisted, stretched, and moved. I did so many chaturangas you wouldn’t believe. Now I ask with compassion, to just be as I crave the stillness to be renewed. If the mind wanders, without judgment bring it back to the expansion of the wave as you inhale and exhale guiding you back home to shore. This is where we can restore. Meet me on the mat whenever you want. I’ll be waiting in the stillness of peace with open arms at breath’s gate.
Namastay and Chill…
Lo💚e,
Savasana
