Savasana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Savasana or Shavasana (pronounced shah-VAH-sah-nah) n “corpse pose,” a component of yoga practice that promotes a state of homeostasis, thus allowing the person to release emotional and physical tension; performed at the end of all the asanas."
Savasana the part of class everyone LOVES! And why? You are actually allowed to lie down and rest. In other words, close your eyes and not do anything! When was the last time you did that during the day?
Almost all the asana (postures) have been completed. And as a result, your nervous system is finally quieting down. I have always felt this pose is the most important pose of the practice. This is the pose that is skipped when we run out of time. This is the pose we may only leave 3-4 minutes for. Corpse pose, Savasana needs to be given the time it deserves, at lease 15 minutes. The yogis state that 15-20 minutes of savasana can equal the rest of 4 hours of sleep. During savasana and sleep our body are given the time to heal, reenergize and rejuvenate.
At this point of the practice, the lists in your mind are shorter, slower, not so important. Your eyes close easier. The quality of your breathing is slower, shallower. All you want to do is lie down and maybe take a nap!!! But during a yoga class the teacher continues to instruct you through this part of class…this process. And yes, it is a process, just like the proceeding more active poses you just competed.
At first, we need to figure out what is the best way for the body to relax on the floor. Usually a folded blanket or bolster is placed under the knees. Maybe a folded blanket or pillow under the head and a blanket draped over the body. Feet and legs apart, arms at about a 45 degree angle from the body with palms rolling up to the sky. Some students like an eye pillow, to block the light from the eyes. There are many options to make the body as comfortable as possible. And there are many reasons why we spend time and energy arranging the body and the props for optimal comfort.
We know that when the body feels supported, spacious, warm and safe the nervous system can continue to quiet down. Physical sensations reduce or even cease to exist. All systems of the body are given a chance to “recalibrate”. Breathing becomes even shallower, slower and unnoticeable and we continue the process of quieting the mind. At first, the teacher leads us through scans of the body. Guiding our attention starting at the toes up to the head. We are sensing if there is any residual tension, and consciously asking that part of the body for a deeper relaxation response. As the student, you are guided to notice the muscles, bones and connective tissue (tendons, ligaments etc), but sometimes we are also asked to notice specific organs, skin, hair and a variety of other places and spaces. There might even be a direction to notice things on a cellular level if possible.
Some of my favorite directions are: “release your heart to the back of your body”, “ allow the bottom jaw to move away from the top jaw”, “relax your tongue in your mouth”, “release your eye into the back of your eye sockets towards your brain.” There are millions of awesome descriptive ways yoga teachers assist student in relaxing.
Once the body scan has commenced, we are directed to let go of the physical body and now bring the attention to the breath. How is the body currently breathing? What is the quality of the breath? Is it slower, shallower, smooth or silky? We notice how little we need to breath now. We can watch it move in to the body and back out. After a little attention and focus here, we can let the awareness of the breath go. I usually say something like “ allow the breath to float up into the sky and disappears”.
The one point focus has moved from large and tangible things like body parts, and now to something less concrete and subtle …the breath. But now we are asked to let that go too. You ask what is left now to focus on? We are moving back to the mind. Notice again the quality of the thoughts, as we try and keep our attention in the most present moment. As the thoughts move through the mind we sometimes get caught up in them. They take us away, we go back to those old habits of lists, things we need to do, obsessions, questions and negative thoughts. But once we have realized this is happening, we bring the mind back to the moment.
There are many techniques here that can be used. Learning a couple of them will help a student to figure out what might work the best. Sometimes moving back to the breath may work here. You may watch the space between the breaths, at the top or the bottom of the breath “the pauses” or maybe just the length of the breath. Other techniques include asking each thought that comes up to float away, or notice the spaces between the thoughts. We are taught that the mind is like a puppy. Constantly getting into trouble, running, climbing, hiding, and rarely stopping. But once we realize this is happening we are instructed to go back to a one-point-focus whatever that might be for us, at that moment.
The practice of watching the thoughts or the breath is the practice of meditation. During savasana things get a little murky and confused in this department. Many of us find this time the perfect opportunity to take a nap! Some even start snoring! I must confess I slept through over a year of savasana in my first yoga classes. Had no idea anyone was leading or directing me through any process. I was so tired that the minute I was horizontal, I was asleep. Only later on when I was trained to become a teacher did I find out what was actually going on in class at that time!
Other times we find ourselves somewhere in a twilight state…between full awake and asleep. This is fine too, but we loose the ability to be fully conscious at this point, unable to observe the moment.
An active state of consciousness in savasana places our awareness closer to being awake, but with an enormously relaxed body and breath. Most distractions have been removed and this frees us up to have a fuller experience of the present moment at that time. This is a moment of complete perfection. Nothing has to change, all is exactly where it is suppose to be.
When we finally lift ourselves out of this state, we are instructed to bring our awareness back up to the surface. Begin to notice the body is actually breathing again (if we have lost track). Now begin to notice how heavy the body has become. Sometimes there is an actual sense of being disconnected to the body. It is actually difficult to start to move. We then start with deepening the breath. Drawing breath down in to all cells of the body. Concentrating it in places that might need healing or energizing. Then start to draw the breath down to the fingers and toes. Wiggle them around, waking them up. The body begins to stretch as if it has just woken from a long deep sleep.
The effects of this practice can be as simple as a feeling of being rested. Others have felt a deep and complete letting go, and others have reported experiences of having a deeply spiritual experience or a “complete connection with the universe.” Whatever your experience is, that is the experience you are suppose to have. No experience is right or wrong. All is good. But we must engage in this practice to allow for the deep healing, the quieting and the reconnecting to our bodies, breath and mind. This is where we put into place all the lessons we learn on the yoga mat, patience, compassion for our self, surrender and focus.
