Savasana, also known as Corpse Pose, is probably the least challenging of all yoga poses. It’s also the most important and perhaps the most relaxing; you might even fall asleep while keeping lofty dreams from flooding your mind as 5 minutes of wakeful rest turns 10, 10 becomes 15.
It’s nonetheless so easy to be distracted when you finally get your body to relax. You feel an urgent need to pray to the God of ‘household noises’. How does the neighbor’s dog start barking? Why do you sense an urgent need to fart? Was this meant to be the ‘corpse pose’ while you’re actively “sword-fighting” your thoughts?
Part of this practice – lying down, unguarded on the floor in complete silence – involves finding peace in chaos, not when it’s quiet. Yet, amateur yogi struggle to release everything they’re holding onto – mentally, physically, and emotionally.
Busy as a one-armed paper hanger?
Besides, it’s hard to stay untroubled in this high-octane world but quite productive if you let your body soften and melt into the mat. It’s hard to stay relaxed because the ideas of our daily outputs encompass the concept of being busy.
In the words of Dutch writer Etty Hillesum “sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.”
We’ve all been busy as a one-armed paper hanger with an itch. You’re either having a hectic time juggling work or busy home-schooling. Some of us are busy training or staying safe (please do) and, of course, the general pandemic stress.
It’s consequently necessary to slow down. Find clarity between the stillness of your breath and reinvigorate the subtle energies of the body.
Why Savasana is so important
The meditation pose helps improve relaxation and significantly lowers stress and anxiety level.
A much-needed reset for your whole body
Talk of a valuable time to let the body relax. The traditional asana sequences (especially the forward bend yoga poses or postures) warm and place a considerable volume of weight on the body in ways that start to break down natural physiological patterns. It’s therefore important not to skip savasana at the end of each fitness and yoga session. This practice improves relaxation with deep meditation.
A time to sink into stillness
Some of your most surpassing moments of clarity come in the moments of complete silence and stillness. Savasana allows for breath awareness the way other yoga poses don’t.
The general yoga classes lack this kind of focus on breath, despite the slow breathing and postures. So many thoughts and poses taking place during those sessions require mental exercise. Savasana is the time for genuine stillness when the weight of the mind and body drops. The sympathetic nervous system (the one that speeds up the heart as in flight, fight and freeze responses) calms down.
Enhances productivity
Savasana leads to a shift in attitude towards productivity. You will have deeply loosened up after the practice and then realize that simply “Being” is more productive than “Doing.” Practicing the Corpse pose allows you to relax and let go, this helps in alleviating stress, and rejuvenating the body and mind. Once you have been able to bring yourself into wholeness. You will discover that your energy level has increased and you will be as productive as possible when you start working.
Savasana improves your general health & well-being
The essential systems of the body, such as the immune and digestive systems, are restored and enhanced as the body moves from anxiety and hyper-stimulation to a state of down-regulation during Savasana. “Think of Savasana as a time of digestion, assimilation, and adaptation of all the information that your active practice has put into your body, says Noah Mazé, a yoga teacher.” Savasana also improves blood circulation and can reduce headaches.
How to Do Savasana (Corpse Pose)
In Savasana, you lie flat on your back and let gravity pin you to the floor while finding a balance between relaxation and meditation. The steps below will help you succeed in the practice with time:
- Lie on your back and keep your legs separated and your arms relaxed at your side. Rest your palms facing up and keep your feet in their natural position anchored on the heels.
- Close your eyes and relax.
- Take deep but slow breaths through the nostrils, to the point your body feels heavy on the floor (ground).
- Allow yourself to ease off all things consciously. Start from the different parts of your body, your mind, to your emotions. Don’t move ahead without achieving that undefended, uncontracted, undiluted peace from the soles of your feet to the crown of your head.
- Relax your face and soften your jaw.
- Your mind may start to wander at this point. Tune in. Seek the sound around you as well as the most distant sound. Let your stress and worries flee in-between every inhale and exhale.
- Gently restore consciousness to your body once you want out of this practice. Start by twitching your fingers and toes. Rest there for a moment. With an inhale, find a comfortable seating position.
Hey Joyfreshers, do you practice Savasana? How does it help your body and mind? Do you think Savasana is the hardest yoga pose?
