Believe It or Not, This Is the Most Important Yoga Pose
It's not only the most important pose in yoga, it's often the most difficult one. It's called Savasana, which means Corpse Pose in Sanskrit, and it requires you to lie down on the ground and do nothing. If that idea makes you squirm, read on.When we think of the most challenging yoga poses, we often think of arm balances and inversions. Arm balances and inversions teach us important skills, such as strength, balance, patience, courage, stamina, self-confidence, and finding ease inside of effort.
Come to Art on the Avenue festival this Saturday and check out Georgia Gerstein'sIntro to Arm Balances & Inversions workshop inside Mind the Mat.
Yoga Asana (poses), such as arm balances and inversions, help us to connect with our bodies and our breath, open up the diaphragm, strip away excess nervous energy, stress, and tension, and find a singular focus, rather than multi-task. Singular focus helps to slow the mind down and supports concentration, clarity, and a sense of presence in the moment. Yet, ultimately, we do Asana to prepare ourselves for Savasana.Teachers and students who can do the "most challenging" yoga poses, often struggle with Savasana, make it a short part of class (two minutes out of one hour), or skip it all together. But the state of deep relaxation and restoration we can attain in Savasana is one of greatest reasons people turn to yoga. In fact, did you know that evidence-based studies show that the number two reason people do yoga is to reduce stress? Fun fact: Guess what the number one reason is? To get flexible!Savasana is an art. It's not automatic. It takes practice, patience, and discipline. It's incredible benefits happen gradually, over time, when we commit to practicing on a habitual basis. The goal is to train our bodies to be familiar with the relaxation response so that it becomes more automatic over time. I have been practicing relaxation techniques for almost twenty years and I can attest that now, if I simply sit on my mat, I notice that my body and mind immediately relax and go into a parasympathetic nervous state. I'm like Pavlov's dog!
If you're not used to Savasana, stillness can be uncomfortable because your sympathetic nervous system may be activated and stuck on go, urging you to move, even when you want to be still. This "stuck on go" syndrome is one of the major causes of anxiety in our culture.It is difficult if not impossible to understand the benefits of Savasana without experiencing them, which means you have to do it. Many students who engage in deep relaxation practices on a regular basis experience the release of long-held mental and physical tensions and anxieties that they have not been able to address effectively with any other modality.Yoga gives us an intelligent roadmap to achieving deep relaxation. Ancient yogic texts tell us there are three stages:
- The first is Dharana, which basically means willpower. In other words, get your butt on the mat, lie there, and start to focus on your breath. Just do it.
- The second is Dhyana, which is the practice of meditation when you focus on your breath and if you notice that you stop focusing on your breath, you come back to the breath over and over again for a specified period of time. It's good to start with five minutes daily and work up to thirty minutes daily over a six-month period of time.
- The third stage is Samadhi, which refers to a state of bliss.
Yoga also tells us what may get in the way of our reaching that state of bliss. These obstacles are called the Kleshas and include falling asleep, fantasizing, frustration, boredom, and (this is my personal favorite) making up stories about how what you are doing is useless. Sound familiar? If not, give this a try and you are guaranteed to experience one of the above. The key is to being conscious of these obstacles and not allowing them to let you quit.
How To Try Savasana
Lie down on your back on the floor. Place your arms down at your sides, palms up. Relax your legs and let your feet drop apart. Scan your body. Notice each part. Consciously relax each part, one at a time. Bring your awareness to your breath. Feel the breath coming in through your nose and out through your nose. If your focus wanders away from the breath and you notice that, come back to the breath. Keep at it. Try it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day after that, and so on.What happens on the mat for you will translate off the mat. Practicing Savasana will give you more patience in your life. You will understand that when you are angry, sad, frustration, elated or joyful, breathe, be still, allow yourself to experience these emotions fully, instead of jumping up and reacting or not taking the time to feel gratitude.My favorite reminder to my students at the end of class when they are rolling up their mats is, "now begins the practice of yoga." I can't take credit for that. It's the first "guideline" in the ancient yogic texts. Yoga starts now, wherever you are, in each moment, not some time later on when you have time or just when you are at a yoga studio. So, breathe deep, right now, be still, and experience your aliveness just for a moment.
Want to experience the benefits of Savasana?
Check out my workshop, Amplify Your Savasana, this weekend at Mind the Mat. After one hour of relaxing yoga flow, we'll give you acupuncture, essential oils, massage, and foot reflexology while you are in Savasana for one, whole hour!Or, try out Deb Jackson's monthly Yoga Nidra workshop. She'll lead you through a guided relaxation while you are in Savasana. Always on a Friday evening, it's an awesome way to head into your weekend feeling chill.Want to dive deep into yoga or become a teacher? Check out our four, amazing upcoming yoga teacher training programs: Yin Yoga, Prenatal Yoga, Basic Training 200 RYT, Advanced Training 300 RYT
