Savasana: Why Can’t We Just Be?
You’ve just taken an amazing class and are feeling like you have really been in the present moment with your body and breath for most of the practice. Except maybe when you fell over during that balancing pose and you were sure everyone was watching you. Now is time for the best and most important part of the practice, Savasana. As you stretch out on your mat and get comfortable, your busy mind automatically starts to go into overdrive. Focusing on every little noise in the room before jumping right to the “to do list” in your brain. Sound familiar?
Why does this happen? Why can’t we stay in the present moment to continue to be with our breath and body as we surrender into deep relaxation? Our brains and bodies have been trained to “multi-task”, so while we are lying in savasana, our brains automatically start to wander away thinking and over thinking as our body tries to relax. Next time your mind starts to wander off, bring it back to these important points of savasana.
Needed Down-Time: During our daily busy life we all crave a little down-time in. Welcome this special down-time into your life at the end of your practice. You just put in great effort for the physical part of your practice, now cherish the last few minutes of stillness on your mat as a “treat” for yourself. Allow the openness and space you have created in your physical practice to sink into your mind without judgement. You deserve it.
Find Stillness: During your practice you have worked to build up the heat in your body to encourage strength, flexibility, balance and stamina. Savasana allows all that heat you’ve built up to cool naturally. Allowing your body to lie still on your mat as it cools down helps revive the body and mind rather than feeling drained after class. Savasana after all is the final pose for your practice, linking the physical asana with the mental aspect of yoga. Let it have a chance to work for you by resisting those fidgets.
Notice Your Thoughts: You will have thoughts as you lie on your mat. All sorts of them, from “Wow, that was a hard class!”, to “What am I going to eat?”, to “Did I get that project done?”, but don’t be hard on yourself when these thoughts occur. Notice them, make a mental note where your thoughts went, then gently without judgement, bring your mind back to your breath. If you have time, after savasana, write down where your thoughts went and see if you notice a pattern.
Hopefully next time that bell rings or the instructor’s voice beckons you to come back to the present moment, you will have experienced a little deeper relaxation and actually want to stay a little longer rather than looking to rush on with your day. Savasana bridges the gap between our physical and mental practice of yoga. Allow yourself to enjoy the whole journey by completely surrendering into savasana next time you practice.