Posture Clinic: Corpse Pose (Savasana)

Savasana

IMAGE FROM YOGA ANATOMY
BY LESLIE KAMINOFF AND AMY MATTHEWS

As yoga begins to gain more popularity and establishes for itself a foothold in popular culture, there are certain stereotypes and postures that make themselves well known to even those who do not practice yoga. One of these involves the posture that is typically the final posture in any yoga practice: Savasana (pronounced sha-VAHS-anna). After a sometimes gymnastically exhaustive yoga practice, it may seem strange or comical that the final posture, often purported as the most difficult posture to master, is lying on one's back.

I have heard people joke that their favorite part of a yoga class "is the nap-time at the end."

Savasana is far from nap-time! In fact, any teacher or friend who has told you that Savasana is perhaps the easiest posture to perform but the hardest to master is correct. Savasana is the ultimate posture for reintegrating back into the world after your asana practice. Rather than completely losing yourself to sleep or physical recovery, the challenge of this final posture is to maintain your mental awareness without physically exerting yourself. In the busy world today, stillness is often the hardest place to be.

Savasana: 

Savasana is by definition a symmetrical supine pose. This means that limbs are carefully placed to be viewed as symmetrical to the observer. However, what looks symmetrical may not always feel symmetrical in the body. There is value to each experience. If you organize your limbs symmetrically and receive feedback from your body that things do not feel right, see if you can accept the feedback and not respond. Experience the posture as it is at that time, with the idea that wherever you are is wherever you need to be. However, sometimes there is value in organizing your posture from the inside, in a way that feels symmetrical, and seek inner quiet regardless of how the posture looks. In your practice, try both. 

How to find your way there:
1). Lay onto your back. Spread out as comfortably as possible with your arms draped onto the floor, palms faced up. Take up as much space as you would like.

2). If you experience any discomfort in your lower back, customize the posture by rolling a towel underneath your knees to help release your sacrum. 

3). Lift your chest slightly. Slide your shoulder blades together underneath your chest so that you can breath with more spaciousness across your heart's center. 

4). Take one last inhale. With the exhale, let everything go. Allow your breath to flow naturally. There is no need for your muscles to do anything at all. Allow your muscles to release from the bone and soften into your mat. Likewise, let your thoughts flow. Your thoughts will come and go freely. Cultivate within your self a sense of being interested without being attached.

5). Stay in Savasana for at least five minutes.Some schools of thought, including our old friend Pantanjali, suggests that the best Savasana is ten minutes. However long you decide to stay here, make sure it is at least a few minutes. This is the juicy posture where your body soaks up the benefits of its practice. 

6). To find your way out, introduce small movements into your body. Deepen your breath. Wiggle your fingers and your toes. Take a full body stretch. Roll over onto your right or left side for fetal position, and then press yourself up to a seat. Now is an ideal time for meditation or for taking your yoga off your mat and back out into your world. 

Benefits:

1). Savasana is the completion of your yoga practice. During this time, your body replenishes and allows your nervous system to move into a parasympathetic state. This is also known as relaxation response, a time in which your breath slows, blood pressure lowers, and energy in your extremities (toes, fingers) finds its way to your vital organs. This time is irreplaceable as a way to nourish and regenerate your body. 

2). This regenerative posture calms the brain, reduces stress and mild depression. Your heart rate and rate of respiration will deepen and slow, which, as you remember from our note on breath, has many benefits inherent already.

3). Savasana can reduce fatigue, insomnia and headache, increasing your focus, memory and concentration. This posture is an opportunity to turn inward, stilling the body and calming the mind. 

4). Finally, an intelligent yoga practice will offer your body a great deal of new neuromuscular information. Savasana is an opportunity for your mind and body to integrate all that it has learned in a brief pause before it must confront all the stimulus that life off the mat can offer. 

It is normal to have some difficulties staying committed to the stillness of Savasana. Like all other postures, this pose is a practice. It is something that you will continually learn from. There are some customizations and modifications you can offer yourself to help deepen your experience with this posture. 

Customizations:

1). Place a bolster (small pillow or rolled towel) underneath your knees if you experience any tension in your lower back.

2). Place a bolster underneath your neck to relieve any pain in your head, neck or shoulders.

3). If your biggest trouble is with staying still and at rest, consider bringing an eye mask to class or placing part of a towel over your eyes. Although many studios will dim the lights and encourage you to close your eyes, a small mask or eye cover can help cultivate even further a sense of turning inward.