What’s the point of Savasana - it’s just lying there!
I can’t wait for Savasana, I get to go to sleep!
Which one are you?
Sweet Savasana. I’ve always found it interesting that it’s one of the few poses that we consistently use the Sanskrit name for, rather than a Westernised one, and I wonder if it’s because the English translation for the pose is Corpse Pose…. and perhaps it’s a bit off putting?
Savasana is most often the closing posture of a yoga practice. It’s the sweet moment when we lie down, and allow the nervous system to settle completely, and for the prana, our energy, to settle back into the Nadis, or energy channels.
For some people, being in stillness can stimulate the nervous system, and so it has the opposite effect, but for the majority of us, it is one of the rare moments in our busy lives when we Just. Stop.
Not only is the energy being reabsorbed into the nadis, but your body and your brain are also absorbing the after effects of all the movements that you have been doing. Rather than rushing back off into contraction, the muscles settle naturally into a relaxed state in Savasana, and the brain has switched off your sympathetic nervous system that creates a Fight or Flight response, triggering the release of stress hormones like adrenalin and cortisol into the blood stream. Instead, you’ve shifted into the parasympathetic, where release of those stress hormones is reduced, and your body and internal organs are beginning to reap the benefits of the practice.
Perhaps even more importantly, your subconscious mind is recognising that you have just dedicated time FOR YOU, that you are important enough and deserving of taking time for this yoga practice to look after and nourish yourself.
Savasana is Corpse Pose, not because you’ve held chair pose or boat pose for 29 breaths, or done a hugely dynamic practice, but because it is the death of the practice, and the death of the you you were before. Not you in the physical sense, but really who you are. After all, YOU are not your body - if you cut your hair, or - heaven forbid - lose a limb, you are still the same person, right? So, in Savasana, after moving mindfully and compassionately, and focussing on your breath, there are shifts that have happened fundamentally to who you are. They may be miniscule, but they are cumulative with each practice, and so Savasana represents you leaving behind the you that you were when you began, and when you rise up out of the pose to complete the practice, you essentially are beginning the next practice -
Taking this new version of you out into the world.
Until the next practice.
Let me know your thoughts below!