Savasana – The Hardest Pose

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I met with a client recently who was telling me about her home yoga practice. She practices with a video several times a week, she told me, and tries to mix up the styles of yoga she practices. Then her expression turned sheepish and she said, as if confiding an embarrassing secret, “But I usually turn off the video when the resting pose comes on at the end. Is that terrible? I just can’t lie there like that!”

Well, first, it’s not terrible. There is no terrible in yoga. There is no right, wrong, bad, worse or perfect in yoga – or any other word intended to make a judgment on what our bodies are doing. (There is safe and unsafe, but that’s a different discussion.)

It’s often said by yoga teachers that savasana – the resting, meditative posture at the end of class – is the hardest pose, and for the very reason my client used. It’s hard to just lie there like that. Your body might be tired from the class or video, but your mind might have a hard time settling down, and those racing thoughts can make it difficult to relax.

Let’s back up a bit and review savasana. (It’s usually pronounced “sha-VAH-suh-nah”.) Savasana is a reclined posture done at the end of a yoga class. Generally, you’re lying flat on your back with relaxed feet and your arms at your sides or perhaps your hands resting on your body (maybe on your belly). In my chair-assisted classes, students usually sit comfortably in their chairs, with their backs supported by the back of the chair and hands in their lap. Some students lie on their mat with their lower legs resting on the seat of the chair. Your eyes are closed.

Savasana translates from the Sanskrit into “corpse pose”. I never use the English translation and neither do any yoga teachers I know. It seems to make students uncomfortable. (I can’t imagine why.)

Depending on the class, you might rest in savasana for 3-5 minutes, or even longer. Restorative-style classes might have you reclining in the posture for 10-15 minutes. For many people, that’s a LOT of time to be alone with your thoughts. Our society does not value quiet, contemplative time and most of us are not comfortable with it. Our thoughts don’t usually follow a straight line, either. Instead, they jump around like monkeys from branch to branch, giving yoga and meditation teachers the use of the alliterative term “monkey mind” to describe the unsettled state we’re feeling. Between the wildness of our thoughts and the sense that we should be doing something more valuable than resting for five minutes, savasana can feel like a waste of time.

(Just a quick note before we go on – you’ll notice that I jump back and forth between using the word “mind” and the word “brain”. We often use them interchangeably, but I’m using them distinctly here. To clarify, I’ll use “brain” when I mean the actual physical structure located inside your skull and its physiological activities. I’ll use “mind” when I mean the thoughts and feelings we experience as a result of the brain’s activities and our environment.)

The purpose of savasana is to rest the body after the class, but also to allow the mind to rest – and that’s something most of us struggle with. The brain’s job is to keep us safe and to that end, it is always scanning our environment for threats or unsolved problems, which can lead to feelings of anxiety.

We’re pretty free from threats in savasana; after all, if you don’t feel safe and comfortable in your yoga class, you probably wouldn’t keep going, right? But those unsolved problems – well, those are constantly cropping up in our thoughts, even if we don’t think of them as problems, necessarily. When your brain is not actively engaged on a task, it looks for unresolved issues to deal with. Before we know it, we get distracted by a thought and off we go. This mind wandering generally has two directions:

1. Daydreaming, or brainstorming ways to solve problems that are pleasant or at least neutral (What’s my next vacation? What do I need to get at the grocery store? Should I have gotten the bigger package of toilet paper?)
2. Ruminating, or the constantly churning circle of thoughts on problems that are really hard to solve or maybe are not solvable (Why is my relationship with X so tense? I’m really worried about money – I need to find a better-paying job. I can’t stop thinking about that hurtful thing I said five years ago.)

This mind wandering is part of the brain’s job. I often tell my students, “Your brain’s job is to keep you safe, not to keep you happy.” Your brain considers unresolved issues to be threats, and so it keeps turning them over and over, trying to solve them.

But like all of us with jobs, your brain needs a break now and then. And as most overworked people know, sometimes you have to be forced to take a break. And at first, that break can feel uncomfortable, overwhelming or even bad – like you’re doing something wrong.

Enter savasana. If we can make the commitment to stay on our mats for just a few moments, we can reap huge benefits for our overworked brains. Yes, it might feel uncomfortable or even scary to rest at first, but the more we practice, the easier it will be to find the relaxation in savasana – and in other parts of our lives.

Where to start? First, as you move into savasana at the end of class or a video, remind yourself that all parts of your body need time to rest, including your mind. You are in charge of your brain, I often tell The Child, when he complains of scary thoughts. You decide what your brain thinks about. Remind your brain that it needs time and space to rest.

Since your brain can never stop thinking completely, however, we need to give it something to do. Give it a job. In my classes, I usually give my students the cue to focus on their breath. Give your brain the job of watching your breath during savasana. In your mind, you can repeat the words “inhale” as you breathe in and “exhale” as you breathe out. Or you could count the length of your inhale and exhale – breathing in for one, two, three, four and breathing out for one, two, three, four, five, six. (When our exhale is longer than our inhale, our bodies are more relaxed.)

Not enough work for your brain? Another option is a mantra. A mantra is a word or phrase repeated in your mind as you rest. “I am relaxed” is a good mantra for savasana. I also like “This is rest”.

When focusing on your breath or using a mantra, remember to be nonjudgmental. Losing focus and finding your mind wandering off to the grocery store does not mean failure. Simply notice where your mind went, then gently guide it back to your breath or your mantra. Do this as many times as you need. Start small. Try practicing for one minute, then for 90 seconds. Increase your time gradually. You cannot fail at savasana.

If your body is uncomfortable in savasana, it may be difficult to bring your mind to rest. Using props can help. Try a bolster under your knees, which takes pressure off the lower back. An eye pillow can help block out unnecessary distractions. A heavy blanket can provide a sense of safety and security, and if you’re seated in a chair, resting your feet on a yoga block can help you relax more fully into your seat.

Skipping savasana is not terrible, but it is missing out on a practice that can help you bring your mind and body into deeper relaxation. Our minds often miss out on the opportunity to rest; after all, even when we’re sleeping, our brains are busy. Giving your mind a chance to relax will help it to better serve you when there really are unresolved issues that need to be addressed. Help your brain help you. Try savasana.

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Thanks for being with me on this wellness journey.