Savasana

REST A.K.A. SAVASANA

Looking at the picture above gives me soothing feeling. Calm, peace, and relax. All the feelings that we tend to forget when we are dealing with our daily life. Too many activities to do, chasing targets, think ... think ... think ... work ... work ... work ... and do ... do ... do ... to achieve something which we think will give meaning to our life.

We forget to take a break, to give our mind and body time to rest. We even work overtime for the reason of productivity or perhaps avoiding things we don't want to face. If we stop and take a break, we would waste our time because time is money. That's what often said by business people. But NO. Taking a break to rest is not a waste of time. In fact it will increase productivity. The mind is clearer and ideas start to flow.

In yoga, we rest in Savasana or Corpse pose. The reason it is named corpse pose is because all you need to do is be still and silent like a corpse. Do you know that savasana is the most important pose in yoga? From the outside it might look like that you are just laying down, but once you try to be silent and still for 15 to 20 mins, it is not that easy for most people because the mind keeps wandering around. Resting in savasana is not the same as resting when we sleep. When we sleep, sometimes our mind is still active through dreams. That is why when we get up in the morning, we do not always feel fresh and energized.

Savasana is a fully deep rest if you do it properly. Meaning you will need props like bolster/pillow/cushions to support your body if you do this at home. Turn off the light to have the room dark or eye cover so our brain would regard it as time to rest. Then just focus on your breathing and feel the ground supporting your whole body. Let the body releases all the tensions with every exhalation. Pay attention to whatever may happen with your breath. Is it short and shallow or deep and long? Do you let go when you are breathing or do you control your breath? Do you enjoy the moment or do you want it to be over soon? Whatever happens on the mat also reflects who we are in our daily life, off the mat. Do we trust and surrender or we tend to control things? Are we patient enough and enjoy being in the present moment or are we impatient and want things to move fast so we can jump into next activity?

Only by this one pose, we can learn about ourselves. What if you do yoga with all the poses? What can you dig deeper about yourself?