savasana—one of yoga’s most advanced practices
Conscious relaxation is harder than most people think. Here's a great starting pose to learn how to release more deeply.
While unwinding in this resting pose can seem delightful and rejuvenating for most, many people find it difficult to lay flat on their backs. Savasana is a very expansive pose and can be demanding on us physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Physically the shoulders and neck may be too tight to lie flat comfortably. It is also common to have discomfort or pain in the low back, especially if the psoas is tight.
In addition, it can be very vulnerable experience to lay all spread out; the nervous naturally wants to guard and protect the body, rather than splay it all open to others. This becomes particularly exacerbated during times of challenge, grief, stress, or when coping with trauma.
On a mental level, savasana can be challenging because when the body is in a passive posture, the mind has fewer physical tasks and sensations to focus on than it does in more active poses, making your attention more likely to turn towards your flow of endless thoughts. Plus any emotions you might have been suppressing throughout the day—fear, frustration, sadness, anxiety—more likely to come to the forefront of your mind once your body begins to relax.
A great variation called surfboard can help people settle in, when supine savasana feels to vulnerable.
Surfboard helps to release lower back tension, elongate the spine, and soften the rigidity of our "turtle shell." The breath deepens and expands the back, as the front body drops into the embrace of the props, helping to calm and soothe the mind and body, eliciting the parasympathetic nervous system. Being on the belly in this way also allows us to un-clinch deep gripping in the thighs, groins, pelvis, and belly, releasing extra effort and constriction in the psoas and relieving tension in the abdomen, digestive system, and kidneys. It can be beneficial when we need to turn inward, such as during times of grief or depletion.
TRY IT: SURFBOARD
Rest on a stack of folded blankets—the way you would on a surfboard. A few inches of the top of your thighs comes up onto the blanket stack. Your pelvis, torso, and head are all supported by the blankets. The center of your kneecaps rest on the ground. Bring the top of your feet onto a rolled blanket.
Turn your head to one side, with one cheek on your blanket, arms on the ground in the shape of a cactus. Every few minutes, turn your head to rest on the opposite cheek. Or, if you have any neck issues, try to create a face-down variation.
Let your whole body fall into the blankets. Release all the effort in your legs, belly, chest and arms. No need to hold yourself up.
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