Savasana, the posture we always begin and end the class with. After my class at The British School, Kathmandu on Tuesday, a new practitioner came to me at the end and said how much they needed 'that' and how relaxed they now felt or 'spaced out' in their words, and it made me think again on how important Savasana really is, maybe in todays society it is the most important asana of all, and one that we all can do. I focus a lot on teaching shcool teachers, for one reason they have a very stressful job, but also with the thought in mind that if I can share peace with them, if I can bring more peace to them, it will vibrate out through them to the students and children they are teaching, in hope of a more peaceful world. Today there are so many different types of Yoga, but we really musn't forget the root of why the ancient sages of India developed the practice in the first place, to reduce or prevent suffering both physical and mental to the human existence, not to create more stress to the body and mind trying to reach impossible goals due to social pressure and pride. We simply must relax.
When the body and mind are constantly overworked and over stimulated the natural efficiency of the body to rejuvenate is diminished, today it is very hard for people to relax properly when there are many stresses and stimulations from all angles forced upon us, especially for those of us living in a city. Proper relaxation is natures way of recharging one's energy, it rejuvenates our cells, skin, hair etc and allows our mind to find peace. Even while trying to rest the average person expands a lot of energy both physical and mental through tension, in fact we don't realize how much tension we are holding until we are properly relaxed. In a day so much energy may be consumed in just a few minutes by frustrations, anger, bad moods or irritation, this has a disastrous effect on both the body and mind. During Savasana we mentally work through the body starting with the toes up towards the head mentally relaxing each part, then messages are sent to every internal organ which in turn relax, and to the mind which becomes calm. Then we can begin to let go of any problems one has been experiencing. Savasana also allows the prana, (vital energy) to flow freely within the body, which is very important after asana class when you have produced this energy, it heals every part of us. So lie back in Savasana, turn your mind inward and relax...... relax........ relaaaaaaaax
1. the body should be straight making sure the head is not twisted to the side.
2. the back is flat on the ground or on your mat.
3. legs straight but not tense about 1/2 a meter apart.
4. toes relaxed and falling out to the side.
5. arms about 45 degrees angle from the body.
6. hands relaxed and palms face upward.
7. try to relax the entire body no tension held.
8. focus the mind on your breath.
9. try not to dwell on external activities.
10. breathing is quiet and always through the nose.
11. never strain the breath.
12. try to stay in the exact present moment and enjoy!
take this time for this ancient special practice in savasana, recharge yourself, take this time just for yourself, it wont be long until you really do feel the benefits I can promise you that, and I really can't stress enough how important it is.
Om shanti shanti shanti
smiling from the heart
nicky.
Thanks for this post! It's so true, Savasana is a posture we can all do and to my mind it's the most underestimated one as well. People think it's easy - you "just" need to stretch out and relax, right? Putting your body in some weird postures seems more challenging... but the more I practice, the more I appreciate that Savasana is probably one of the most difficult postures if one wants to do it properly.
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