Ah... Savasana

  

              Meet Joy. My cat, playmate and the world’s best yogi.  Her savasana (corpse pose) is so perfect we have been calling her a resident of the boneless chicken ranch for years.  Gary Larson’s cartoon showing chickens with no bones draped around the barnyard like Dali’s melting clocks has always defined what I look for in corpse pose. When I lay down or talk my students into corpse pose, that look shows the feeling we are all looking for.

                How hard can it be? Even my cat can do it. Turns out savasana can be very hard indeed.  When we stop moving the body, it frees the mind to roam. 

                Five minutes of savasana for every 30 minutes of practice is the accepted minimum.  It allows your practice of asana (poses) to penetrate the body and all levels of consciousness.  In the quiet you learn what you have learned.  A few tips to improve this practice.

               Relax the body- Find a quiet position on your back with your palms facing towards the ceiling.  Cover up if it is cold.  Beginners (or say, me, after 8 years of teaching!) find it easier to settle with two 10 lb sandbags positioned in the creases of each groin to settle the heads of the femur bones.

               Relax the mind- If you want a mind like water, you have to remove the dams.  Give your problems over to something or someone else.  Problems tend to cluster in two areas- stuff to do and stuff to worry over.  I have found David Allen’s GTD system takes care of helping release the stuff to do pile.  Give your concerns over to an angel and let the angel hold onto it for the time of savasana.  If you can, leave your worries with the angel because fretting just wastes your energy.

             Get outside help-  One of the biggest helps to relaxing the body and mind is to put weight on your forehead, covering the third eye.  When I can’t go to sleep at night, I use my hand, but for savasana a sandbag can be your best friend.  Place a heavy eye bag on your forehead or a full size sandbag half on the forehead and half on a block.  Then let the hot brain cool under the weight.

          Give these a try.  I’d love your feedback on what works for you. Click on the Ask Me Anything button to share. With practice you, too, can be a resident of the boneless chicken ranch.