Savasana –An Integral Yoga Pose
If yoga beginners will be asked to recall a single pose that will have to be the savasana or the corpse pose. Also referred to Shivasana or Shavasana, the corpse pose requires you simply lie on your back with hands and feet spread out, eyes shut and the breathing is deep and long.
The Savasana is one of the most relaxing ways to end a yoga sequence like the sun salutation. However, there is actually more to it that just lying there and pretending you’re a corpse. It’s time to deepen your yoga practice by gaining better understanding of this specific pose.
In savasana, you are encouraged to release all the tension in all areas of the body. However, it is not just called corpse pose because of the way your body is positioned. In yoga practice, it is also involves preparing yourself for the ultimate relaxation, which you may have guessed by now, death.
Death is something that has been sensationalized for so long and something that most people fear. However, in traditional yoga practice, death is recognized as the most important moment of one’s life. In fact, yoga and meditation are all designed to be used as a preparation for death. It is important to keep in mind however that yoga practice does not require you to share the belief of reincarnation, which is part of its philosophy.
A Closer Look At Savasana
During savasana, the blood pressure lowers and the heart rate decreases. All the muscle tension is released and any traces of anxiety leave the body. This seemingly simple position actually offers a lot of benefits may yoga beginners may not know about. For instance, savasana helps boost the body’s energy levels, enhances memory was well as improves one’s ability to focus.
For those battling with insomnia, savasana also makes it easier to sleep as it brings a general sense of health and well-being. With so many poses included in the yoga practice, it is safe to say that savasana is easily the simplest one that everyone can perform. Whether you are still starting out or you are at the advance level of your yoga practice, savasana is the great denominator everyone shares in every session.
Importance Of Savasana
It is important not to take for granted savasana. In fact, it is considered to be one of the most important pose in a yoga practice. As you may have already known, yoga does not only offer physiological benefits but psychological benefits as well.
Over time, yoga practice has the power to fundamentally change who we area. So by performing the corpse pose, the body is at rest in order to accept and integrate the changes yoga offers before you go back to normal life.
If you are performing Kundalani yoga, significant stress is placed on the body’s nervous system to strengthen it, something that is beneficial on and off the mat. However, if you fail to give your nervous system proper rest, you will inadvertently fail to enjoy the great benefits from all the work you have been doing.
Don’t Breeze Through It
One of the most common mistakes people make in performing savasana is they tend to breeze through it, thinking it is the least important pose and perhaps something that they can skip. As you practice yoga, you will recognize the fact that exertion and benefit is not exactly correlated. In fact, the savasana pose is considered to be one of the most difficult poses to master as many people find it hard to take the body to a complete state of relaxation.
So the next time you perform the savasana pose, give it your full attention and respect. Use it to fully embrace relaxation, affirmation and find extraordinary peace from within.
