Hot Yoga Pose Forums > Chapter: Savasana
I love what you said about big spaces... I often find myself being drawn to them. I love spending my free time at the beach or walking around the woods where I can think easily and not be bothered.
My profound moment in Savasana occurred during class in May. It was an intense class and simply lying there not thinking about anything I'm pretty sure I heard my grandfather speaking to me. His voice was distinct and it wasn't necessarily external but played out in my head kind of... Third eye open anyone?
AlexandriaS
I love the notion of relaxing your tongue. I'm unsure about exactly how many nerve endings we have on the surface of that commonly unthought of muscle but I do know if God Forbid you pierced there the wrong way you could be paralyzed. The tongue carries nerves that communicate directly with the brain. Taste is like breath and thought and must be relaxed too!
AlexandriaS
I think Savasana is a great pose to strengthen your fibers of faith in your own body and it's infinite intelligence. The Non-doing is a learning to simply get out of your own way and let your body do was it knows best - to tirelessly work in the direction of wellness and wholeness. All the benefits, inspiration, life transformations are simply waiting to be unlocked in your body. Give it an unobstructed vessel...that's what I love thinking about in Savasana!
Melina
Nicely said, Melina. As I often say in Final Savasana, after hot yoga may be the one time you're just be too tired to have argue that you MUST be DOING something in order to get some rewards; you can finally sink down and let it sink in that there is something even more intelligent than your reasoning mind when it comes to healing your body - and that is your body itself. Lie still (this is a challenge to occupy your mind), breathe deep, and enjoy the healing.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Savasana is testing the fibers of my faith, to be sure. As soon as I get into the pose I think I am about to relax, and all of a sudden, I think: OMG I'm bored. Why? I fidget and have to really focus on my breathing to not move around, adjust my arms or my legs, and if I get it right and stop moving, well, I fall asleep. I am realizing that all my life I have been very 'all or nothing' and this pose has brought it to my attention! Tomorrow, I'm going to instead just imagine all of the wonderful miracles that are happening inside of me. Surely I can do that for a few minutes to start!
Marguerite
How did that imaging go for you, Margeurite? You're on the right track with engaging your mind in the miracles going on in your body as you lie still.
Savasana is all AND nothing, Marguerite. In its simplicity, it is complete. Focus on something that feels good to you and you wont be tempted to :fidget and fix" becuase there is bnothing wrong or broken. Distract you from the false idea that you have to "Do" something to be perfect.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Marguerite I am with you, I really have to try and force myself A to actually stay in final Savasana and B to stop fidgeting when there. [I do find though as pointed out by Alex, relaxing the tongue makes all the difference. This is a big thing for me as I tend to push my tongue against the roof of my mouth all the time. (according to my orthodontist this, and the fact that my tongue is too big for my mouth, is the reason I needed to get braces.)] But once I do both of these, boy does it feel great and I wish I could stay there all day. I get this feeling of extreme lightness, I can not feel any of my limbs and it is like I am floating. My mind is free, I have just done an incredible thing for my body and mind for the past 90minutes and now it is all just sinking in. Then I get home and the crazy begins.
Rhonda in class last week you pointed out standing Savasana and getting there after coming out of a pose. Don't float your arms down, just release and let the pose go. I have made a conscience effort to do this with each practice and I have to say that it has made a huge difference and made each pose feel so much better. Thank you
GabbyL
You're welcome, Gabby. This "unlocking the arms and letting them GO!" is miles apart from even floating your arms down gracefully where you're still controlling them. Letting them really GO is quite a different feeling. Sometimes my arm flop down hard and bounce for a bit. When they come to a stop, my energy shoots up. It may look goofy but it feels great - totally worth it
Sometimes when I would attempt to relax (not so much in hot yoga but other times) I have felt almost a painful need to fidget. I experienced this for the first time in an all-night seminar 30 years ago intended to wake you out your soul sleep. I could feel my limbs rebelling against this anesthetized life I had been living; it felt like everything itched, contracted, screamed for me to move it and I could not stay still. Finally I just let it be. When it was gone....it was gone. I think about this with compassion whenever I see a student fidgeting in Savasana: we are all harboring something that is just itching to let go. Gabby, your own fidgety experiences will help you to remember when you are a teacher, that we are all beginners....and all teachers....and all in need of each others support.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
My savasana is beginning to take on a life of its own. Standing savasana sometimes I feel like it's not enough time in between the poses to feel a benefit and I just imagine that my body in savasana is full of colors, in layers, and the deeper the layers, the brighter the colors, all moving and responding to the pose I just did and preparing for the one coming up.
Marguerite
Gorgeous Savasana, Marguerite....perhaps you'll do a painting of this for us one day (hint hint: do I feel a Final Project/ pose painting series coming on?)
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
While I can keep my pose still in this pose, I struggle to get my mind still!! It's often thinking thinking thinking! It's something that I do try to focus on letting thoughts go. Getting better at it but still not completely releasing them...
HeatherS
My beautiful sweet Savasana. The pose of full relaxation, appreciation, and dreams freely floating in my mind filled with good feelings. Smile comes naturally to me thinking about Savasana. It is home. It is so good to come to Savasana and DO NOTHING just Breath and Dream..... :)
Alfia
Alfia, when you answer a FORUM post you must first acknowledge and comment on the post before yours. So MODIFY your post to address Heather's comment. Then , after you tell why you love this pose, dig deeper and find something about this pose that may challenge you, in the past or even in a recent class.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
i agree with u alfia, savasana is all about doing nothing... just breath and dream. my only problem is sometime in a 6am i will actually fall asleep! so it is nice to do nothing, but sometimes in the morning i am still so tired.
danielle bumber
Yes savasana is full relaxation for me now, but when i first started hot yoga 2 1/2 years ago i was like Heather, stuggling to keep my mind still and Marguerite, stuggling to keep my body still, but i have never fallen asleep. With a consistent practice, I am grateful today that i have found that place of stillness, peace and a crystal clear mind. No mental chatter here in my savasana, here is my land of calm and my most spiritual place.
The floor holds my body ever so gently as i let go of everything and sink into it. My heels gently touching to make that contact for my continuous circuit of fresh, rich, oxygenated blood. I feel my warm blood swiftly moving throughout my entire body distributing all the healing elements and having faith knowing it is going where needed.
TinaA
Tina, what a beautiful description. I can understand Kim's and Danielle's experiences. For some people it could be a challenge to stay still. However, I find by the time we get to the first Savasana, it feels for like we reached the Top of the Mountain and now we can enjoy a gorgeous view. I love being in Savasana, the best place of peace and ocean sound of deep breathing inhale, exhale - full relaxation.....
Alfia
Tina, you describe Savasana beautifully! And I agree, Alfia, Savasana is the Top of the Mountain of the Hot-26.
Creating space between the neck bones - that feeling of deep space when I tuck my chin lightly and look down the midline of my body. I love it. So rarely do we create such a place for ourselves in our day to day lives. Savasana has demonstrated to me how to be gentle and gracious towards my neck region. So much of the stress/tension headaches that we experience in our heads originate in the neck. It is such a vital area, and it receives the bulk of the burden from bad posture, etc. Savasana is like warm, soothing breeze to the neck bones. A comfort.
Grace
Sleeping in Savasana is not uncommon as is sleeping during meditation! It is something that happens when you slip into that place where your focus shifts. Savasana and meditation are beautiful when practiced with focus. But sleep can also be seen as a shifting into a different place of equal focus: the dream state.
Now snoring...that's a whole other issue!
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Rhonda, it would be lovely if you develop a little bit more on this really interesting topic you have brought up that triggered so many questions instantly. Does sleeping = meditation? Is the dream state = sleeping?The dream state sounds more like meditation. When we sleep where the focus is? When you are in a dream state, are you really sleeping? It feels like that you are focused on something when you are in a dream state. It is such a fine and very delicate feeling when I am not sleeping but I am not awake either. However, everything feels so good and real :).
Alfia
Sleeping is not the same as meditation, Alfia, but sleeping/the dream state is a real state of being, To be sleeping/dreaming is to be entering another state of consciousness. Time, space and movement all happen differently than in the waking state: they are simultaneous rather than linear.
Meditation is to place yourself fully in the present moment which is truly a state of emptiness: the space between the future and the past hangs there full of promise and opportunity. This is the limitless state of possibilties that is the present moment.
hat moment before you slip from waking to dreaming - that which you describe as so good and so real - is most closely associated with the present moment. Meditation can be entered into spontaneously but more often it is a progression through a variety of states to reach meditative presence.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
i love this pose! I am aware when i have urges to fidget and love even more so when i can resist that urge. but nothing feels better than laying on the floor and knowing that everything i need to be supported is... what can be better than that
Becky
Isnt it funny how even the word "fidget" even sounds annoying! I know those urges to fidget but try this Becky: rather than trying to resist, imagine just letting go. I love imagining that the floor is coming up to support my body in all the places that need support - it makes me instantly aware of when I am "holding myself up" in Savasana. Letting go is the most beautiful path of least resistance.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
I like this idea of "holding myself up." That is exactly what I used to do. I was one of those students who felt that I was not doing enough in Savasana. I always thought, "What a joke. Why am I just flopped on a mat doing nothing? This isn't a work out. I came for a work out." I learned to love my Savasana. It is a beautiful pose, and I truly feel my whole body thanking me for the time to recover and rejuvenate. This pose is even better when I think of melting into the floor. I let go and become nothing, and that is so hard for me to do. This stupid easy pose has taught me so much about letting go and doing nothing.
I am looking forward to incorporating yoga nidra into our own script because that is what makes each class unique. I always enjoy hearing the scripts that each teacher personally uses to put a class at ease.
Brittany Yard
BRittany. This is the most profound realization in all the many you get in practicing the hot 26 asana series: that relaxation speaks louder than action.
It's a foreign idea to most of us who were brought up on "taking action" and "pushing through" and "never give up" only to find out that alas, the exact opposite is what works.
The larger part of you is vibrational energy even if the most obvious part is physical. When we push with the physical aspect we ignore where our real power comes from
And nothing is as poweful as the feeling of being replenished ... which is the result of total relaxation with a pinch of trust in your own well-being
Is
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
If you can only get one pose right, this is the One. Nothing is more beneficial than nothing. In quantum physics, it is well known that the empty space is what keeps atoms apart and thus prevents this Universe from becoming one big undelineated mess. This pose is your Empty Space. Stop trying and let the nothingness win out. Profound moments in Savasana....share please!