Can’t We Just Skip Savasana?
I was told in a training once by my teacher that you know you’ve taught a good class when there are no students moving during savasana. So, no twitching, playing with the string on their pants, itching their nose, fidgeting with their hands. After providing a challenging class, your class will then be more than willing to surrender, palms up, eyes closed. For the most part I agree. After physically and maybe mentally exerting yourself, it’s nice to finally assume a more passive stance.
I mean who wouldn’t want to take one token opportunity during their daytime hours to just close their eyes and do nothing?
Oftentimes, me, and maybe you?
What about those of us who don’t usually like to stop, listen to silence… or our own thoughts?
I know, that means we need savasana and meditation more than the rest of the peacefully still zen-like, relaxed beings. That doesn’t make those few moments in savasana any less difficult. From wondering what’s for dinner to what will I do after class, to damn, I need a pedicure, to more substantial and otherwise uninvited reasoning’s as well . The squirm-worthy ones.
I’ve gathered through years of corpse poses that at certain times in life there is more ease and welcoming in those moments at the end of a yoga class. During times of change and reflection, it seems harder to be there, to stay put and be quiet. It feels as though all the muscles in your body are revolting against an uprising.
There is something about lying there, heart open, darkness, arms fanned out, that makes you feel vulnerable and fragile. It can understandably be a downright unpleasant experience at times. If there is no music in the room, everything is silent except maybe for quiet yet blaring “ahems” and that car without a muffler blazing through the alley.
Then that point I have been waiting for all along. The time I welcome and assume everyone else in the room dreads. The teacher gives us permission to move again. Finally. Funny, as soon as I find my hands above my head, or roll over onto one side and curl up, I somehow feel so much more content than I once did, just seconds ago… open and exposed.
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Thank you for sharing this, Jessica! I remember my 200-hour yoga teacher training nearly 2.5 years ago and my teacher talking about the importance of Savasana. I had been practicing for a couple of years before that, but never really put too much thought into Savasana. I can see now, years later, just how important it is on so many levels. It really seals the practice and allows the body, mind and spirit to take in the efforts.
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Tanya Lee Markul, Assoc. Yoga Editor
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Great article. I have heard that line that people stay in Svasana when you teach a good class but I don't agree with it. Like you expressed in the article, some people just don't like being still and laying on their backs. Especially in a room full of strangers.
love your writing Jesse!! but I have to say I LOVE Savasana!! Love mama
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props! (savasana lover here, loving your honesty!!)
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