**Release the Action and Master the Art of Releasing**
When you begin your yoga journey, savasana may feel like a luxury. Reclining on a soft mat surrounded by fragrant incense and the gentle sound of a Tibetan singing bowl? Absolutely!
**The Significance of Savasana**
The wonderful aspect of savasana is that the period spent lying down, supported by bolsters, is vital for your body to assimilate all the insights from your yoga session. Just as your body utilizes the food you consume to enhance your muscles, organs, and tissues, lying flat on your back at the conclusion of class provides your body with the opportunity and time to internalize the advantages of yoga asana (postures). Many instructors may not devote as much time to the anatomical details of savasana as they do to other poses. This is partly because creating a vacant space is where the enchantment of savasana begins.
**Why Savasana is the Most Challenging Pose**
In English, savasana translates to corpse pose. And when we are lying down, with our eyes shut and palms facing upward, we couldn’t be doing any less unless we were actually one. This is where the difficulty arises. In Buddhism, a restless mind is referred to as a monkey mind. If you’ve ever observed your thoughts, you may have noticed that it tends to hop from one idea to another like a monkey leaping through the trees. When you lie or sit in stillness, it often feels as if you’re accomplishing nothing. There’s a pull to resist sitting with all those thoughts clamoring for your focus. In this manner, savasana can require more effort than other yoga postures. It’s worth the effort.
**The Advantages of Savasana**
Savasana stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (your ‘rest and digest’ mode). The perks of spending time in the parasympathetic nervous system (in contrast to the sympathetic nervous system, your ‘fight or flight’ reaction) encompass better sleep, reduced blood pressure, lower stress, and diminished fatigue. Additionally, when your body slows down, your mind will follow suit.
**Savasana as Mindfulness Practice**
Savasana assists in soothing the mind. And while you may not be concentrating on your breath as in conventional meditation, granting yourself the time (whether it’s one minute or twenty) at the end of your yoga practice to release ‘the action’ is a way of letting go. And letting go is the essence of meditation. Releasing the attachment to thoughts starts with permitting your body to unwind. Therefore, if the urge to forgo savasana arises, remind yourself that there’s equal potential for yoga magic in both savasana and handstand. Both positions require practice.