Savasana is the most important pose of class. While it is a crowd favorite for many, staying completely still with your eyes closed in a room full of people is not everyone’s idea of relaxation. We do savasana at the end of every class to rest our bodies before we carry on with our day. There are many nervous system benefits of breathing with our eyes closed while staying present in our surroundings.
A few tips to make your savasana relaxing & rejuvenating:
1) Cover up – if you worked up a sweat in class, moving into stillness can cause you to feel chilly. Bring a sweatshirt or cover up with a studio blanket.
2) Cover your eyes – if you have a hard time keeping your eyes closed (and relaxed), try covering up your eyes with an eye pillow/towel/shirt.
3) Place a folded blanket over your belly – the slight weight added will help to relax your belly muscles. Even when we think our bellies are relaxed, it’s a common place to hold tension.
4) Support your low back – laying completely flat on your back is not comfortable for everyone. There are many ways to get settled in. You can place a blanket under your head (above shoulders) so neck is supported. You can place a blanket under your knees to take any extra curve out of your spine.
5) Try legs up the wall – this is a really nice way to rest and reenergize your legs (esp for athletes & those that work on their feet all day). Start seated with one hip resting on wall. On an exhale, swing legs up the wall, bringing back to the ground. Try to keep your hips close to wall. If your hamstrings are tight, you will need more space between hips and wall. Let your feet and legs relax in any way comfortable.
If none of these options work for you, you can always quietly come up to seated with your eyes closed focusing on slow inhales and slow exhales. Move mindfully and respectfully of everyone sharing the space with you.
Namaste!