THE IMPORTANCE OF SHAVASANA

Shavasana plays a very important part of our yoga practice and i have to say i try to emphasis this in my classes. 

This part of the yoga practice can be the most difficult to master, due to us lying and trying to quieten everything especially the wandering mind. Most people struggle to begin with when attempting relaxation (so your not alone if this is you), this is quiet normal due to the stresses we are surrounded with in day to day life. Our mind is being pulled all over the place with different challenges, tasks and demands from moment to moment outside of yoga class and to train the mind to be still is a task in itself to begin with. 

So how do we begin to master this section of the practice? The first thing is we don't beat our self up when our mind wanders, our regular yoga practce in itself with make it easier and easier as our mind becomes more still. Our yoga practice starts the one pointed concentration due to our postures and the following of the breath during asana work, so when we come to rest over time the mind with naturally begin to quieten, but you will have odd days where it wont. 

When you first begin and you struggle with lots of thoughts in Shavasana if the teacher isn't guiding you through a relaxation or visualisation then bring your awareness to your breath, watch it, do not change it just watch, and if your mind drifts bring your awareness back to your breath again gently. Remember there is no right and wrong and don't judge yourself or be disapointed if the mind wanders, you should praise yourself for just being at class in the first place!

Shavasana = Sava = dead; also know as corpse pose requires you to lie on your back, legs a comfortable distance apart with the feet falling to the corners of your mat. Your arms a nice distance away from your body. I encourage palms to face up towards the sky (in order to receive/being open). If you feel vulnerable then placing palms down or moving onto your side is always an option to make you feel safer. The shoulders should move away from the ears to create space in the neck, and the neck should be long and chin to chest but not scrunched up to chest....nice and long. If pregnant then this position is not recommended but instead take it onto your side. Glasses are advised to be removed so they don't press on nerve endings and cause discomfort.

So we now know how lie in shavasana and if the mind wanders how to try and guide it gently to the breath, but why is it so important to do this pose when we have so much to get done at home!

Well i believe that out of all the poses this pose is the most important pose and its so important to do this at the end of class even if it is just for 3 minutes.

Why? Because after your yoga postures this asana allows the body to reset, rest and recoup. We never get time to rest in this way and here we can do it, we must learn to take advantage of it.

"The stress of modern civilisation are a strain on the nerves for which Savasana is the best antidote" Light on Yoga (iyengar)

It helps to lift fatigue from the body and tiredness after the asanas. Another amazing benefit is that it allows the whole psychophysiological system to relax.

So what better way to end your yoga session than with relaxation in savasana, so next time you want to rush off and cant stop thinking about the jobs you have to do when you leave think to yourself WAIT THIS NEXT FEW MOMENTS WILL BENEFIT ME LONG TERM PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY, AND HELP ME BE MORE PRODUCTIVE WHEN I LEAVE CLASS. SO LET GO, RELAX AND ENJOY!