Savasana has two core words: "Sava" means corpse and "asana" posture. Savasana might seem like rest after extending, bending, stretching, and twisting ourselves in all sorts of shapes. But at its core, it is one of the most challenging poses because we are asked in this posture to bring the body, mind, and spirit into alignment and imitate a corpse.
Since our birth, we are bombarded with the external world with all its sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and experiences, and we learn to grow and conform to the world. In today's fast-paced life, many experience an overload of responsibilities, activities, and information to digest and manage, creating loops of distraction according to yoga philosophy (Avidya). These distractions can create imbalances physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually like anxiety, worry, and stress, which can upset digestion, absorption, and
elimination processes can limit proper circulation raising blood pressure, hamper respiration function, establish headaches, and play havoc with sleep patterns.
But in Savasana, we learn to withdraw our senses (Pratyahara), instilling calmness, and breath awareness, allowing us to move inwards, finding presence, rejuvenation, introspectiveness, and a balance. Although Savasana is usually practiced at the end of our yoga session, it can be done at any time, especially when experiencing everyday burnout, exhaustion, or imbalances.
The setup is important, so the body is in the correct alignment to receive the life-force (prana) through the body's channels (Nadis). Start by establishing a uniform grounded position in a supine position extending the buttocks away from the trunk extending the lower back. It is also essential that the groins and armpits glands are open, and you are not gripping the glands, so moving the arms and legs away from the body is vital. Suppose you are a person with a sensitive lower back. In that case, it is advisable to place a bolster or rolled blanket behind the knees to release the lower back/sacral area better.
Finally, there should be a sense of softness, elongation, and relaxation in the back of the neck and sides of the throat. If you experience any gripping, you can elevate the back of the neck and head on a blanket until a release. Look for the tongue and the head's temporal sides to be relaxed. Once we find this balanced position, the breath works efficiently, drawing prana to all tissues and releasing toxins with the exhalations.
