DO WE REALLY NEED SAVASANA?

Do we really need Savasana? 

There are times I just want to skip doing Savasana when I practice or other times as a teacher, just end in a seated meditation posture vs. lying down on our backs. And yes, Savasana is a pose on your back, not a nap, though once a student of mine did fall asleep during Savasana. 

The other day I created a meaningful analogy comparing Savasana to cooking a good steak. 

After the steak is seared and baked, you are told you must allow the meat to rest before you carve and eat it. It’s to allow the juices to flow, making the steak taste better.

Well, Savasana is the same. You are told to integrate all the former poses and movements by lying still and allowing the benefits to sink in. 

One teacher put it to me this way, which made perfect sense. “Imagine if after your last pose of a full hour of yoga you just flew out the door into your life, without a transition.” That we all can agree would feel terrible. Kind of the same as walking in the door and doing the dreaded Sun Salutations, without warming up your body. There is a sequence to yoga that makes sense and it’s been done that way for thousands of years. 

But why is Savasana sometimes so difficult if it’s meant to be a final resting posture. There’s the rub. It’s hard to be still in body and mind, at the same time. It’s why when we go to bed and can’t fall asleep, our minds race with no where to go. 

Insomnia is as real as Savasana is hard. So when we practice Savasana we are learning to be ok with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Not each time is the same, and some days it’s near impossible while other days so easy, just like some nights you can’t fall asleep. During the night when trying to fall asleep, the serious nature of needing to relax  is more urgent, as you want to function the next day and thus need to fall asleep. 

When you practice Savasana you practice intensely caring for yourself, you are in charge of your destiny from moment to moment. You control your thoughts or they control you. Letting go is what this pose is all about.