SAVASANA

Reading from Wednesday, November 6, 2013 yoga class

The following is from the OM Place Newsletter dated August 9-18, 2013 written by Erin Smith the owner of the yoga studio called OM Place in Winchester, Kentucky.  It is a fabulously wonderful place and Erin is a super yoga teacher.

"The studio has a "pet" opossum named Flash.  He waddles up to the front porch every night around dusk to eat  food left by the cats, dogs, raccoons, and crows.  If you approach him, he generally just hisses.  Occasionally, he'll roll on his side and stick his tongue out.  It's just about the funniest thing in the world, so of course, I'm always irritating him so he'll play dead.

We get to play dead all the time in yoga! Why would you want to play dead like an opossum?  Well, the short answer is: It's really, really good for you.  Yes, death is good for you.  Savasana means death to:
         Old habits
         Unnecessary movement, holding, tension, and gripping of your muscles, heart, and mind
         Any and all things that limit you from being your effortless, truly inspired self

Truly surrendering to Savasana is not easy (maybe it has something to do with the death thing?), but the rewards are great.  It is an appropriate analogy to compare practicing yoga to cultivating crops.  As Benjamin Hoff writes in the Tao of Pooh, the best farmers work in "harmony with the earth's rhythms.  Now you plant; now you relax.  Now you work the soil; now you leave it alone."  If not, of course, the soil becomes depleted of its energy and produces tasteless, nutrition-less crops.  In yoga, we "plant" then we relax; we "work" and then we "leave it alone."  By practicing active postures, then completely relaxing in Savasana, we work in harmony with our natural rhythms of needing both exertion and rest.

It is hard for some of us to submit fully to peaceful relaxation.  Instead of using Savasana as an opportunity to drink water, use the restroom, fan ourselves, straighten our mats, etc., we can fine-tune our ability to let go and relax, therefore achieving a healing and integration of body and mind.  Be still and be found."