The Art of Letting Go: Savasana

The Art of Letting Go: Savasana

Many come to the yoga practice to improve their flexibility, gain strength, and reduce stress. These are perfectly valid reasons to engage in a moving yoga practice. After moving through dynamic yoga sequences and building up a good sweat, you come to rest in the final yoga pose, Savasana. This moment at the end of the yoga class is much more than just resting. Savasana has a significant place and meaning in the yoga practice and philosophy. This article will take a closer look at the meaning behind Savasana as a way to deepen your yoga practice.

What is Savasana?
Savasana is a Sanskrit word that means "Corpse Pose." As mentioned, it is often practiced at the end of a yoga class. Although it may conjure a morbid thought, the true meaning of Savasana is the practice of complete stillness: stillness of the body, stillness of the mind. It is the practice and art of letting go of any obstacles that your body holds onto.

The Art of Letting Go
As you walk through life off the yoga mat, you may experience many obstacles, hindrances, and challenges. These are quite natural and expected when living the human experience. Although you may encounter this unavoidable factor of life, it does not mean that you have to endure your entire life feeling weighed down by these life challenges.

The history, philosophy, and practice of yoga remind us that balance can be achieved when managing your life circumstances. There will be times when you may face complicated hurdles, but they do not need to be dominant life situations. You deserve times of peace and ease; no longer burdened by those hurdles. Yoga is a wonderful resource that helps to manifest relief in your life when times get tough.

The physical practice of yoga, that is, performing yoga postures and moving through yoga sequences, is a representation of life. It mirrors the tensions, stresses, and hinderances that we face daily. The practice is also about letting go; releasing the binds that hold you down. We tend to store stress, anxiety, sadness, anger, and other uncomfortable emotions in our minds and bodies. When you come to the yoga mat and practice poses like Pigeon Pose, Downward Facing Dog, or Bridge Pose, they unlock those binds and stored up emotional energy in the body. You then move and stretch throughout the practice as a way to rid yourself of these unsettling feelings.

Once your work is complete, it is time to rest in that state of clarity and relief, thus Savasana. Through breathwork and the asana flow, you re-introduce balance in your body and mind. The reward is lying down in Corpse Pose to fully relish in this enlightened place of ease, calm, and stillness.

It is a rare opportunity in our daily lives, besides going to sleep at night, that you give the gift of stillness to yourself. To consciously practice a technique that releases the binds that weigh you down and prevent you from reaching your full potential is a powerful exercise. The benefit is then resting in that stillness to fully appreciate your new state of mind and body.

Savasana is probably the most important pose in the entire yoga practice. It culminates all the work you have done to this point so you can enjoy the art of letting go.