Savasana: Finding the Inner Peace

Savasana at a Glance

How to Do Savasana or Corpse Pose?

Follow the Step-by-Step Instructions

This Corpse Pose is like meditating, meeting your inner self and being aware of the bodily sensations. This is mostly done at the end of your yoga practice.

1. First, Lie flat on the yoga mat, carpet, or soft surface. Keep your legs and body straight and relaxed.
2. Your feet should be relaxed and just let it fall onto the sides. Keep a slight gap in between the legs.
3. Your hands should be relaxed on the sides; face your palms upward, and loosen your fingers.
4. Don’t try to make your neck stiff. Just let it be normal, and let your head be relaxed. Keep it neutral.
5. Close your eyes slowly so that you can experience the calmness.
6. Now, breathe slowly and gently. Focus on your breath, but don’t try to control it. Let it flow naturally and evenly. The breath is the energy.
7. When you start feeling the breath going in and coming out, let all your stress and tension go out and relax every part of your body, part by part.
8. Start from your toes and as you breathe out, release the stress and tension out of your body with the breath you exhale.
9. This slowly goes up part by part, your toes, legs, thighs, pelvic area, belly, arms, chest, neck, and face, and keep relaxing all the parts.
10. You can make it rhythmic by adding soft music in the background and imagining each part of the body and all the stress going away from you.
11. Stay in this pose for about 15 minutes or according to your comfort.
12. Your mind would be distracted, but try to bring it back and focus.
13. After finishing this pose, while coming out, slowly open your eyes, fold your fingers, slowly bring your body to the right side, stay for 3 to 5 seconds, and get up by using your arms.
14. Come back to the seated position and feel the energy.

What are the Benefits of Savasana?

• This is the best asana practice to reduce stress and tension and one of the relaxation poses practiced after doing active asanas.
• This releases the physical and mental tension and helps your body rest deeply.
• As a good stress reliever, it will help you get a deep sleep when practiced regularly.
• It clears your mental disturbances and helps you to focus on your work and life.
• It benefits people with low blood pressure and relaxes your nervous system.
• This helps reach you to the meditation state and could be a good meditation pose before you go for the advanced version.
• This pose reduces your depression and anxiety and gives you more stability and balance.
• You feel recharged after doing this pose.
• If you have any small pain or ache caused due to your everyday work, it helps to clear or reduce it.
• It teaches you about self-awareness and how to care for yourself and your body.
• This pose stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing anxiety and high BP.

Health Conditions that Might Benefit from Savasana

People with High BP

When you are in this pose, the relaxation and the calmness help you manage your high blood pressure with this yoga practice.

Stress and anxiety

This can be a great problem in your everyday life. You can do this yoga asana practice to help you relax and avoid stress and anxiety.

Menstrual Problems

Practicing this pose would be an excellent solution for females suffering from cramps and lower abdomen pain during their menstrual cycle.

Fatigue

Fatigue could be due to any reason and could happen to anyone. This asana could greatly help when you regularly practice and with the breath as the rhythm.

To Recover After your Sickness or Injury

This could be a good healing therapy to recover from your illness or injury.

General Health Recovery

This is the yoga pose where anyone, in general, can practice regularly, be free of stress, and keep themselves relaxed and recharged for another day of their life.

Safety and Precautions

• Savasana is normally a gentle, relaxing pose but a difficult pose for people.
• If you have any severe medical condition and pregnant women in the later trimester, always consult your healthcare provider.
• It may be a gentle pose, but even for this, to make yourself more comfortable or if you feel the surface too hard, use some soft cushion or folded blanket for your head or under your knee or thighs.
• Your room temperature should be normal, not too cold or hot.
• If you are a beginner, don’t stay too long in the pose. Start less and increase and maybe you can do it in the yoga class under the guidance of your yoga teacher.
• For any recent surgery or injury, contact your doctor.

Common Mistakes

• After you enter this pose, you may fall asleep, so keep an alarm to wake up and return to the relaxation pose.
• Don’t do this pose by lying on any hard surface. Find an even surface and prep it.
• Stop overthinking about anything else other than relaxing your body.
• Keep breathing normally.
• This may be very easy, but props can be mandatory for some people. Beginners should do it under the guidance of the yoga teacher.

Tips for Savasana

• Savasana practice props like cushions, bolsters, or folded blankets to support yourself for better relaxation.
• Let the room temperature be normal, not too hot or cold. This would hinder your relaxation and you would be more concerned about the temperature.
• Keep your eyes closed with an eye pillow or cloth.
• Breath is important, so concentrate on your breath. Your mind would wander initially; be aware and bring it back.
• Surrender yourself to the relaxation pose, which would benefit you in more depth. Drink water after you finish the asana.

The Physical Alignment Principles for Savasana

• You should be lying flat on the back in the supine pose after you practice yoga poses.
• Take a few deep breaths. Legs should be straight or can keep the knees bent but not stiff; keep it relaxed and leave the feet naturally as it is.
• Your hands to the side of your body and palms facing upward and your hands should be relaxed and not rigid.
• Keep your shoulder blades relaxed.
• The head and spine are in one line. The neck can be supported with a soft cushion or rolled-up blanket. If needed.
• Now, relax every part of your body while involving the breath slowly and gently.

Savasana and Breath

Savasana is a pose where your flow of breath is natural and calm. After lying down on your back, relax by breathing normally and setting a comfortable position. After you come to the pose, your breath becomes your leader, and as you breathe, concentrate on the parts of the body to release the stress and tension with your breath. Starting from your toes, gradually come up one by one, breathe, and let out the tension in that part. Then, move to the other part and release the tension and stress with your breath. This forms a rhythm and you start focusing on your physical and mental state and trying to relax.

Savasana and Variations

• You can practice Savasana yoga by supporting it with props.
• Savasana, by lying on one side, you can use your hand as a pillow to keep under the head.
• You can include pranayama with Savasana, like diaphragmatic or Ujjayi Breathing.

Take Away

This is a final resting pose after yoga practice. This pose is a mental rhythmic breath dance with your body parts, which removes the stress and tension from your body, making it calm and focused. This helps your sleep cycle and to have a sound sleep. It eliminates the tiredness of your whole day’s work. This pose is about being yourself and caring for yourself. This pose is good for meditation, and meeting your inner self keeps you completely relaxed.

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