Yoga Pose of the Week

This week I want to share with you a truly luscious way to drop back into what stands to be the sweetest moment of your day. (Okay, the sweetest besides when the kids are being perfectly adorable…but since there’s no guarantee that will happen on any given day, try this!) I’m talking about restorative yoga, which evokes deep relaxation by triggering the parasympathetic nervous system. We’re talking true physiological benefits; vegging out to some daytime TV this is not.

A female yoga devotee is a yogini. Could that make a restorative yoga fan a restorini? (Yes, I like it.) But if a restorini you are not, or if a taste is all you have time for, catch a few moments of unconditional peace today in the mother of all restorative postures: restorative savasana.

Savasana (pronounced sha-VAH-san-ah) is otherwise known as corpse pose. Sounds morbid? Nah, just consider how perfectly wonderful it feels to know for certain, deep down in your bones, that for the next few moments, as I tell my students, you don’t have to go anywhere… you don’t have to do anything. How often in our lives is this the case?

In savasana, the body rests heavy, the heart is present, and the mind is light. Sit on a soft surface -- a couple of blankets spread out the length of your body if you’re on the floor, or use your bed. You’ll be lying on your back; build up a stepped, cushiony support that will be low at the small of your back, slightly higher behind your mid-back, and higher still under your shoulders, neck, and head. You can use a yoga bolster or blankets and pillows, and the point is to feel well supported, with a slight openness in the chest as your arms rest at your sides.

When you are lying back, bend your knees and put your feet flat on the floor -- or better yet, let your knees fall out to the sides and bring the soles of your feet together (butterfly), but be sure to prop up your knees to avoid a strong stretch in the groin. In restorative yoga, any stretching sensation should be kept to an absolute minimum.

Turn your palms to face up. Consider building up with blankets or pillows under your forearms, and for a great release in your overworked metacarpals, place something soft and heavy, like an eye pillow, in each palm. It feels nice to place something heavy on the belly as well.

Place an eye pillow or just a soft shirt or towel over your eyes to shut out the light. Do you have a favorite calming scent or oil? Use it! Are you slightly cool? Pull on a blanket! This is all about comfort. Time to bliss out.

Set your timer for as long as you can afford; 20 minutes would be great, but 5 will be beneficial, for sure. I recommend using a timer as defense against wandering thoughts that can otherwise lead you to obsess over how much time you have spent here and how much longer you should stay in this position.

Instead, let go of the mind chatter. Notice warmth, darkness, silence. Gently allow your attention to rest on your body, starting from the feet and scanning upward, inviting deep relaxation as you go: Relax your toes, insteps, ankles, shins, knees, and thighs. Soften the muscles of the belly, chest, and shoulders down through the forearm to the wrists, hands, and fingertips. Let the head and neck rest heavily on the pillow.

Then simply do less and less with your body and mind, until nothing is all you have left to do.

When you rejoin the world after several minutes in this gentle reverie, you will feel calm and recharged, ready to face the rest of your day or, if you practice in the evening, ready bed down for a deeply relaxing night’s rest. Heck, you deserve both!

Benefits of restorative savasana include stress reduction, lowered blood pressure, fewer headaches, better sleep, and alleviation of depression. For more information about restorative yoga, check out a friendly yoga studio near you (where a good teacher can show you how to use props to create perfectly comfortable poses), or renowned restorative yoga teacher Judith Hanson Lasater’s web site and books www.judithlasater.com.

Until next week, Namaste!

BIO: Sarah Jane Shangraw is a registered yoga teacher and science book editor. She practices vipassana and metta—two forms of early Buddhist meditation—and teaches yoga in the Boston area. She is interested in the intersection of yoga and health, and in particular the benefits of yoga for people with chronic conditions. She spends as much time as possible in the company of good friends, caring for those in her life who are facing health challenges, and traveling.

Pages:
1. 1