Showing posts with label Savasana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Savasana. Show all posts

Saturday, November 16, 2013

30 Days of Relaxation - Day 30

Today is International Restorative Yoga Day (see this website for more info: www.restorativeyogaday.org). I hope you can find a local Restorative Yoga class to attend. If you are in Duluth, MN, please join me at Yoga North this morning, 8:00-9:15 am for Restorative Yoga. If you are doing a home practice, here is a final sequence to enjoy.

Legs on a Chair
For details on how to do this pose click here.

Supported Reclining Twist
For details on how to do this pose click here.

Enjoy Supported Child’s Pose
For details on how to do this pose click here.

Supported Savasana + listen to a free relaxation practice from Dr. Baxter Bell (link below).
Click here for 4 free guided relaxation practices.

Enjoy your day and your new habit of relaxation. Nicely done!



Monday, October 25, 2010

On Solid Ground ~ Part VIII

Here's the sixth and final of the Restorative poses from Yoga Journal's article (Winter 2010 - link at bottom of page).

Reverse Savasana (Corpse Pose), variation

By Karen Macklin
Sequence by Jillian Pransky

This reversed variation can feel more secure for someone who feels vulnerable in Savasana. Lie on your belly. Turn your head to the right. Bring your arms out to the side, elbows bent. Take your right knee out to the side. If needed, place a blanket for cushioning and support under the right arm, knee, thigh, belly, or all four. Cover your entire body with a blanket, including the exposed soles of your feet. After a couple of minutes, turn your head to the other side and switch the position of the knees. Stay here 5 to 10 minutes, releasing your whole front body into the ground.


Sara's Note: This is the last pose in the sequence. If you would like to read the entire article at Yoga Journal's website click here. I love how many blankets and bolsters have been used in this sequence. The more comfortable you can make yourself, the more your body can soften. Enjoy.



Friday, October 22, 2010

On Solid Ground ~ Part VII

Here's the fifth of the Restorative poses from Yoga Journal's article (Winter 2010 - link at bottom of page).

Savasana (Corpse Pose)

By Karen Macklin
Sequence by Jillian Pransky

Savasana can be a very expansive pose, especially when done with the legs wide apart and the arms away from the side body. Keeping the legs and arms a little closer to the body encourages a more contained feeling.

Roll up a blanket and place it alongside a wall. Lie down with the soles of your feet against the blanket. Place an additional rolled blanket or bolster under your knees to encourage the thighbones to drop deeper into your pelvis. This helps release tension in the iliopsoas and allows the pelvis to rest more heavily on the ground. Place a folded blanket over your belly to release tension and weigh the hips down even more. Rest your arms by your sides.

If your upper back and shoulders are rolled toward your heart and don't rest heavily on the floor, fill in the space with towels or blankets so you feel firm support all the way up the torso to the neck and head. Support your cervical curve with a small rolled towel and place a folded blanket under the head to create a cradling effect. Your chin should be perpendicular to the floor, and your throat should feel open and tension free. With each exhalation allow the earth to fully hold each part of your body: your heels, thighs, pelvis, upper back, and head. Once you feel completely connected to the ground, rest your mind on the waves of your breath. Stay in the pose for 5 to 15 minutes.

Sara's Note: Stayed tuned for more poses or, if you would like to read the entire article at Yoga Journal's website click here. Next pose is Reversed Savasana (Final Resting Position, alternate).

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

On Solid Ground ~ Part VI

Here's the fourth of the Restorative poses from Yoga Journal's article (Winter 2010 - link at bottom of page).

Side-Lying Savasana and Jathara Parivartanasana (Side-Lying Corpse Pose and Revolved Abdomen Pose), variation

By Karen Macklin
Sequence by Jillian Pransky

Twists are generally good for the nervous system, but some twists can make breathing feel constricted, which can be anxiety provoking. This gentle, supported twist allows more room for the breath to come into the rib cage and belly.

Start by lying on your left side with your feet at a wall and your back against a bolster that is at least as high as your spine. Bend your right knee to 90 degrees and support your right knee and shin with a bolster or folded blankets so that the right leg is as high as the right hip; rest the sole of your left foot against the wall.

Next, place folded blankets under your top arm and hand to lift them to the height of your shoulder. Finally, tuck a folded blanket under your head and neck to lift your head in line with the spine. Rest here, in Side-Lying Savasana, for 2 to 5 minutes.

To move into the twist, roll your torso to the right over the bolster, keeping your right arm fully supported by it from shoulder blade to fingers. Your right hand should be no lower than the height of your right shoulder. If you have tightness in your shoulder or chest, try placing more support under your arm until your hand is higher than your shoulder. You should not feel a stretch, but rather as though your chest is open and your breath is fluid. Stay in the twist for 2 to 5 minutes. Repeat on the other side. 

Sara's Note: Stayed tuned for more poses or, if you would like to read the entire article at Yoga Journal's website click here. Next pose is Savasana (Final Resting Position).

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Supported Corpse Pose ~ Salamba Savasana

Enjoy Supported Savasana Pose


I always conclude my Restorative class with Supported Savasana. I encourage my students to go nuts and prop themselves in all the ways that would support their body's comfort. This picture only shows a bolster under the legs and an eye pillow but you can get really creative with supporting yourself.

Here's some ideas for increasing comfort and adding support (you don't have to do them all - but you could try for fun):
  • A small roll under the low back for lumbar support
  • A small roll under each wrist
  • A small roll under the neck and/or a pillow under the head
  • A small roll under the ankles
  • Add a sandbag over the pelvis to encourage the hip flexors to let go
  • Add a sandbag on each shoulder to encourage releasing tension
  • Add a sandbag over the diaphragm to increase breath awareness 
  • A blanket over the whole body to keep warm

I'm sure there are more tips and techniques out there but this is a great place to start. Stay in Supported Savasana for as long as you like, encourage the mind to focus on the breath: the feeling of the breath in the body, where the breath is in the body, where can't the breath get to in the body, the feeling of the breath entering and leaving the nostrils or the feeling of the breath bellowing the belly and the belly falling back into the body on each inhale and exhale. Let the mind settle into breath awareness as the body settles into stillness.

Enjoy!

Read more about Savasana here.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Corpse Pose ~ Savasana

What is Savasana?

This article is excerpted from Iyengar Yoga Resources. See below for link. The image is from Kona Yoga. Click on image to see their site.

At the end of our asana practice we lie down, feet fallen outward, breath long, hands facing the sky, for savasana, corpse pose. By all accounts, corpse pose is considered the most difficult posture, as we posture the mind and body to imitate a corpse. “Most difficult for students,” says Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, “not waking, not sleeping.”

While a busy mind is a consequence of overpushing in yoga postures, then it’s opposite is deep sleep during corpse pose. However, corpse pose exists in the middle space between sleep and effort.

When we are new to practice, the experience of savasana is simply a rest after the arduous practice of bending, stretching, and twisting the body into various shapes. At first, savasana becomes just another form, but a form seemingly void of technique, concept and application.

In savasana, we let go of any particular breathing technique and simply allow the breath to move through its inherent inhaling and exhaling pattern. As the breath finds its way through the open channels of the body, the mind does so as well, by weaving itself into the strands of thought and sensation that flow through the body. When the breath is free, the mind is free. When the breath is allowed to move naturally, the mind settles into itself. When the mind relaxes, the tongue and palette become spacious, the roof of the mouth lifts and hollows and the central core of the body opens.

To read the whole article click here.

Sara's note: I think this is so interesting. While some folks leave class before Savasana, I know most folks like the relaxation at the end of class. But to delve deeply into the pose isn’t something we practice much. I only have a few students who fall asleep in Savasana but who knows how many have whirling minds?

Interestingly, at the end of Restorative class I don’t think I have ever had anyone fall asleep in Savasana. Maybe it is because the entire practice is so introspective that their minds are already in Savasana mode vs. a regular class where Savasana is just rest at the end.