the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in New York City. “Savasana
is an important time for students to assimilate all the benefits
from the practice of asanas. During Savasana, there is a complete
recharge and rejuvenation of the body, mind, and spirit.”
✩^ the beginning of the end
According to Aadil Palkhivala, founder of Alive and Shine Cen-
ter in Bellevue, Washington, Savasana is real yoga—defined as
an “act of union” between your “self with a small s, your ego, and
your Self with a capital S—the spirit.” Because you’re encouraged
to release your mind’s occupation with the distractions of daily
life, “Savasana is conducive to making that connection,” he says.
Of course, simply assuming Corpse Pose will not in itself
make the connection be tween the small-s self and the capital-
S Self for you. But one of yoga’s promises is that if you live
your life with the intention to closely observe yourself with as
much honesty as you can, the union of self and Self can truly
be forged. Savasana creates the space for that quiet reflective
inquiry and that union.
I admit that my ego is far from integrated with spirit: My
male ego in class eagerly shows off my proficiency in Plank and
Chaturanga, the only two poses I’m convinced that I can do
“better” than my female classmates, who are far more flexible
and adept than I am. Still, even though I’m far from perfect,
I can feel perfectly at peace in Savasana. In Savasana, Friend
says, “the spirit, the very essence of our being, is not clinging
or caught in the physical realm.”
✩ rest in peace
Savasana’s success starts not with instruction, but location:
“You want a place that is quiet, somewhat dark ... a place that is
comfortable yet stable,” Friend says. These conditions will help
foster what he calls “an internal drawing in and settling” that
helps clear the deck for the Savasana voyage.
Then comes a careful positioning of your body. Savasana,
I discovered, is not just lying on the floor. “What’s really im -
portant for a good Savasana is to lie in a neutral position,” says
Richard Rosen, a Yoga Journal contributing editor and Bay
Area yoga instructor. “Your head should lie square and equi-
distant from each shoulder.” Arms should be by your sides, at a
45-degree angle relative to the torso. (This keeps your shoulders
loose and your breathing unrestricted.) It also means lying in
a straight line, with your arms or legs not tilted or bent to one
side, and your head not drooping. “Stay in line as much as pos-
sible,” suggests Palkhivala. “Energy flows in smooth lines. So if
your head is crooked, your pelvis is tilted to one side, and your
body looks like a serpent, the energy won’t flow.”
Are you comfortable? Straight, balanced, and relaxed as you
lie on the floor of a still, dark room? Wonderful. Now comes
the real work and pleasure of Savasana. “This is the time to go
inside and find the spirit within,” Palkhivala says.
Good luck, if you’re anything like me.
“It’s hard to stop the mind from wandering,” Rosen acknowl-
edges. “You have to continuously back off from your thoughts.
Try to withdraw and look at them from above.”✩ 1,000 ways to die
The Savasana experience can be as diverse as the yogis who
teach it. Maria, my teacher at Om Tara, creates a warm and
comfortable atmosphere for Savasana in our Thursday classes.
She draws the blinds, drapes us with blankets, places eye pillows
on us, and allows Corpse Pose to unfold in silence.
Jeff Logan, a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher, does it a bit dif-
ferently at his studio, Body & Soul Fitness and Yoga Center in
Huntington, New York. Savasana with him is peaceful but not
quiet. He talks the class through a systematic relaxation of jaws,
arms, hands, abdomen, and legs, encouraging us to “let go” of
our tongue, ears, and skin. At the end, Jeff asks each of us to lie
in a fetal position—“like a newborn,” he says. After he brings
us up into a seated position, he invites us to open our eyes and
greet the world around us like a reborn child.
This idea of Corpse Pose as a symbolic rebirth is intriguing.
In Jeff ’s class, I ran with it. Like an infant, what I wanted to
do now was eat. So, having thought about nothing, I started
to calmly observe that I was thinking about lunch. Having
successfully been a fidget-free corpse, I was ready to go about
my day as an even more fully functioning, self-observing, live
human being ... with a little help from a well-done Savasana.✤John Hanc writes for Newsday in New York and is a contributing
editor to Runner’s World magazine.YOGA TODAY YOGAJOURNAL.COM 85
relaxation & meditation