Print Print Email Email Comment Comment Add to Favorites
Log in to save to My Yoga Journal!
Add to Favorites
Bookmark Bookmark

Learn Savasana Inside and Out

Help your students fully experience the benefits of Corpse Pose, through the exploration of their anatomy.

By Julie Gudmestad

Ahhhhh, Savasana. Our students so look forward to it. They just flop down on the floor, and deep relaxation overtakes them—right? This is the one pose, they hope, for which they don't have to process detailed instructions, or fuss with props other than a blanket for warmth.

Or do they?

Actually, with just a little attention to setting up the pose, our students' experience of rest and replenishment can be deepened. And who doesn't need to get maximum benefit from their rest time? So many of our students come to class exhausted and depleted that Savasana may be the most important pose we teach them. Not to mention the fact that if they leave class feeling relaxed and refreshed, they're more likely to make it a priority to get to class every week.

The Set-up Counts

First, let's take a look at the big picture: How do your students place themselves in the room? Ideally, as the muscles relax in Savasana, the body should have room to spread freely on the floor, like an ice cube melting, losing its hard edges and forming a puddle. Any sense of being crowded by objects on the floor, or especially by another person, results in a subtle pulling-in action—there won't be complete letting go. Similarly, any body part touching a wall limits the sense of room to expand and leaves a subtle sense of compression rather than expansion. You may have to scan the room and invite students to move from a crowded area to one with more open space.

Now that your students are evenly spaced around the room, how can you help them use props to deepen their relaxation? It's important to remember that any pain, or even discomfort, results in muscle guarding and tension. So students will greatly appreciate any positioning that will help relieve pain and lead to a deeper sense of letting go. Lower back pain associated with hyperextension (overarching) is usually eased by supported bent knees, whether by a rolled blanket under the knees or a chair under the calves. This strategy works by putting slack in shortened hip flexors, including iliopsoas, so they don't tip the pelvis to the anterior and pull the lumbar spine forward into hyperextension. The knee-flexed position also decompresses the lower back and lengthens the muscles there. Conversely, students with a flat back, or those with lower back strain due to forward-bending activities such as yard work or housecleaning, might feel best with a small roll under the lower back to support the normal curve.

Page 1 2

Print Print Email Email Comment Comment Add to Favorites
Log in to save to My Yoga Journal!
Add to Favorites
Bookmark Bookmark

Subscribe to Yoga Journal Magazine

Reader Comments

Julia

I have had students ask me why we roll to our right side transitioning back up after Savasana.

Is there a praticular reason for this?

Mike Fabbro

This is a great article. Very insightful and helpful. Thank you.

Nancy Walters

I like your website, and I subscribe to the Yoga Mentor which is very good. You have something on the website which says you get a free wai lana yoga kit for completing a survey. This is not free. I went through the whole thing and you have to subscribe to something in order to get the kit. I wasted a lot of time on this today, thinking it was legitimate, and I don't think it speaks well of yoga journal to have this kind of junk on your website. I hope you reconsider and take it off.
Nancy Walters, nancywalters@rcn.com

Add a Comment »

Your Name:

Comment:

See All Anatomy Articles »

Subscribe and
Get 2 Free Issues
+ 2 Free Gifts!

Give a Gift »

Join Yoga Journal's Benefits Plus

Liability insurance and benefits to support teachers and studios.

Learn More »

Enter to Win Great Prizes!

Enter to Win Great Prizes! Enter to Win Great Prizes! Prizes include a Yoga Journal conference pass, yoga mats, clothes, books, jewelry, energy bars, Yoga Journal DVDs, and more...

Enter Now »
Get 2 FREE Trial Issues and 2 FREE Gifts
FREE Gifts!

Your subscription includes:

Yoga to the Rescue: Poses for a Headache:
Got a pounding headache? This sequence of supported poses can send it packing.

Yoga to the Rescue: Poses for Stress:
The next time you find your nerves frazzled, use this rejuvenating flow sequence to relieve the effect of stress.

Yes! Please send me 2 FREE trial issues of Yoga Journal and my 2 FREE GIFTS

Full Name
Address
Address 2
City
State
Zip
Email (req)

If I like it and decide to continue, I’ll pay just $15.95, and receive a full one-year subscription (9 issues in all), a 64% savings off the newsstand price! Otherwise, I’ll write cancel on the invoice and owe nothing.

Offer valid in US only.
Canadian subscriptions | International subscriptions

Save 64% off the cover price


Pay Now and Get 2
Bonus Issues

Pay now and get
TWO EXTRA ISSUES FREE!
That's 11 issues for the
same low price!
Click Here to PAY NOW!