My Struggle with Savasana?.... What's the point!

I remember my first yoga class about 8 years ago…. Having first tried it at home in my bedroom using flashcards I wasn’t too sure it was for me. However, a few of my friends had jumped on the yoga train and it was all they could talk about so I decided to give it a proper go and signed up for some classes in my local studio. I was surprised by how much I liked it, but I have to be honest it was definitely all about the physical aspect to start.

The teacher was talking about moving with your breath, I didn’t really see the point in that, so I just stuck with twisting my body into the crazy shapes the teacher was demonstrating. Having done a lot of gymnastics and dance growing up flexibility wasn’t really the challenge for me- it was those few minutes at the end where the teacher told us to lie down and relax, to switch off our minds and let go of all thoughts and come into relaxation…. Savasana. From my first class this was a struggle for me! Looking back now I can see the biggest change that has happened on my yoga journey is my ability to switch off, to focus on my breath and leave the hustle and bustle of my every day life off the mat- both during the class and in Savasana. However, it is definitely not a challenge I have managed to conquer but more like an ongoing battle that still manages to get one up on me now and again.

It’s funny, as a teacher I see it in most of my classes with my students- it comes to Savasana and there is such a divide in the room- the students who switch off instantly and are almost asleep before you say the word Savasna, the students who take a little time to settle, do some stretches and try out a few different positions before they can lie still and then the people who are counting down the seconds until I say ‘start to take some nice gentle movements’ and they spring back up to sit, rushing to get back to their busy day. This last yogi, was me and sometimes still is. For the first 18months at least after I started practicing yoga regularly I used to wish away that relaxation time at the end of class. I just didn’t see the point of it. For the first few months I got quite agitated waiting for the teacher to sit us all up, and then I thought I had cracked it and I used the time to plan the rest of my day- to sort out the to do’s bouncing around in my head, decide what I needed for dinner…. I could go on! Don’t worry I know how crazy it sounds but at the time I felt it was the best way to use my time. I just couldn’t switch off.

I say my struggle with Savasana because this is really what it was… I used to look around the room and see the other students flaked out and wish I could do the same but for some reason I couldn’t get there. However my ‘aaaaaahhhhh’ moment came totally unexpectedly in a class one day when I lay down in Savasna and really felt my body start to feel heavy, I was tired, drained from work and I just took some nice deep breaths and felt my body totally relax. I know it sounds simple but this really was a massive moment for me… I left the class floating, feeling calm and content and for once not rushing a hundred miles an hour to get on with the next thing in my day. I walked back to my car at the slowest pace I think I have ever walked at and that night I slept better than I had in months. From that class on Savasana went from being a wasted few minutes of class to being one of the most important elements of the class for me. When I think of it now I smile to myself when I think of how questioned the purpose of Savasana…

So as I have come to appreciate and value Savasana at the end of every yoga class I do still struggle sometimes to find the off switch. I don’t beat myself up over it I just know that sometimes I have a lot going on in my head and I can still find it difficult to let go and totally relax. But rather than get frustrated I just take the time to breathe. I did a workshop last week with one of my favourite teachers and I was really surprised that when it came to Savasana I could not shut down. I was over thinking it, couldn’t get comfortable, I was too hot, too cold, had an itch, needed to stretch… you name it! It seemed my body was fighting it in every way it could, so I just smiled to myself and used the time to breathe. The teacher had said in the class to let your breath be like music, so I just lay there and smiled.

After so many years and so many yoga classes it seems Savasana still likes to show me it can’t be taken for granted!

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