Savasana (final relaxation) is such an essential and yummy practice it is surprising how often we, or our students, skip it or only give it a short amount of time. Sava translates as corpse in Sanskrit, and asana is pose or seat. Savasana creates a sweet state of relaxation, a sense of peace and a feeling of completion. It is a daily reminder for us to create balance in our lives, to bring release to our effort, stillness to our motion, and to balance our actions with surrender.

Savasana is a time for relaxation, integration, rejuvenation and reflection. Relaxation comes as a conscious choice, a time we set aside exclusively for letting go. It is the complete absence of goal,  intention or focus that creates the conditions for Savasana, allowing the innate intelligence and healing capacity of the body and mind to emerge.

Savasana creates the time and space to allow integration of the physical and mental effort of an asana practice, the subtle harmonizing of energy and mind states after pranayama, and the gentle transitioning from meditation back to the world.

Deep reflection needs time and space and, I would argue, a consistent and regular timeframe in which it can occur. Reflection is something we get better at over time, just as we become more skilled at practicing Trikonasana, we get better at being able to drop quickly and deeply into relaxation, set aside mundane distractions and let our minds come into a state that is reflective. This reflective state is an expansive mindset, allowing for remarkable insight and creativity.

Savasana is corpse pose: it is a time to practice ever-deeper layers of letting go. Letting go necessitates moving past evaluation and judgment of what has come before; no need here for the process of deciding good or bad, wanting or regretting. We practice accepting what is, ourselves exactly as we are in this moment. We experience, however briefly, selfless-ness, releasing our ego’s need for an agenda or future plans, memory or history. We observe the mind resting its attention on this one inhale and then this exhale. At some point we arrive at being able to peacefully meditate on exhaling for the last time, contemplating taking our own last breath. Thus, when we are ready, physically, emotionally and spiritually, Savasana is a time to consider and make peace with the quintessential act of letting go, our own death.

Ultimately the depth of release that this practice creates reveals an attitude, conscious or not, of beginning again, starting, as if from scratch, anew. Savasana teaches us that it is through letting go that all things are possible. The more we allow ourselves to let go, the more completely we surrender, the more we open to life.