Shavasana Yoga

How to perform shavasana correctly and to what music

Do you love shavasana as much as I do? I think yes. After all, this is a wonderful “dessert” in yoga: a pleasant and at the same time very useful completion of each class. We will have to lie down on the mat and not move at all for a long time. So, shavasana is a pose of rest, complete relaxation and recovery. A very important and obligatory asana in yoga.

Of course, we are talking about a special holiday. It is important not just to lie down, but to try to relax as much as possible: starting from the tips of your toes and ending with the crown of your head. To do this, internal attention will need to pass through each part of the body and at the same time discard all other thoughts: “I forgot to send an important letter”, “how not to be late for a meeting”, “what to cook for dinner?”.

If you want to get the full benefit of the Shavasana exercise, try not to think about business and problems at all. Stop making grand plans, evaluate the situation around you – devote this precious time only to yourself and just observe your thoughts, breathing and sensations in the body. And if you do everything right, then in a few minutes you will reach a special state of pleasant bliss, when your body both exists and seems to not exist. It becomes weightless. Such a rest removes all clamps, dissolves tension not only in the body, but also in the head, gives you energy and health. Heals.

Benefits of shavasana exercise

What else is so good about this pose. Here are the most obvious benefits:

• Gives quality deep rest
• Restores and renews the entire body
• Shavasana normalizes blood pressure, improves the functioning of the endocrine, respiratory, cardiovascular systems.
• Strengthens the results of yoga practice
• Calms the mind, makes it clear
• Gives a feeling of lightness and peace
• Improves mood, vivacity and energy appears
• Anxiety goes away
• By relaxing in this way, you become more resilient to daily stresses and negative emotions.
• It has been proven that wrinkles are smoothed out during shavasana. Asana restores youth and beauty
• Savasana promotes the removal of toxins from the body
• Improves sleep
• It also gives an incomparable feeling of complete flight!

“The ability to tame prana (the breath of life) depends on the state of the nervous system. Steady, even, fine and deep breathing and the absence of sudden movements calms the nervous system and mind. Stress, the scourge of modern civilization, affects the nervous system in the most detrimental way, and Savasana is the best counter to it. 

One of the great yogis of our time, Iyengar, in his book «Yoga-Deepika»

5 simple questions about shavasana

Preparing for Shavasana: Important Points

• Before practice, it is better to ventilate the room.
• Prepare a blanket and warm socks in advance so that during the rest you don’t freeze and don’t think about it, but relax in complete warmth and comfort.
• You don’t need a pillow for shavasana, you only need a yoga mat.
• Get ready for a pleasant vacation.

Shavasana technique

At the class, we worked for about an hour, or even more, on the mat, performing various asanas, and now, finally, it was time for a well-deserved rest. As far as you have worked as much as possible, now you will need to relax as much as possible.

1. We lay down on the rug.
2. We connect the heels and naturally spread the socks, after which the legs themselves will take a comfortable position for them.
3. Hands lie along the body without touching it. The palms are looking up.
4. Mentally “press” the spine into the floor, this will give you an extra push to relax. If your lower back is raised, try to bring it closer to the floor.
5. But no effort. It is important that you lie naturally, without tension and muscle clamps.
6. The eyes are closed.
7. Breathing is even and calm.
8. In this position, we begin to mentally pass our attention over each part of the body, relaxing it. We start from the big toe of the left foot. As you name each part of your body, feel how it becomes heavier and relaxes. From the legs we move on to the arms, buttocks, lower back, back, abdomen, chest and muscles of the shoulder girdle. Do not forget to relax the muscles of the neck, face, tongue, scalp. And now the eyes.
9. There is another way (suitable for those who have been in practice for a long time). You need to imagine that your body has suddenly become so heavy, heavy that it can push through the floor. Be sure to check if your neck, jaw, tongue, eyes are relaxed.

lead time

In a minute or two you will not be able to achieve complete relaxation. The best time for shavasana starts at 7 minutes. But if you have more time, then set a timer for 15-20 minutes, or even half an hour. Then the benefits of shavasana will be maximum.

Getting out of shavasana the right way!

So, now you know everything from the technique of performing shavasana. But there is another important point: how to exit the pose correctly. Please don’t jump up! No sudden movements, lifts – the slower and softer you “awake”, the more you will benefit from the Shavasana exercise.

1. First, take a deep breath.
2. Then wiggle your fingertips and toes.
3. Rub palm against palm, foot against foot.
4. Now stretch your arms behind your head and stretch well.
5. You can do cat stretches and twists: spread your arms to the sides and bring your left knee to the right side, then the right knee to the left.
6. Hug your knees, roll from side to side (beautiful pelvic massage).
7. Now roll the roller: from the coccyx to the top of the head (this is a very good massage of the entire spine). And do everything very smoothly. Roll from vertebra to vertebra, paying special attention to the neck. No jerks and no effort! Do a few of these rolls.
8. Sit on the mat in Easy Pose. And don’t be in a hurry to jump up. Sit in this state for a while. Feel it. And try after practice as long as possible to keep within yourself the newfound peace and harmony.