Savasana: “the most difficult pose to master”

 

Savasana, or corpse pose is the bridge between the external practice to the internal practice (bahiranga to antaranga). It is the linking pose between Asana and Pranayama (breath/vital energy control). It is one of the few asanas where one can attain Pratyahara (detachment from the senses). In short, it is arguably one of the most valuable postures in Yoga. But because of its absence of physical challenge, it becomes very difficult for the aspirant to stop the mind chatter (citta vritti) which is one of the major aims of true Yoga practice. Because of this, BKS Iyengar often referred to Savasana as “the most difficult pose to master.” Here is a brief tutorial:

Props needed are a sticky mat, a strap, and a blanket

Lay the sticky mat flat

And use the strap as an intersecting line. This will be a guide for the spine.

Sit on the sticky mat with knees bent and both feet on the strap.

Symmetrically roll the spine down the strap measuring vertabrae by vertebrae.

When the head touches the ground see that the chin does not project back like seen in the photo. If your neck does this you need a folded blanket…

You can now see the neck is soft here.

Using a chopstick, the measurement should be that the forehead should be well above the chin so the crease in the neck deepens.

Now grasp the sides of the sticky mat and push the hands towards the feet. This lifts the chest.

Keeping the feet along the midline…

Slide one foot out at a time

And let both feet fall to the side.

 

Now release the arms

And take them to a 60 degree angle away from the torso

From the base of the arms, roll them externally pressing the index finger knuckle to the floor to spread the sternal area

Then gradually let go of all effort, closing the eyes

To create softness in the face, and block out light, you can gently lay the strap over the eyes.

To come out bend the knees to the chest and roll to the right, propping yourself back to a seated position.

In Light On Pranayama by BKS Iyengar, he dedicates 22 pages to teaching this pose (more than any other Asana). In subsequent years he had also taught many more refinements. So my demonstration is just the tip of the iceberg.

Pratyahara, the forgotten limb of Yoga

Pratyahara, detachment from the senses, is the necessary condition for the inner work of Yoga. I reflect often on the fifth limb of Yoga and even try to cultivate it whenever possible. However, I feel this limb takes a beating in the West. Through advertising, music, and technological gadgetry, Western culture is fixated on maxing out our senses instead of withdrawing from them. This is even true for Yoga classes of modern times.

I am in no position to comment on other practices as I am still quite a novice of my own. That being said, there is a mass fixation on the “playlist” for yoga teachers in modern yoga classes. It is even taught in some teacher trainings how to compose a mix of songs to motivate students. I have never read in the Sutras that in order for one to teach, one needs to be a DJ.

I have to admit that in the beginning, music is fun with Asana. I have had many home sessions listening to John Coltrane and found myself more deeply absorbed in certain parts of A Love Supreme than I would have if I were casually listening to it in my car. And that’s exactly the problem with music and Asana: you are doing music, not Yoga.

Pratyahara is detachment from the senses (the repeating of the phrase here is deliberate). This is what separates Yoga from Crossfit. This is what makes Yoga the internal practice that used to attract people. Now people are attracted to the practice because of the physical benefits. In fact so many people are attracted to Yoga because of the physical benefits, it’s hard to convince them that there are other parts. Even Pranayama (without Asana) would be barely tolerable at the corner Lululemon free Sunday class. A teacher who taught that would have students walking out in droves and wouldn’t be invited back to teach the next week to make room for the Power Turbo X2000-Yoga Workfit™ guy.

The world is changing rapidly. We are bombarded with horrendous images on our TV and computer screens from events around the world. We are bombarded with stimuli on our cell phones. In traffic, we are bombarded with stimuli from our car stereo and from billboards. At the traffic light people text. While driving people still text. Then we get to Yoga class. Playlist.

When I was in teacher training, the trainees all had an interesting discussion at lunch about what we say to our students while they are in Savasana. Some of the teachers said they talked about the breath. Some talked about linking the practice to the mind. All are acceptable. I got laughed out of the discussion when I said I don’t say a word. I make the adjustments that need to be made, and then shut my trap for ten minutes. As unpopular as it may seem, I am allowing my students ten minutes to at least get a glimpse of Pratyahara.

Yoga is subversive to Western culture. It is not about feeding the consciousness more noise. It is about learning to be deeply with oneself for extended periods of time until the practitioner connects with the true self. I wrote about a study that shows people would rather receive an electric shock than to be alone for 15 minutes with no cellphone or magazines. By blasting people with music in Yoga class, we are just reinforcing this low grade ADHD that permeates our culture.

Music has it’s place, don’t get me wrong. It is quite sacred for me. I collect vinyl records and spent a good mint on a new Benz cartridge. I often spend hours in the record store flipping through LPs like I did when I was a kid. Now I just keep music sacred and separate from my other sacred activity: Yoga.

 

Is Your Practice Too Rajasic?

Now that I have more time on my hands during the holidays, I have been able to get to some leisurely reading. Among the books I have picked up are Benjamin Lorr’s “Hell Bent” a book that is critical of the Bikram Choudury teacher training program. The writer is in a seminar called the “Back Bending Club” with one of Bikram’s senior students. They are training for a “yoga competition.” Here is an excerpt:

“The women are doing backbends so severe their ribs are popping out of place. The chiropractor pops them back in and the women return for more backbends. I know this because as one of the only people with a car, I drive them to and from the studio when it happens.”

Excerpt From: Benjamin Lorr. “Hell-Bent.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/jrm0E.l

If you are having to go to a doctor regularly for you to maintain your practice, my guess is that your practice is too Rajasic. Rajas are one of the three Gunas of yoga that corresponds to frenetic, firey energy.  Your practice may not so intense that your chiropractor is factored into your commute home from the studio, but if you have elements of recurring pain that you know is stemming from your asana practice, it is time to reevaluate.

Yoga practice should be intelligent. You should be discovering how your body works (Swadhayaya) instead of pushing your body until you have to visit a doctor just to function properly. Intelligent practice would be recognizing that your ribs are being damaged, questioning yourself why you are doing poses to perform in a competition, and realize that your true nature is to do yoga to gain health to help others, instead of boasting in a contest.

When you are injuring your body for the sake of a yoga competition, you are not adhering to the Yamas and Niyamas. The rib-maligned students from the excerpt were not practicing Ahimsa (non harming), Aparigraha (non greediness), and Santosa (contentment). They were mired in the Kleshas or the obstacles to yoga because their intent was to win a contest, rather than to remove the fog that is covering their true being.

A good way to bring your practice from Rajasic to Sattvic (balanced) is to focus on one clan of poses every week. For example, the first week of the month do Utthistha Sthithi (standing poses), the second week do Paschima Pratana Sthithi (forward bends), the third do Purva Pratana Sthithi (backbends), the fourth miscellaneous poses, and the fifth week Visranta Karaka Sthithi (restorative poses) and Pranayama. In many ways you satisfy Rajasic tendencies by getting deeper into poses that you avoid or don’t have time to do in your practice. By changing the type of poses each you do each week, you move towards Sattvas by having a sense of balance in your practice.

An important part of this cycle is the restorative week. This is where you can move toward the higher limbs of yoga aside from asana. By doing Pranayama (regulation of prana via the breath), you can cultivate Pratyahara (detachment from the senses), and Dharana (concentration).

In restorative week you can also hold poses longer which cultivates other parts of your practice, mainly patience and forebearance. You can work at “building time” in Sirsasana (head pose), Supta Virasana (reclined hero pose), and Baddha Konasana (bound angle pose). Working to build time is very different than trying to attain a backbend at the expense of your ribcage.

There is a time and a place for Rajas. During the holidays, we tend to lean towards Tamas, or dull lethargy. The reason why I am posting this topic is because once the New Year celebration is over, many people will return to the gyms and the studios with zealous enthusiasm. Just remember that jumping into a Rajasic practice after a period of Tamas is a good recipe for injury.