Plenty of people skip Savasana, writing it off as plain rest, even though it's the part that completes a practice. Step-by-step technique and props for the pose are on the pose page. This article is about the skill of relaxing itself: why Savasana matters, why lying still is so hard and how to get better at it.
The app's text comes first, followed by techniques for a restless mind.
Savasana is the pose of complete relaxation that ends every practice. On the outside, it's simply lying on your back, but tradition calls it one of the hardest asanas: it's easy for the body to lie down and hard for the mind to stop.
Why you need it. During practice, the body receives a lot of new input: stretching, strength work, unfamiliar positions. Savasana is the integration phase, when the nervous system “saves” the results. Skipping it is like shutting down a computer without saving your file.
Even after a short practice, leave at least two or three minutes for it.
How to do it:
— Lie on your back, legs slightly wider than hip-width apart, arms alongside your body, palms up. If your lower back feels tense, place a bolster under your knees.
— Move your attention through your body from the bottom up: feet, legs, pelvis, belly, chest, arms, shoulders, neck, face. Notice each area and let it go. Pay special attention to your jaw, tongue, and eyes: that's where the most tension hides.
— Let go of controlling your breath. Let it be however it wants to be.
— Thoughts will come, and that's normal. Don't fight them: notice, let go, and return to the sense of your body's heaviness.
Coming out of Savasana matters just as much: deepen your breath, wiggle your fingers, stretch, roll onto your right side, and only then gently sit up. Getting up abruptly erases half the effect.
Why Relaxing Is Hard
Your mind is used to getting a new task every second. When your body goes still, attention goes looking for something to do: plans, conversations, to-do lists. That isn't a mistake, and it doesn't mean Savasana isn't working for you. Relaxation is a skill here, and it grows with repetition, just like flexibility or balance.
Your body can get in the way too. If there wasn't enough time to cool down after the active part, your heart is still beating fast and lying motionless is hard. That's why sequences usually put gentle poses on your back right before Savasana, such as the Supine Twist or Knees-to-Chest Pose.
Techniques for a Restless Mind
- Count your exhales from ten down to one. If you lose track, start over at ten.
- Listen to sounds: first the distant ones outside the window, then those close by in the room, then your own breath.
- Let each exhale run slightly past the length of the inhale, as in Full Yogic Breath, and after a minute drop the count.
- Before Savasana, spend a few minutes in Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose. That's how Before Bed and Yin Practice wrap up, for example.
If Lying on Your Back Is Uncomfortable
You can do Savasana on your belly instead: that's Crocodile Pose, with your forehead resting on your folded arms. From the second trimester of pregnancy, lying face down isn't an option. Another choice is to lie on your side with a pillow between your knees.
Only one condition really matters: your body shouldn't be holding anything up.
Savasana and Yoga Nidra
An extended Savasana with spoken guidance that walks your attention through the body and through images is called yoga nidra. It runs longer than the usual closing relaxation of a class and is practiced on its own.
Hatha Yoga