“I’m Only Here for the Savasana”

…it’s not just a t-shirt, plus 3 reasons to NOT skip the most important part of your practice.

When I first saw “I’m only here for the savasana” scrawled across a cotton tank in trendy metallic script font, I thought to myself, oh, these lazy people just want to lie on their backs and do nothing (which is true on the one hand), but, on the other hand, in our western culture, we somehow think we need to earn the right to spend 3-8 minutes just doing nothing (also true!). My mind kept oscillating between the idea of modern practitioners being lazy and the idea of modern practitioners craving permission to rest and relax. All this thinking led me to write this entire article about savasana—corpse pose—for you here on my blog. Keep reading below for 3 reasons why you should NOT skip savasana—corpse pose— in your yoga practice.

1. It’s the essential practice of surrender.

In Yoga Sutra 1.2, we read that “yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.” What is your mind like when you initially step onto your yoga mat? Maybe it goes something like this—I need to buy milk, my job is boring, why did she say that to me? Next time I’ll tell her… and so on.

But then a few minutes of mindful movement goes by, and the fluctuations of the mind begin to settle. We breathe. We move. This movement through the postures, the asanas, helps to move energetic “stuff” not only through our bodies, but also through our minds, too.

And THEN. After all this mindful movement, we arrive at savasana at the end of the sequence. This is the sacred opportunity to stop moving and rest into the most important pose—corpse pose. Finally, at the end of the journey of the class, we get to rest. In this moment of peace, we get to integrate the learnings of the class, of the day, and of our lives. Truly this is the main event. Savasana is not to be skipped. You don’t need to “earn” the right to rest, and now you know it is so much more than that.

2. It’s disrespectful to the teacher and other students.

Despite all the bliss described above in number 1, many people cheat themselves. They roll up the mat and leave the room just as everyone is settling into savasana, the pose of final rest. Not only is this disruptive for other yogis and disrespectful to the teacher, it also disregards the completion of your practice. Yoga studios have varying policies around leaving class before savasana. If you know you must leave class early, make sure to let your teacher know before class begins, and roll up your mat during the cool down so that you can leave quietly before the class has settled into savasana. But I ask you—Do you really need to leave? Ask yourself why you are skipping out… 

3. Each yoga class is an experiential metaphor for the entire life cycle.

While moving onto the mat, in that nano-second before stepping my right foot and then my left from the floor onto my 4mm of recycled rubber into my asana practice, I set an intention to allow the day to recede and to notice shifts that may occur in the next 60 minutes. I settle into child’s pose, balasana. Forehead to mat. Hips to heels. I begin the practice’s cycle in child’s pose. Then I stand in mountain pose, tadasana. Feet together, inhale…arms up, gaze at thumbs. Exhale… palms to heart center. I make my way through the standing poses—the warriors, the triangles, the side angles, the pyramids. I glide on my belly and roll over onto my back. The sequence ends in corpse pose, savasana. An entire lifetime occurs in one yoga session on my mat.  

It is all about the savasana. It’s the bliss—the ananda— we feel after 60, 75, 90 minutes of asana practice.

Savasana is the most important pose – why?

Because in savasana, we do nothing other than exist. We have nowhere to go. Nothing to do. What about your life won’t allow you to just be, for three to eight minutes? Is there a similar pattern in the rest of your life’s relationships or activities?

I invite you to trust corpse pose. To practice surrendering. To practice releasing the person you were just an hour ago. To practice softening. To practice allowing the earth to hold you…palms up.. non-grasping… releasing.

At times, in savasana, I have felt I was floating above the mat. My body feels lighter, unmoored from the (seemingly) heavy burdens of daily life – which honestly, are not that heavy, it's just the stories I grow, the judgments I form, and my attachments to outcomes that make it all seem heavy.

In savasana I have felt whole, complete, and still.

At the end of savasana we wiggle fingers and toes and reach our arms up overhead. We draw our knees to our chest and roll over onto one side into the fetal shape—a rebirth of the day. You are not the same person who stepped onto your mat at the beginning of the practice. There is discovery. There may be hope. There may be less suffering. And maybe even bliss. And so yes, I guess I am here for the savasana.

What about you? Have you seen the “I’m just here for the savasana” t-shirts, too? Do you roll up your mat and leave while the rest of the class is in savasana? Do you understand the energetic and philosophical significance of corpse pose? I’d love to have you contact me with your inquiry here.