5 reasons why Savasana might be the most important part of your yoga practice.

Savasanahhhh. Or the slightly more creepy English translation, Corpse Pose. That 5 or so minutes at the end of a yoga practice where you just let go. Lying down long on the mat, covered and cosy, arms and legs spread out, eyes closed, totally relaxed. Or sometimes maybe thinking about what you’re going to make for dinner when you get home. Hey, we’ve all been there.

Sometimes Savasana is the pose in which we experience the most impatience or frustration. When we can’t stop thinking about the to-do list awaiting us off the mat, spending 5 whole minutes doing nothing can’t help but feel like, well, a bit of a waste of time. But I promise you, Savasana is the furthest thing from a waste of time. It’s actually possibly the most important yoga pose out there. Here are 5 reasons why it’s okay – or actually, necessary – to let the to-do list aside and let yourself let go in this beautiful, nourishing posture.

1. Balance is important.

After a fiery vinyasa class, we need some yin to our yang to help us cool down. Savasana marks the end of our physical yoga practice, allowing our heart rate and our breath to return to normal, our body temperature to cool before we return to our day off the yoga mat. (Note – this is also why it’s really nice to have some cosy socks and a blanket covering you for Savasana. Cool is good, but you don’t want to be cold).

2. It is a well-deserved rest.

In Savasana, you can’t buy your groceries. You can’t scroll through Instagram. You can’t check your email. We live in a world where we are constantly over-stimulated and being ‘busy’ is glorified beyond belief. You not only deserve, but need, some time away from that constant stimulation and just rest. Just be. A lot of us – myself included – often feel guilty when we let ourselves rest, when we’re not being constantly ‘productive’. In Savasana, we don’t have a choice. Rest is not optional. It’s kind of like being in an airplane. You have zero control over what’s going to happen, so you might as well just lay back and enjoy the ride.

3.You have time to notice what’s changed.

Savasana is the time when we can really let the nutrients of our practice soak in. All of that energy we’ve cultivated and released in our practice gets a chance to flow through our body and our bloodstream. Here you have time to notice all that your yoga practice has done for you. What has changed for you physically, mentally, and emotionally? If we walk out of a practice without having that vital time to notice and reflect, we’re missing out on something really special.

4. It can be really dang difficult…

And while not necessarily fun, it’s so important to do things we find difficult. If we are always running around, keeping busy, rarely even taking a walk without a podcast in our ears (I’m so guilty of this!) then the silence and vulnerability of Savasana will be HARD. Way harder than any headstand out there. But it’s so worth sticking with that difficulty and that discomfort, to come out on the other side. Learning to be able to sit with yourself in silence is one of the most valuable things yoga has taught me.

5. You get to start fresh.

Savasana, or Corpse Pose, is so called because it gives us a space to practice death. A place where we can come to accept our mortality without fear. A little morbid I know, but bear with me! In death, everything ceases to matter. How many pairs of fancy yoga pants we own. How many likes that last Instagram post got. What your job title is. We’re not attached to anything. And unlike in death, we get to roll out of Savasana and on with our lives. Maybe with a renewed sense of gratitude and knowing what’s really important to us 😊

So next time Savasana rolls around in your yoga class, try to approach it with the same respect, love, and curiosity you would any other yoga pose. Understand that you deserve this time to rest, rejuvenate, and let all of the benefits of your yoga practice soak in and do their thing. You’ll never regret a Savasana 🙂