Teacher Training
Savasana is the Sanskrit name for Corpse Pose. It’s typically the last posture in any yoga sequence. In Savasana, you’re cued to lay all the way on your back, extend your legs out and allow your feet to fall open, face your plans up and close your eyes. CorePower Yoga and Bikram Yoga instructors will cue students to lay in Savasana anywhere from two to three minutes, at the end of class. This is the body’s time to absorb all of the benefits from the hard work it just did during class.
For me, Savasana means I’ve made it. By the time I reach Savasana, I know I achieved my goal of making it through another hot yoga/Bikram Yoga class. Now I get to celebrate by lying in complete stillness for a few minutes. Savasana gives me a chance to quietly gather my thoughts, tune in to see how my body feels, calm my heart rate down, catch my breath and reflect on how I did during class. It’s a great way for me to seal in my yoga practice before jumping back into my busy life on the other side of the studio door.
Some say Savasana is the most important pose in any yoga series because the goal of this posture to be completely still, both physically and mentally. Honestly, even though I think of Savasana as a nice, relaxing treat after a tough yoga class, it’s still one of the toughest postures for me to do correctly in any yoga series. I find it incredibly difficult to shut off my brain, especially after just exerting my best effort and sweating out of every pore in my body for either the last 60 or 90 minutes.
Sometimes the teacher may or may not use Savasana to finish telling a story that was started at the beginning of class or announce important studio information like upcoming classes, schedule changes or special promotions going in in the studio. I’ve experienced Savasana being used as an opportunity to air studio public service announcements in a Bikram Yoga class countless times. In CorePower Yoga classes, these announcements are usually made long after Savasana and after we’ve said “Namaste” as a class.
As a yoga teacher, I would gently guide my students into Savasana by giving them the cues to get into the posture. Once in the posture, I would remind my students that the goal of Savasana is to be completely still and free from distractions. Then I would remain silent for the entire duration of Savasana before gently guiding my students out of Savasana, giving them the option to stay in Savasana longer if they choose to do so.
I respect the fact that some of us need to stay in Savasana for a whole lot longer than two to three minutes. When I first started practicing Bikram Yoga, I’d remain in Savasana for up to 15 minutes after class had ended. At first it was because I wanted to miss the rush and hustle in the women’s changing room after class. Then once I realized how relaxed I got the longer I let myself stay in Savasana, the longer I wanted to remain in the pose. I’d either wake myself up with my own snoring or to the teacher cleaning and airing out the room for the next class. Whoops!