Corpse Pose (Savasana)

Pronunciation and meaning

Savasana: shah-VAHS-uh-nuh. It is often written Shavasana, and the stress falls on the second syllable.

Sava means corpse and asana means posture. You lie flat on your back and stop doing anything at all, so the body can take in the practice that came before it.

How to do Corpse Pose

1. Sit on the mat with your knees bent, then lower your back down one part at a time until your head rests on the floor.
2. Straighten your legs one at a time and let them fall a little wider than your hips, with the feet flopping open.
3. Rest your arms a hand's width away from your sides with the palms facing up, and draw the shoulder blades gently under you so the chest feels broad.
4. Lengthen the back of your neck by tucking the chin down a touch. If the chin points at the ceiling, put a folded blanket under your head.
5. Close your eyes and let the breath go back to its own rhythm. Stay for five to ten minutes.
6. To come out, deepen the breath, move your fingers and toes, roll onto your right side and rest there for a few breaths before pressing up to sit.

Make it easier

• Place a bolster or a rolled blanket under your knees if your lower back aches when the legs are straight.
• If lying flat does not feel good, bend your knees and let them rest against each other with the feet wide on the floor.

Pregnancy and after birth

Pregnancy. Adapt. From the second trimester, many OBs and midwives advise against lying flat on your back for long, so rest on your left side with a pillow between the knees and one under the head, or recline on a bolster propped on blocks. Ask your OB or midwife what is right for you.

After birth. Adapt. Savasana is usually one of the first things you can return to, but let your doctor or midwife clear you before a full practice. A pillow under the knees takes pressure off the lower back and belly, and side-lying is fine if you are nursing or sore.

For more on practising through pregnancy, see Joahnna Lee Yoga.

Common mistakes

• Skipping it to save time. The minutes of stillness at the end are part of the practice, not a bonus.
• Sitting straight up at the end. Roll to the side first so the blood pressure and the head have time to catch up.
• Lying under a cold aircon draught with nothing over you, so the body tenses instead of resting.

Savasana looks like the easiest posture on the mat, and for many people it is the hardest to do well, because it asks you to stop. Most classes close with it, and some teachers add a little sound healing to bring the practice to a quiet end.

If rest is what you need most, restorative yoga spends much of its time in savasana and the supported shapes that lead into it. Many of those shapes are gathered in the yoga poses lying down, on the mat or in bed, and Savasana closes the gentle yoga poses for bloating too.

Why is it called Corpse Pose?

Corpse Pose is the plain English translation of Savasana, from sava, a corpse. The name can sound grim at first, but it describes the instruction exactly: lie as still as a body that has stopped doing anything at all. There is nothing to hold, lift or reach for.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a hatha text from around the fifteenth century, describes lying flat on the back like a corpse, and says the posture takes away tiredness and rests the mind. Modern classes keep the idea and place it at the end, so the stillness follows the effort. In the Bikram 26 poses, a short Savasana also comes between the floor postures.

Some teachers prefer gentler names, such as final relaxation or final rest, and Shavasana is a common spelling. All of them mean the same pose. Whatever it is called in your class, the practice is the same: settle, let the breath find its own pace, and give the body a few quiet minutes before you sit up.

How do you settle into Savasana, step by step?

A five-minute version you can read through once, then do from memory:

1. Lie on your back and let the feet fall open, about hip-width or a little wider.
2. Rest the arms a little away from the body, palms up, and let the shoulder blades spread on the floor.
3. Tuck the chin slightly so the back of the neck is long. Close the eyes or rest the gaze softly on the ceiling.
4. Breathe out through the mouth once or twice, then let the breath go back to the nose and find its own pace.
5. Move your attention slowly from the feet to the crown of the head, softening each area as you pass it.
6. When thoughts arrive, notice them and come back to the feeling of the breath at the belly.
7. To come out, deepen the breath, move the fingers and toes, roll to your right side and rest there for three breaths before pressing up to sit.

Which props make Savasana easier?

What about noise and heat at home?

Few homes in Manila are silent: traffic, a neighbour’s karaoke or a barking dog will drift in. Rather than fighting the sound, let it be one more thing you notice and let pass, the same way you notice a thought. A fan on low is fine, but avoid lying directly under a strong aircon draught, which can leave the body tense from the cold within a few minutes. A sheet over the legs usually solves both.

How long until Savasana feels restful?

For many people, the first few weeks of Savasana feel restless, with the mind busy and the body fidgety. That usually eases with regular practice, and many students find that within a month or two the stillness at the end becomes the part of class they look forward to most.