SURRENDER INTO SAVASANA EVERY MOMENT
NOVEMBER 4, 2009: The practice of savasana is an interesting one especially today where we are all so good at promoting constant activity. Generally we are very good at getting new projects started and working ourselves ragged but how good are you at surrendering? Can you take a few breaths right now to empty the residue of your day and surrender to what it is happening right now. The quality of surrender is what we learn amongst other things in Savasana. So today we practiced Savasana, final relaxation, a number of times during class.
Savasana helps us in key ways:
1. To be ok with the non-doing which we talk about in yoga as BEING PRESENT
2. To embrace endings with as much gusto as we embrace beginnings. Art of CLOSURE (Pratikryasana)
3. To learn how to relax and self-comfort (this is the antidote to fight/flight response)
4. To recognize and admit to ourselves everything has an EXPIRATION DATE
So then what? How does savasana apply in every moment, every pose? It helps us notice that life is right now. There is no need to keep waiting to be happy, to keep looking for more or better but instead start enjoying the sweetness of our life right now. Ok so here's the thing I love lying down and being still. So maybe I was born to practice savasana but I think we all are, we just have to practice. I hope you can through savasana learn to be more present, put closure to open elements of your life so you can stay with the flow, learn practical ways to relax and make the most of this moment!
But remember we are only able to find surrender when we cultivate peace within ourselves. Shannon Gannon, Jivamukti founder says, “The practices of yoga create peace in ourselves, and that peace will be reflected in the world around us. If we truly want world peace we must begin by embodying that peace ourselves. The practice of yoga will end war, even wars of which we often are not even aware. Speak out for peace, live peacefully, think well of others, do what you can to uplift the lives of others. Find a way to live so that your own life enhances the lives of others. Give up the love of power for the power of love. Peace will come when we have given up hateful thoughts, cruel words, and violent actions in our own daily lives. Cultivate hopeful thoughts, sweet speech and kind actions. Don't wait for a better world. Start now to create a universe of harmony and peace. It is up to you.
Wishing you peaceful surrender, Silvia