How's your savasana? Photo via Bikram Women's Retreat on Facebook.
Ever wonder why the second half of a Bikram class involves what can sometimes feel like about a million savasansas?
Today, I realized why.
And it's not just because Bikram designed the floor series so your body can rest in between every posture, and receive all of the physical benefits that are meant for you.
It's also because switching between 100% exertion and 100% relaxation is a skill we all need-- not just in the hot yoga room.
Life's a blur. Photo via FYeahYoga on Tumblr.
Sometimes we need that ability to let go in an instant. We need to be able to switch off our stress in a single moment. Sounds tough to do (and often it is!), but once you know you are capable of letting go here and now, things change. Things get easier.
I guess it's been on my mind lately because I seem to be posting a lot about it... but sometimes yoga teaches you more about how to live your life than how to make your body flexible. Lately, it's been teaching me more about how to handle situations than how to get my forehead to the floor in Standing Separate Leg Stretching pose.
I'm learning more about how to love myself for who I am than how to come up higher on the toes in Awkward pose.
More and more, I find myself relying on what I've learned in the hot room to get through the day. And not just to "get through" the stressful moments, but also to savor and enjoy the beautiful ones. To commit to memory those details I never want to lose. To build love into my daily experience, my hourly experience, my reality.
Let me explain. :)
Letting go makes all the difference. Photo via Lululemon.
Know that feeling you sometimes get when you wake up feeling flustered, or in the middle of a dream? You feel sluggish before your day has even started. You wish you could hit "refresh" on the computer that is your brain, but you can't find the button.
Or maybe you're more familiar with the kind of day at work where you hardly feel like you get a chance to rest or think since you're moving between so many projects and conversations and worries. You leave the office feeling a little worn down, rush home, start dinner, and hardly even give yourself time to decompress from the day.
I've been there, done that; perhaps, too, I am there, am doing that. And I'm learning how to use what I know about savasana to make things work and be happy.
In a sense, I'm re-learning (as I have before in my life) that it's possible to do both. We need both.
And I'll bet you've experienced the ins-and-outs of a modern, busy life, too, and sometimes you wish you could just make it all stop. If only for a moment.
Well, because of savasana -- that pose we so often cast aside as nap time, or that we forget to take seriously -- you can.
Yoga comes in the everyday. Photo via Lululemon.
In the room, savasana means: the standing series is done. Over. Not something you need to worry about again today.
It means you can let every muscle relax so deeply that you aren't holding any tension.
In the world, savasana means: no more texts buzzing in your pocket; no more emails piling up in your inbox.
No more to-do list a mile long. No more procrastinating on what really makes you happy in order to fulfill the basic survival elements: food on the table, roof over your head, plans in line to ensure a successful future.
Savasana means you are in the here and now, giving yourself the rest you need.
Letting go of whatever came before, and whatever you know (or think you know) is coming up next in your day.
Ask others to help you let go. Photo via FYeahYoga on Tumblr.
Once you can train your brain to let go in an instant, the world is yours. Because that means no matter how stressful a day has been -- or a week, a month, a year -- you can let it go. Right now. And you can relax, revive, move on.
You can move forward.
Only by soaking in the relaxation that you've earned can you move forward.
That, my dear yogis, is savasana: a pose we do for many reasons, a pose that helps us survive. A pose that helps us live.
Funny how we don't even have to lift a finger... in fact, doing the posture right means not even the fingers or toes twitch. Nothing moves.
Note: I realize that reading this post may lend itself to a couple of perplexing questions. You might find yourself thinking, "So how do I actually do that? How do I let go in an instant?! I've tried that before, but it doesn't work. What do I actually do?"
If those questions are something you've wrestled with, my challenge to you is this: try again. Keep practicing. Let every yoga class you take stand as its own experience.
Let yourself be OK with the fact that every day is different, and even if you rocked your Bikram series yesterday, you might find yourself feeling winded, dizzy, and defeated today. Accept that the body changes over time, and so does the mind.
Give yourself permission to try again -- no expectations -- and see if you can let go. Sometimes trying again can mean all the difference. And don't get me wrong, sometimes I don't let go of what's bothering me until the end of class; sometimes I'm never able to let go during class at all. But I can guarantee when you find that moment and you do let go of whatever internal monologue is holding you back -- whatever doubt, whatever fear, whatever negative thought -- once you're free of it, things will be easier. The postures, the relationships you build, the life you live.
A final note to consider: yoga is a mind game. Especially Bikram yoga.
The mirrors in the room, the dialogue, the sweating, the heat, the smells and sounds, the teacher yelling at you... it's all built in to mess with your head. Because guess what? Once you let it go, you realize you can let go of anything. And just get your butt into savasana because you need it.
Way more than you need the wiping, the fidgeting, the resisting. :)
I'd love your thoughts on this, yogis. Please share your stories below in the comments section or feel free to send me an email at aliveinthefire@gmail.com! There's nothing I enjoy more than connecting with you and hearing about your yoga. Namaste!
