Don’t Leave Class Early: The Importance of Savasana
How Our Bodies Benefit
When We Surrender to the Stillness of Savasana
We live in a culture that values business, action, and achievement.
We work hard. We play hard. We tend to make the most of every minute by packing it full of activity.
We also live in a culture with an epidemic of stress, anxiety, and depression.
Coincidence? We think not.
The beauty of yoga is that it mimics the cycles of nature.
As humans, we rest at night to have energy during the day. The deeper and more restful the sleep, the more energy we have during our daily life.
Life moves through cycles of the seasons. We are active and lively in the summer, and life and nature quiet down in the winter.
Even Nature doesn’t produce around the clock or around the calendar. Trees drop their leaves in the fall and produce fruit in the summer.
Fulfillment—and perhaps, total health and wellness—comes through the balance of rest and activity. The same is true in yoga. The postures stimulate and energize us, providing a positive stress on the body. Savasana gives us the stillness of total surrender and release. It cools and calms the body.
Savasana, like sleep, creates the space to physiologically assimilate information and intelligence from the activity that came before.
We undervalue the profound benefits of deep rest and stillness in our culture, so they are sometimes undervalued in our yoga practice as well.
Sometimes the mindset can be “more is better.” Or “I’m done with what I came to do, so I’m going to get going.” It's tempting to want to get moving after a class. When this happens, however, we miss the most crucial aspect of yoga.
Savasana isn’t exactly “down time.”.
During Savasana, our nervous system switches from sympathetic to parasympathetic. The central nervous system calms down. The five senses get a break. Stress is released, energy is restored, and it is a time for rejuvenation. It is the stillness that heals. It is the stillness that separates yoga from other forms of physical activity.
“Do less and accomplish more.
Do nothing and accomplish everything.”
Whenever I feel life's push and pull, I read this quote from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It reminds me that even if life is busy outside, yoga practice can be when you find stillness and simply let go for a while. This release rejuvenates in countless ways—and we deserve this sacred time of self-care.
Remember: the archer can only shoot an arrow as far as they can pull back the bow. Our bodies will have a level of energy from yoga equivalent to how deeply we can relax in Savasana. When we get still, it connects us to the deepest level of who we truly are.
This is life.
This is yoga.
Every Original Hot Yoga class ends with savasana. Put your new insights to the test in your next Thrive class.
Want to take your rest and rejuvenation to the next level? Explore Yin Yoga at Thrive. Yin class improves flexibility of the body and mind, primarily targeting the hips, legs, and lower back.
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