| Corpse pose or savasana is the final pose in many | | | | positive thoughts and affirmations. A simple technique |
| yoga practices that sets the stage for relaxation. While | | | | often used in the gratitude release. As you lie in corpse |
| it may be easy to relax the body through progressive | | | | pose think of positive thoughts, experiences and |
| steps-from muscular to spiritual-the mind is much | | | | people that you have gratitude for in your life. Another |
| harder to tame. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, one of the | | | | way to achieve this is to have compassionate |
| oldest texts on Hatha yoga from the 15th century, | | | | thoughts for someone that you have conflict with or |
| states "with this posture tiredness caused by other | | | | negative emotions. Dwelling on positive affirmations |
| postures is eliminated; it also promotes calmness of | | | | such as "I can relax, "I am loved," or "my heart is open |
| mind. And it is pleasant to find that no mystery is | | | | to receive" can help shift the mind to a relaxed and |
| involved." Final relaxation is thus another tool in the | | | | positive state. |
| yoga tradition to achieve relaxation and liberation from | | | | Mental relaxation moves beyond letting go of negative |
| the negative thoughts and emotions of the mind. | | | | thoughts. At this point, the mind may still have thoughts |
| Muscular relaxation is one of the primary goals in | | | | but there is an unbroken concentration that prevents |
| corpse pose. This is achieved by scanning the body | | | | one from attaching to the thoughts. They simply come |
| for tension and sustained muscular contractions or | | | | and go like ocean waves. Mental relaxation can be as |
| actively tensing muscles and releasing them to teach | | | | easy as focusing one's attention on the breath, |
| awareness of tension vs. muscular relaxation. Most | | | | counting numbers or repeating or internalizing a mantra |
| yoga classes minimally focus on releasing this kind of | | | | such as "relax" or "let go." |
| tension during the session. | | | | Spiritual relaxation occurs when a personal is able to |
| Autonomic relaxation calms the nervous system by | | | | absorb the thoughts and agitation of the mind and |
| reducing the over-activation of the fight or flight | | | | connect deeper to the infinite space or Self that lies |
| response. This includes lowering the blood pressure | | | | within. At this point the person, still fully awake and can |
| and heart rate. One way to calm the nervous system | | | | transcend the senses and connect inward. This means |
| is through focusing on the breath during final relaxation. | | | | that the personal is fully relaxed whether in a quiet |
| The breath calms the nervous system in three ways: | | | | yoga room or experiencing the sounds of a busy city. |
| natural diaphragmatic breathing, extending the | | | | Spiritual relaxation leaves the body and mind in an |
| exhalation slightly beyond the inhalation and natural | | | | energized and renewed state. |
| smoothness. For these reasons, B.K.S. Inyengar in Light | | | | The next time you do yoga, think of the crucial |
| on Yoga, recommends to breathe fine and slow with | | | | benefits that come from corpse pose. It's easy to skip |
| no jerkiness and to concentrate on deep and fine | | | | or reduce the amount of time given to this section of |
| exhalations for 15-20 minutes. | | | | yoga practice; however, the benefits are very |
| Emotional relaxation involves letting go of negative | | | | powerful in that they help achieve the ultimate goal of |
| thoughts and emotions and replacing them with | | | | yoga-liberation of the mind. |