By Gary Kraftsow

Savasana: Corpse Pose

To practice self-care is to activate, embody and embrace self-love and what better way to show our physical bodies, mind and emotional wellbeing self-love than by resting. When we come into a resting pose during the culmination of our practice or anytime throughout the day, we are nurturing our bodies, listening to our intuition telling us we need to slow down, take in the magic of our existence and experiences and simply unwind. Savasana or corpse pose does just that- relaxing the entire body and permitting the integration of emotional, mental and physical benefits from our practice to dissolve into our soul and energize our vital life force- the prana within.

To physical embody savasana, begin by lying on your back with your arms resting comfortable at your sides, shoulders rolled down your spine while slighting lifting the heart and chest up from the bottom of your shoulder blades and your legs lying flat onto the mat atleast hip-distance a part and your feet can be spread open wider than the distance of your legs to really achieve restoration. To increase a sense of relief on the tail bone and lower lumbar spine, position a bolster or pillow underneath your knees and allow your knees to gentle settle in over the supper. Try to find a position within the body so that you can really let go of any sense of control, gripping or tension throughout any physical limbs. The deeper you are able to relax the physical body, the more the body throughout all spectrums spiritually, emotionally and mentally, can absorb the effects of your yoga practice and the preceding asanas. Give yourself permission to go into a state of total relaxation for atleast five minutes. Afterwards, slowly deepen your inhales and exhales and introduce a gentle sense of movement back into the body by wiggling all your fingers and toes and rotating the ankle and wrists in opposite directions. Then, on your next inhale slowly roll over to one side with bent knees using your forearm as a pillow and mindfully, with the help of both hands, push yourself back up into a sukasana or easy position and rest here for a minute before moving on with gratitude and serenity to enjoy the rest of your day or night.

Viniyoga Master Teacher Gary Kraftsow reminds you of the importance of letting go in order to rejuvenate your wellbeing as he eases you into savasana in his Viniyoga Therapy for Anxiety practice.