Deep Relaxation: Surrender into Savasana

It is a new year, Dear. Hearts and minds turn to fizzy bubbly, a new year kiss, black eyed peas for good fortune, and new year resolutions. Historians maintain that the tradition of setting new year resolutions claims deep historical roots.

However, the practice of setting goals resonates more powerfully with me. For a goal to be relevant, it has to be something I care deeply about and want more than most anything else. Goals are fundamental to living an intentional, proactive life. Experts say that goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timed. That seems wise, though personally, I've found that the most important factor in achieving goals is passion. Passion that is focused fuels the will to make the everyday choices that lead to goal achievement.  

How do we turn on more passion?

A passion producing practice is, counterintuitively, letting go. Letting go is the act of releasing the need to be in control of process and outcomes. Letting go is giving up resistance to what life brings. Letting go of the old creates room for the new. Letting go does not mean becoming a door mat or a leaky vessel. Rather, letting go is inner house cleaning that frees up old, stuck energy and restores suppleness, responsiveness and clarity. Letting go is forgiveness. We all know how it feels when we don't let go...life gets complicated and overwhelming. When feeling bound up this way, it is easy to lose sight of goals and make choices that miss the mark, and even dampen passion.

One of the best yoga poses for the practice of letting go is Savasana (shah-VAHS-anna), the corpse pose. Letting go is relaxing the body of tension, softening the heart, and freeing the mind from habitual thinking. Yoga practitioners typically practice this pose at the end of a yoga session or class for deep relaxation and integration. Think of deep relaxation as a process, rather than a state. Practicing savasana is similar to getting a massage. The key is to be attentive to the moment and to keep releasing tension as it is revealed. As tension in the form of myofascial adhesions, emotional knots, and limiting thoughts is released, a sense of flow, harmony and boundless potential is restored. Passion, baby!

Deep Relaxation Practice

We'll practice the savasana/corpse pose which is essentially lying on your back in the anatomical position with arms and legs evenly distributed from the midline of body, palms up, feet turned out. This is a cooling pose, so be prepared with warm clothes or a lightweight blanket as needed for comfort. Many people like an eye drape or eye bag/pillow. Turn off your cell phone and turn on your alarm timer if needed. Allow 10 minutes or more. 

1. Assess your space. You'll want a yoga mat or padded floor with firm, even support so that the natural curves of your spine are maintained. Your body should have room to spread out on the floor like a melting ice cube. Move objects away so that nothing is touching you.
2. Lie on your back. Press down through the back of your head and square your shoulder blades on your back. Keep the jaw line vertical so that the natural curve of neck is intact.
3. Evenly distribute your arms and legs from the midline of your body: arms roll palms up at your sides about 45 degrees from your body and legs separated a foot or so with toes turned out.
4. If you feel tension in your low back, place a bolster or pillow under your knees. You don't want to feel any muscle guarding or holding in this pose, so do whatever it takes to be comfortable. 
5. Tune into the central axis of your spine and make any balancing adjustments from this core perspective.
6. Give attention to your breath. Feel the wave like action of breath move through with each inhalation and exhalation. Allow belly to be expansive with each inhalation. Just as you allow your body to be heavy and fully supported on the massage table, allow body to surrender a bit more with each exhalation. Tune into obvious points of tension, for example, your shoulders, and consciously release tension with each exhalation. Release the roots of your eyes and the root of tongue.
7. Notice thinking and let go of the need to change anything. Let go of judgment of thoughts. Let go of the need to relax perfectly.
8. Let attention rest wherever it is drawn, or practice progressive relaxation as follows.
9. Moving systematically through the body, begin with the root energy center at the base of pelvis and base of spine. Scan through legs, knees, ankles, feet and release tension. Let bones be heavy. Let muscles and skin drape. Let legs be still and let go of the need to hurry.
10. Move awareness into the pelvis energy center, including hips, sacrum, kidneys and reproductive organs. Let breath flow like water through this area. Relax resistance to life and feel the hips let go.
11. Draw attention into the navel and solar plexus energy center. Feel breath warm, uninhibited and free. Allow digestive region to be spacious.
12. Tune into the heart center at the mid to upper chest and back. Feel the heart center lighten up with each inhalation. Allow muscles of chest and upper back to soften with each exhalation. Tune into the arms as an extension of heart and let them fully surrender.
13. Give attention to the throat center, including neck, jaw and mouth. Consciously release tension and soften from the center to the periphery. Let the head be heavier with each exhalation.
14. Elevate awareness to the third eye center, just above the eyes and between the brows. Feel relaxation expand from the center out as tension melts out of forehead, sinuses, ears.
15. Rest attention lightly at the crown energy center. Release scalp. Release attachment to thoughts and let mind float.
16. Let go of the need to be systematic in relaxation. Trust in your own process.
17. To transition, tune into your body's natural wake up process, wiggling, rocking, undulating.
18. Bend your left knee, and bring your right arm up along side your head. Press down through the sole of your left foot and roll onto your right side as your knees fall together. Rest your head on right arm and let your legs bend into a sidelying position. Breathe several breaths. Begin to sit up, letting the spine unfurl as you stack one vertebrae at a time, bringing your head up last.
19. Keep breathing and releasing tension throughout your day.

Relaxation practice is essential for letting go. Letting go is essential for clarity, vitality, and passion. Passion is essential for achieving your goals. Ten minutes of daily relaxation practice could be the course correction needed to feel good and to stay on course towards your vision.