Fall Back
Last week, on September 22, 2020 to be exact, fall officially started (here in the Northern Hemisphere) with the Fall Equinox taking place. This brings a smile to my face just thinking about it because Fall is my favourite season. Who doesn’t love that extra hour of sleep when the clocks go back an hour? The leaves changing beautiful colours, cooler temperatures, warm sweaters and, of course, pumpkin everything! I’ll be honest I’m more of a pumpkin beer girl than I am pumpkin spice latte. Random fact: the leaves don’t change colour due to the lower temperatures but due to the amount of daylight and photosynthesis able to take place. The Fall Equinox is marked by the day having equal hours of sunlight to darkness. This made me think of how in yoga whatever you do on one side is always done on the other. My Post Run Sequence, which I put together last month, for example. (This is when I should mention that Fall is my favourite season for running). One pose that came to mind, with the Fall Equinox in late September and Thanksgiving and Halloween this month, was Savasana or Corpse Pose. Stay with me, I promise you will understand my train of thought on this one.
The pose of “total relaxation” according to the Yoga Journal article “Corpse Pose”, a goal of Savasana, or Corpse Pose, is to relax throughout the entire body. Making sure not to hold tension on one side of the body or the other, allowing both sides to be equally relaxed. Similar to how during the Fall Equinox hours of daylight are equal to those of darkness. Also, as you come to rest and relax in Savasana, or Corpse Pose, your breath begins to return to its normal flow, inhales usually begin to match the exhales in length. The lungs are also one of two organs in the body, according to the Farmer’s Almanac, that correspond with Autumn’s energy. The second being the large Intestines, which are able to utilized energy for digestion (of anything you have eaten before your practice) as the body rests in this pose. This makes me think of all the delicious food served at Thanksgiving dinner as well as all the tasty Halloween candy! Which leads to what everyone was thinking: Corpse Pose and Halloween. I know, I’m so original.
Savasna or Corpse Pose is traditionally done at the beginning and end of a yoga practice to prepare both the body and mind for the practice and to help allow the body to release everything from the practice afterwards. There are a number of benefits that come with spending time in this posture, beyond relaxing the entire body. With practice the brain becomes calm which can have many positive effects including relief from stress. This pose can also help to reduce headaches, fatigue and insomnia as well as lower blood pressure, as stated in the Yoga Journal article “Corpse Pose”.
This is one of the simplest postures to come into but can be one of the hardest to stay in for a length of time. First, to achieve both sides of the body resting evenly on the yoga mat, if this is possible within your body, start by finding a comfortable position lying on your back. Keep the spine long as the chin tucks gently towards the chest. Preforming a body scan, from the top of the head to the toes can help relax each muscle as well as calm the mind and senses.
Allow the back of the head to be heavy on the mat.
Tongue begins to soften and rests on the top of the mouth.
The gaze softens and turns in towards the third eye or down towards the heart.
Eyes may close if this is within your comfort level.
Allow the skin between your brows to soften and then allow this softness to spread over your entire face.
Shoulder blades slide down the back, allowing shoulders to lower away from ears.
Arms lay at your sides, biceps heavy, with palms facing up and fingers relaxed.
Maybe the fingers gently curl towards the palms.
Hips and glutes are heavy as they sink into the mat.
Legs are extended out long, both hamstrings and calves release into the mat.
Feet may come more then hip width apart, towards the corners of the mat, flopping out to either side if comfortable.
Option to bend the knees and bring the feet flat to the mat, hip distance apart if there is any lower back pain.
Now that your body is completely relaxed, begin to focus on your breath. Pay attention to the inhales and exhales of your regular, relaxed breath. Richard Rosen, a Yoga Teacher in California, says to then “surrender any or all psychological effort (or at least as much as you can)”. Meaning to clear the mind of any distracting thoughts. that to do list for the rest of the day or that big project at work. Let these thoughts and worries go. Whenever your mind begins to wander, and it will, bring it back to the breath. Let the thoughts you have go and focus on the inhales and exhales again. This is the hardest part of the pose so don’t be upset with yourself if you don’t get this on the first try. Like everything else, it takes practice.
As the current circumstances worldwide are continually changing, with all of the new information becoming available it can be overwhelming. This, in turn, creates high levels of stress which can manifest in other ways within the body. I invite you to try and find some calm and relaxation by spending some time in Savasana, or Corpse Pose. When you are ready to come out of the pose, hopefully feeling somewhat restored, take some time to reflect on what the changing season means to you and the things you are thankful for.