Savasana Sucks

SAVASANA SUCKS.

Yep, I said it. 

Well, to be clear, the Jessie of old said it.

I used to think that yoga was so weird and most ridiculous of all... savasana.

Just. Laying. Still. [Insert eye roll] Totally baffling.

I resisted trying yoga for years for a whole host of reasons and this idea of savasana was top of the list. Why on earth would you just lay there at the end of a class when you could be up and onto the next thing? That’s a huge waste of my time. So not my jam.

Like seriously, what is the benefit and purpose? There are so many more productive things to be doing with these three to five minutes than laying on a mat, surrounded by other people, in stillness. 

My to-do list is getting longer and longer as I lay here. 

I’m ready to get a move on it.

My bed, my couch, and a sunny beach are the only places I like to lay down.

Oh and god forbid the instructor read some passage or quote. Let’s just be done with this already.

Welcome to a little insight into my thoughts. To my old wiring and a mind stuck in endless cycles of exhaustion, busyness, and hustle.

It’s laughable now as I have a whole movement centered around slowing down, pausing, and lingering. I sometimes imagine the old version of me still in shock of how I’ve transformed. For so long I clung desperately tight to my way of doing things, of being on the go, of pushing through. Rest was for later. I couldn’t imagine [read: I was terrified] what would happen if I allowed myself to slow, even momentarily, to pause. 

What insecurities might people catch a glimpse of behind my mask of busyness and what internal whispers I might finally hear? And at the same time, I constantly wanted nothing more than to fly to an island far away and lay on the beach with a drink in my hand. I knew deep down inside I needed it, I desired something more, yet I had no idea what.

Best to simply keep up the hustle. Rest might eventually come when I can escape.

I only knew the extremes of how to swing the pendulum. It was black or white, inanely busy or passed out on the couch, running a marathon or nothing at all. It’s why I left my cushy job through an escape hatch and leapt into nothingness. I wandered the world to come back to the city I left and fall in love all over again with so much more perspective.

And the truth I know now is that savasana, the pause, is where the magic lies. This is the integration. This is where you linger and let your practice percolate through all your cells from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. It is the moment of reset between your mat and what comes next in life. The same way that the simple pause allows you to reset, gain awareness, and shift into choice throughout your day. It’s empowering.

I’d embrace an entire class of savasana right now if it was offered. I’d sink into the mat and whatever to-do list items came up or other thoughts popped in, no worries, they’ll still be there later.

Now is my pause. It is my jam.

Welcome to the paradox. We must wake up and embrace the slow down, the pause, in order to propel forward in life. It is counter to the pressures we feel to constantly be in motion and performing, yet in reality the pause allows those things to happen. The hustle only goes so far until the body and mind are in crisis and scream for help.

So wherever you are today, whether you love savasana or think it sucks, I get you.

I encourage you to embrace the pause. Whether it’s 3 seconds or 30 minutes, find ways to welcome slowness. Simply breathe. You may be surprised at what comes from it.

It doesn’t have to be in the future, when you can escape, when the vacation you’ve been planning finally arrives. Find your pause now.

And if you want to read more and step further in check out The Pathway of Pause: 7 Steps to Bust Busy, Reduce Anxiety, and Welcome Ease for practical tips you can start implementing today.

xoxo

jessie