Savasana (Corpse Pose), Rerun

by Nina

Of all the hundreds (or thousands?) of yoga poses, there is a single pose that has been called the best antidote to the stresses of western civilization. And anyone can do the pose, regardless of age, physical condition, or yoga experience, because all it requires is the ability to lie down and be still. This is Savasana (Corpse pose). And while Savasana is often taught as the last pose in yoga class, you can do it on its own, at any time you need. All that’s required is a firm surface to lie on and 10 to 20 minutes, and you’ve got a surprisingly effective anti-stress medicine that has absolutely no side effects and if you become addicted, well, that’s a good thing.

Now you may be wondering, how can just lying down on your bedroom floor trigger the relaxation response? And how is this position that you take all the time in bed, on the grass under a blue sky, or on the warm sand of a beach qualify as a yoga pose?

Savasana triggers the relaxation response  because you bring your attention to your body and your mind while you lie on the floor instead of just daydreaming or spacing out. And it qualifies as a yoga pose, because to practice Savasana properly, you:

• align your body
• remain still
• use a mental focus
• maintain your awareness as you come out of the pose

Here are details about these four aspects of Savasana:

Alignment. The first thing to do when you lie down in Savasana is to arrange your body—and that means every single part of you, including your arms, your legs, your torso and even your head—in a neutral position. This neutral position ensures you’re as comfortable as possible so you can relax completely without physical distractions (like having your legs go to sleep or getting a crick in your neck).

Lie down on your back on a firm surface, with your spine in its healthy, natural curves. If your head isn’t comfortable resting flat on the floor, place a folded blanket or firm pillow underneath it (but keep your shoulders touching the floor). Make sure you are dressed warmly; if necessary cover yourself with a blanket.

Place your legs eight to ten inches apart, turn your arms out so your palms face up and your hands are six to eight inches from the body, and position your head perfectly between your two shoulders, with your eyes about equal distance from the ceiling. None of us are completely symmetrical, but you can adjust your body so it’s as symmetrical as possible and the weight is even on both sides of your body. Now your alignment is close to what medical books call “anatomical neutral,” the position your body naturally assumes when no muscles are being activated. And when you are in this neutral position, you can begin to relax your body completely.

When your body is entirely supported by the floor, you no longer need to contract your muscles to hold yourself upright (or partly upright). You can simply let your body to completely drop with the force of gravity, so all your muscles can soften and melt, releasing their hold. 

For those of you who find you can’t lie comfortably in the classic position, don’t worry. You can use props to make yourself more comfortable (for example, if you are having back problems, you can rest your calves on the seat of a chair) and you can even lie in a different position (for example, if you are pregnant, you can lie on your side or if you’re anxious you can lie on your belly). I’ll describe these alternate versions in a future post (see Savasana (Corpse Pose) Variations).

Stillness. After positioning your body so you're aligned as symmetrically as possible, make a commitment to remain still. When your body becomes motionless, external stimulation is reduced to a minimum, allowing your nervous system to cool down and your mind to quiet. Normally when you rest on your bed or couch, you shift around unconsciously, fidgeting or wiggling around to find a more comfortable position. You probably even change from one position to another when you’re sleeping (if you’ve ever shared a bed with someone else, you know what we mean). In Savasana, keeping your body still allows you to relax completely because there is no need to contract of any muscles at all except those needed to breathe. In fact, we’re so used to contracting our muscles, even when resting, it may take some time for you to let go completely.

After you have stilled your body, you’ll continue to receive messages from your ears, nose, tongue, skin, and eyes. Even in a quiet room, there’s still a lot to hear, smell, taste, and feel, and you’ll continue to perceive the light (or lack of it) in the room even with your eyes closed. All these sensory impressions send stimulating messages to your brain. So after quieting your body, consciously relax your sense organs, letting your tongue rest on the floor of your mouth, allowing your eyes to soften back toward your skull and gazing with closed eyes under your cheekbones, and withdraw your awareness from the rest of your senses. With the withdrawal of your senses, your physical relaxation will increase.

Focus for the Mind. If your thoughts are busying while you're in Savasana—whether you're trying to decide if you should watch Law and Order to CSI: Miami tonight or considering something more momentous—you won't be able to relax completely or trigger the relaxation response. So after you've aligned and quieted your body, turn your awareness inward. Typically the focus for your mind in Savasana is your breath, the gradual relaxation of specific parts of your body (sometimes called a body scan), or a peaceful image (for example, you might imagine your mind is the surface of a lake whose ripples are slowly subsiding). Rather than simply letting your thoughts wander as they would if you were lying on the grass in your backyard, intentionally keep your mind focused on your object of choice. When you notice your attention wandering, gently return it to that object. For example, if your breath is your focus for your practice, continue to watch your breath for the entire practice, and each time you notice your mind wandering, gently bring it back to your breath again.

Maintaining a mental focus is how you stay alert in the pose, allowing you to reap the benefits of conscious relaxation, rather than simply falling asleep. It helps you stay aware in the pose by keeping your mind anchored in your body, rather than drifting off into fantasy. And it helps you stay present in the pose by keeping your thoughts in the moment, rather than dwelling in the past or racing into the future. 

When you abide in the present moment you naturally become more aware of your own thoughts. As an impartial witness to your own experience, observe each thought as it passes through your mind without becoming involved in any of the storylines. Alert and aware, serene and detached, watch your thoughts—what’s on TV, should I cook ratatouille or paella, did I remember to feed the goldfish—as they come and go, come and go. There will be time for all that later. Then, like a pond that has been stirred up with a stick, allow your mind to settle down gradually until the waters are serene and clear.

Coming Out. Stay in the pose for at least 10 minutes (it takes 7 or 8 minutes to trigger the relaxation response). When you are ready to come out, take a couple of deep soft breaths, then slowly bend your knees and place the soles of your feet on the ground. Next, slowly turn over onto your right side and rest there for a couple of breaths. Then slowly use your hands to push yourself up to a seated position, allowing your head to release downward until you are completely upright. Finally, when you are seated upright, slowly lift your head. (And, yes, do it all slowly.)

How Your Breath Affects Your Nervous System

by Baxter

When I read the posts of my fellow YFHA bloggers, I often learn new perspectives that might differ from my own as well as new information that I was previously unaware of. Reading the posts also highlights occasions where I could have been clearer or given better information on a particular topic. As an example, I have written about breath techniques and their effect on the autonomic nervous system, as did Timothy in his awesome follow-up post on the buzzing bee breath, Bhramari Pranayama with Mudras. And we often mention that extending or lengthening the exhalation triggers the parasympathetic nervous system, the Rest and Digest part of our nervous system’s balancing program. This made me realize that I could add a bit more detail to explain how that actually happens.

It turns out the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) that connects brain to body is a two-way street. If I am anxious and nervous or stressed out by events in my life or simply the thoughts about those events, my brain, via the nerves of the ANS, will likely turn on the Sympathetic part of that system (the Fight or Flight response), which could result in faster heart and breathing rates, and increases in blood pressure, to mention just two of the most obvious physiological changes.

But the cool thing is that the lungs and heart can feed back to the brain and essentially convince the brain that things are calm and peaceful, even when there are still stressful circumstances. One neat way this happens involves the relationship of the heart and lungs and the nerves between them. In each round of breath, during your inhalation, your heart gets stimulated to beat a little faster. Then during the exhalation that follows, your heart gets told to slow down a tad. The overall effect is very little change in the heart rate from minute to minute. But when you make one part of the breath cycle, either the inhale or the exhale, longer than the other, and you do this for several minutes, the accumulated effect is that you will either slow the heart rate down or speed it up from where you started. When you make the inhales longer than the exhales, for example, by using a two-second inhale and a one-second exhale, and you keep this up for several minutes, the heart rate will go a bit faster. This will send a feedback message to the brain that things need to activate more in the brain and body for whatever work there is to be done, stimulating the Sympathetic portion of the ANS.

With the very useful Bhramari breath Timothy expanded on Bhramari Breath with Mudras, we do the opposite. As we hum during the exhalation, the exhales get longer relative to the inhales, as when we do a 1:2 ratio breath practice without the humming. This new respiratory cycle begins to slow down the heart rate, sending a message to the brain that everything is more peaceful and calm than five minutes ago, allowing the brain to support this shift further by activating the Parasympathetic portion of the ANS (the Rest and Digest or Relaxation response) that goes back from brain to body.

Research has shown that the vagus nerve as well as certain chemical neurotransmitters account for these effects of breath patterns on heart rate and subsequently on shifting the balance between the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic parts of the ANS. Keep in mind that the ANS is trying to keep all background systems in balance and responding appropriately to ever-changing circumstances of our day.

I’m providing this information for those of you who want to go a bit deeper in your understanding of how breath patterns affect the nervous system balance and either excite the system or quiet it. Our conscious choice of breathing differently can shift us to a more desirable part of the ANS, either by stimulating the active Sympathetic branch or the quieting Parasympathetic branch.  Most of us need more of the latter, but not always!

For a little more background on how the Respiratory system influences the Cardiac system, which in turn influences the Autonomic Nervous System, see The human respiratory gate as well as Effects of yoga on the autonomic nervous system, gamma-aminobutyric-acid, and allostasis in epilepsy, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

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All About Supported Inversions

by Nina

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of supported inverted yoga poses. I starting raving about them in the early days of Yoga for Healthy Aging in my post Just In Time for the Holidays: Inverted Poses, going on and on about how these poses are so beneficial for stress management (and also for circulation). Later on, I wrote in detail about why—from a scientific perspective—these posts are so effective at reducing stress in my post Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors.

But if you’re newer to yoga or can’t do the classic inverted poses, Headstand and Shoulderstand (or just can’t get comfortable in them), you might be wondering: how does all this apply to you? Well, I’m here today to assure you that with certain exceptions due to medical conditions (see Cautions for Inversions), everyone can do at least some of the supported inverted yoga poses. That’s because in yoga an inverted pose is any pose where your heart is higher than your head. So in addition to “full” inversions such as Headstand and Shoulderstand, there are several “partial” inversions that are very accessible. And partial inversions are as effective at stress reduction as full inversions (maybe even more so, as some are comfortable enough to stay in for long periods of time). I find the relaxation achieved with these poses more refreshing than that from restorative poses (though obviously some people prefer those).

Today I thought I’d give an overview of the complete set of inverted poses, with their pros and cons, so you could see which ones look most promising to you. I’ve gone ahead and divided them into three categories (can you tell I used to be a technical writer?): Half Inversions, Full Inversions, and Gentle Inversions.

Half Inversions. In a half inversion, your heart and pelvis are above your head, but your feet are below your heart. This category includes: Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), Widespread Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana), Downward-Facing Dog, all with head support.These three poses are very accessible ones because you can use props of any height you need. But because they are standing poses, it is not possible to hold these poses for extended periods of time. Although soothing on their own (especially the Supported Standing Forward Bend), if you just have a couple of minutes they are good warm-ups for full inversions or gentle inversions because they stretch the backs of your legs and open your shoulders and hips.

Downward-Facing Dog is a surprisingly soothing pose when you use support for your head. But you must use a prop that is high enough (try a bolster) and be careful to place the prop in the right position (below where your head naturally falls in the pose, and not so you need to move forward—or bend your arms—to rest your forehead on the prop). If your shoulders and/or hamstrings are very tight, this pose can be physically demanding and not quieting. However, it’s still a great warm up pose for other inversions, as it opens your hips, legs, and shoulders while getting you used to being partly upside down.

Standing Forward Bend is surprisingly quieting if you find a prop that is high enough so you can do the pose without feeling an uncomfortable stretch in your hamstrings. Be honest with yourself and use a chair if necessary (or even if it's not). However, if you are very tight and can’t bend your body to 90 degrees in a seated forward bend, you may not be able to get comfortable in this pose.

Widespread Standing Forward Bend feels more grounding than quieting to me because it’s so demanding on the hips and legs. But for people whose hips are more open than their hamstrings, this may be more accessible than Standing Forward Bend. Be honest with yourself and use a chair if necessary (or even if it's not).

Full Inversions. In a full inversion your heart is higher than your head, and your pelvis, legs and feet are higher that your heart. The full inversions include: Headstand, Shoulderstand and Plow pose, with supported versions of all three. (Technically I suppose you could call most of the arm balances, such as Handstand and Peacock Tail Feather pose, inversions but because they are so strenuous, they don’t really qualify as quieting poses.)

Because these poses are fully inverted, they are rapidly effective. For this reason, I feel it is worth taking the time to learn them (with guidance from an experienced teacher). But these are also the most physically demanding of the inverted poses, so if you’re not comfortable while doing them them, the stress factor in doing them counteracts any calming effects they might have. It’s good to warm up for these poses, either by doing leg stretches and hip and shoulder openers and/or by doing the partial inversions described above.

Headstand is a very grounding pose as the combination of the inversion with the focus it takes to balance helps move you into the present moment. However, Headstand puts a lot of pressure on your neck so if your neck is a problem area for you, it’s best to avoid it. I love Headstand but it is clearly not for everyone.

Shoulderstand is special because you are both supported and fully inverted, so the relaxation response will take effect quite quickly. Your neck is also flexed in the pose, which enhance the relaxation (see More Love for Baroreceptors). And you can use the supported version of Shoulderstand in place of full Shoulderstand in any sequence (or class) that includes full Shoulderstand. However, the pose is tricky to get into and can make beginners feel insecure. And it’s not comfortable for everyone. See Chair Shoulderstand for instructions.

Plow pose is a very quieting pose, but only if you can get comfortable in it. It can be quite physically challenging for stiff people. And if your neck is stiff and can’t bend deeply, this pose might not be for you. Also people with round bodies sometimes find this a difficult—if not impossible—pose to get into. See Supported Plow Pose for instructions.

Gentle Inversions. Gentle inversions are more gradual poses than the straight up and down inversions of heart directly over the head in partial and full inversions. In these poses, although your heart is higher than your head, it is only slightly higher (though even this small differential is enough to trigger the relaxation response). But because these poses are more gradual inversions, they are accessible to almost everyone. In fact, I can almost guarantee you will fall in the love with at least one of them. These poses include: Easy Inverted Pose, Straight Leg Bridge pose (Setubandasana), and Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani), all with support.

You don’t need to warm up for these poses, but for some people, they may be more comfortable if you do. They can come at the end of any practice, either a restorative or inversion practice, or any active practice as well. Or they could be a practice in and of themselves.

The advantage of these poses is that they are very comfortable for most people and you can stay in them for quite a while. I find that after seven or eight minutes, I can actually feel the relaxation response kick in, as a kind of “quiet switch.” Then I stay for a while longer to reap some of the benefits of full conscious relaxation (see Conscious Relaxation vs. Sleep).

Straight Leg Bridge pose is special because (if this pose is comfortable for you) you can stay in this pose for a very long period of time. I once heard Roger Cole, senior teacher and sleep researcher, say that Straight Leg Bridge pose was his go-to relaxation pose and that he’d stay in it up to 45 minutes! People with lower back problems sometimes have a hard time getting comfortable in Straight Leg Bridge pose, but lowering the propping (by using two folded blankets instead of a bolster under the back) can help. And if I just can’t find a way to help the student be comfortable in this pose, I encourage them to set up in Easy Inverted pose instead. Instructions for Straight Leg Bridge pose are coming soon!

Legs Up the Wall pose has a very dramatic quieting effect because your legs are inverted in this pose. I notice the relaxation response kicking in after about seven or eight minutes. However, I’ve observed that people with very tight hamstrings have trouble getting comfortable in Legs Up the Wall pose. It is possible to do the pose slightly further from the wall, with a bolster in a vertical position supporting your legs. But if I just can’t find a way to help the student be comfortable, I encourage them to set up in Easy Inverted pose instead. Most people can stay in this pose for twenty minutes, but after that many people find their legs fall asleep. See Legs Up the Wall Pose for instructions.

Easy Inverted pose is is an amazing pose! Because your legs are inverted as well as your heart, the pose is very quieting. And I’ve never been unable to help a student be comfortable in this pose! If two folded blankets is irritating to your lower back, try just one and make sure your tailbone and buttocks are fully supported by the blanket (and are not tilting into a backbend). Having the support under your pelvis is what makes your heart slightly higher than your head, so see if you can find a way to make it work. See Easy Inverted Pose for information.

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More Love for Baroreceptors: Supporting Your Head in Restorative Poses

by Nina

When I first starting taking yoga, I was confused about why my teachers were always rushing put to a folded blanket under my head when I was lying on my back. Something about the position of my head when I was lying on the floor was driving them crazy, but what was it? And why was it such a problem?

Later I learned that they were adding this support because, when my head was flat on the floor, due to tightness in my shoulders, my neck was arching up and back and my chin was tipping away from my chest. Putting the folded blanket under my head allowed me lie with my chin pointing toward my chest like this:

This was considered to be the proper--and healthy—position for the head in supine poses. So I went along with it. But secretly I continued to wonder why. In case you have already noticed, I'm like that—always wanting to know the whys as well as the hows, always wanting to dig a bit deeper. Which is probably why I ended up as a yoga blogger, but I digress.

Anyway, it was only when I learned about baroreceptors that I found a satisfactory explanation. As I mentioned yesterday (see Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors), when your neck is slightly flexed (the position when your chin is pointing toward your chest), the position puts some pressure on the baroreceptors in your carotid arteries. And this pressure can cause the same response as an inverted pose does on your nervous system—switching you from fight or flight to the relaxation response. The opposite neck position with your neck in extension (a backbend position with your chin tipping away from your chest) can have the opposite effective, stimulating your nervous system.

Of course, this understanding of the role of baroreceptors in yoga poses is very recent. In fact, the understanding of the role in regulating blood pressure in general is pretty recent as well. So the yoga teachers, like B.K.S. Iyengar, who developed restorative yoga discovered the best position for the head through personal observation, not science. (That says a lot about personal observation, doesn't it?) Interestingly, the head position Jalandara Bandha, with neck flexed and chin pointing down toward the chest, used in seated poses for pranayama, which is much older than restorative yoga, was probably adopted for the same reasons. Yoga practitioners noticed that head position enhanced the quieting effect of the practice.

I thought I'd tell you all this not just because you might not have made this connection on your own, but because I also realized there might be some people out there who don't have teachers running to put a folded blanket under their heads every time they lie in a supine restorative pose. So that's both the how and why for you. The how is that when you lie on your back, if your chin does not easily point down toward your chest, always add some support under your head. The why is that having your chin pointing down toward your chest will enhance your relaxation due to slight pressure on your baroreceptors.

Long live head support!

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