Savasana and Surrender

The last of the niyamas is Ishvara Pranidhana or surrender to the Divine. It is said that if you practice the first yama, ahimsa or nonviolence, and surrender you needn’t practice anything else. They cover the range of spiritual practice. Do you practice surrender with your class? Our culture is centered on control, being on time, eating what you should, exercising, being organized, making sure our children behave, it is everywhere. We do our students a disservice if we don’t teach surrender in our classes.

With surrender is the process of letting go, releasing control. It is in true surrender that we learn about faith and trust in the universe and the inner knowing and trust in our own process.

The very best poses for teaching about surrender are Savasana (Relaxation Pose) and Balasana (Child’s Pose). These poses teach letting go fully, releasing. Frequently you can feel you are still holding tension, holding on to something, in these poses. Encourage your students to fully release their bones. Common pockets of tension in both poses are between the shoulder blades, the lower belly, the lower back. Also, in Savasana, we often hold the ribs up, keeping tension in the kidneys.

Another helpful surrender technique is exhaling. Exhaling is the letting go or surrender part of the breath. Have students focus on exhaling, releasing tension, letting go, and watch them melt into the glorious present!

Reversing the Cycle of the Breath

Here is a wonderful exercise for letting go. I often use it as a visualization for Savasana in my classes. I find it especially helpful in a restorative class.

In our culture, we view the cycle of the breath as beginning with an inhalation and ending with an exhalation. There are cultures in which they view it going the other way, beginning with an exhalation and ending with an inhalation. For your Savasana, encourage your students to use this image of the breath. Have them first exhale, releasing whatever they are holding on to, creating space in their body, mind, and heart for something new. And then have them inhale and bring in wonderful new energy to fill those spaces.