Savasana explained and how this resting pose will enlighten you, release you, and seduce you into paradise
by Gwenn Jones, CPT, CYT | April 11, 2024 | Updated August 8, 2026
Sometimes we all need to break away from a hectic workday. Habitually, do you find you rip through the front door, drop everything, turn on the TV, or prep for dinner? Is this really your day’s recuperation? Is this the actual ‘after 5-ish’ recovery time our bodies and minds need and deserve?
Let me acquaint you with a mini-vacation of tranquility that takes 5-to-15 minutes.
What is savasana and why you should practice it at home
Many know savasana (aka corpse pose or resting pose) as a time that closes every yoga class. It allows us 5 or 10 minutes to unwind. It is a customized time to be proud of our accomplishments—large or small. It’s a time to surrender to the calm of our native breath. It is the mindfulness of our belly rising and falling with the ease of waves in the ocean. It is wholly and profoundly restorative. Also, we integrate what we practiced in a class. And we yogis eat it up.
Cherished like a divine jewel, resting pose extends far beyond your yoga class
What are the physiological benefits of savasana?
They are vast.
The immediate effect is our body temperature resets. Specifically, the entire body resets in a pattern of this resting position. It guides the parasympathetic nervous system that enables release and calm.
Our central nervous system slows, our mind clarifies, anxiety reduces, and blood pressure can lower. These moments are when the healing begins. Taking these quality few minutes heals us from a busy or stressful day. Healing and repair define the duties of our parasympathetic nervous system.
Resting pose allows us to be immersed in a well-suited all-about-me phase. Now, that term does not imply, “Look at this wicked lip color; it matches my nails!”
This stage of delving into ourselves is more about gratitude, peace of mind, and much more. Sometimes, during resting pose in class, I encourage my students to picture a happy image of their dog, a memory of a vacation spot with stunning vistas, or a gentle waterfall. As the yoga instructor, I might express a short reading. Or, I just shut up entirely and let the breath flow. It’s hypnotic. As it should be.
Savasana is dessert, whether our workday was as challenging as chewing on twigs, or as serene as a milkshake melting down our throat in the sizzling sun. Or, maybe a cold beer. Yeah, that one!
Some folks habitually skip this closing practice altogether and dart to the exit door. (This is routinely a gym habit, and very uncommon in a yoga studio.) However, skipping your Savasana is like leaving live embers after dousing water on the campfire.
So, viewed by the ‘darters’ as a waste of precious time? Nothing is more untrue. What is true is many find it a challenge to lie down and relax. To quiet our thoughts in silence? It’s outright foreign. When, truthfully, we should bathe in this gratitude. And, there are countless ways in which we can take advantage.
More on that later.
What are the psychological benefits of savasana?
In that realm, the menu is huge. For me, life and behavior continue to evolve — for the better.
Personal examples over the past 15 years are:
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- where panic would burn through me in a situation — I now pause, consider thoughts, and come to a logical process or resolution
- where I might have pre-judged another human — now a comfortable “that’s just the way he is,” resides in me
- the easiest of all — where negative or explosive views surface, I remove myself… easily
There’s more. The capacity is unlimited and quite diverse among various people’s temperaments or characters. But the sum total stands cemented in surrender and gratitude. Surrender, not in the manner of cowering, but instead in acceptance, fulfillment, and release.
Below is a cherished release in resting pose with legs-up-the-wall (a common therapeutic version of savasana). I am in my studio here, but I often take this pose at home at the head of my bed. It should be called Save-asana!
What will savasana do for you?
Savasana, in your quiet space, will:
- bring you to a mildly meditative state of rest
- quiet your mind and clear the garbage
- provide pause to sink your teeth into the day’s positive aspects and feel accomplished
- enhance the rejuvenation of your body and cells
- reduce stress or tension, increase blood circulation, lessen insomnia and depression
- potentially relieve headaches
- relieve low-back pain
In a yoga session, savasana delivers a brilliant and impressive mental transition. Cherished like a divine jewel, the pose extends beyond a yoga class.
Regular savasana practice at home will carry you well into your day, evening, and most vividly your future well-being. Its value is unequaled.
Regular practice of the resting pose discipline creates emotional balance. You’ll find composure overlays prior frustrations. Potential responses to adverse situations become less flammable. (A topic for another day.)
So now you know, do you have to be a yogi? Heck no.
Here are some fabulous tips to squeeze the juice from savasana at home or in class
TIP #1
Use a cushion or bolster to elevate your hips which sends blood flow to the base of the spine. Aside from the mental and emotional benefits, this modification relaxes the hips, the abdominals, and the gluteal and low back musculature. (photo #2)
THIS IS HUGE! Cover your eyes in resting pose. How does this tiny action become a game-changer? Whether in asana class or not, this is the conquering touch! (photo #4)
Not only do eye covers, or eye pillows, block the light, but placing an article on the eyes (or forehead) calms the body AND the mind. Your resting pose is off to an exquisite start.
Eye pillows are very sensory. There are acupressure points around the eye sockets that the pillows reach.
Here are some eye-cover tips
- If no eye pillow, roll a dry washcloth in with your yoga mat. The prize is two-fold. A) You can swab if you sweat and, B) later fold it to cover your eyes in resting pose — a delish treat. Ahh, what a difference a washcloth makes!
- Even better, utilize your venue’s dedicated eye pillows. Deliberately weighted, the pillows relieve eye tension.
- Yoga eye pillows weigh around 8 ounces and cost around $8-10
- The pillow’s light pressure on the eyes stimulates the vagus nerve which originates in our brain. It helps control our mood and regulates our heart rate and digestion.
- For hygiene, in our yoga studio, we wrap a Kleenex tissue around the eye pillow before eye placement so the surface is clean.
- Weighted eye pillows are also used before bedtime or napping. (Some are blissfully scented.)
- CAUTION: Avoid weighted pillows in resting pose if you have low blood pressure.
All said and done…
To lead yourself to ‘the edge,’ as we say in yoga, it isn’t always physical. Immerse yourself in your well-deserved yoga class finale. Stay for resting pose.
Unplug from noisy thoughts or self-judgments and melt into the joyful present. With that, you’ll reduce stress, calm your mind, and raise self-awareness.
Appreciate these minutes of paradise. After all, you are in a yoga or fitness zone to feel better and function stronger each day, Right?
Article by:
Gwenn Jones, CPT, CYT — Content writer in Wellness-Lifestyle-Fitness, Gwenn is a 25-year ACE-certified personal fitness trainer, yoga studio owner, and subject matter expert published in FitandWell.com, EatThis.com and more. Grateful to be a native Californian where happily home-based.
