I finish the majority of my yoga practices in savasana, lying on my yoga mat, arms to my side, legs long, eyes closed and mindfully breathing. Why like this? Well, because the instructor on youtube tells me to.
While this may be the easiest position to master physically, mentally it is quite challenging. With each breath I inhale, it seems, at times, that 7 thoughts enter and dart around my head.
When is my next meeting? I need to buy more soap… Why am I laying here rather than working on something productive??
It can be so challenging to just be. I’ve struggled with productivity shame from a very early age. In fact, I’ve always made myself incredibly busy to prevent sitting in guilt and frustration during moments of boredom.
This past year, with more idle time, I struggled with the fact that I wasn’t doing enough.
During the holiday season work slowed and rather than pushing myself to do more, I practiced yoga, spent time with family, watched movies and read books. This time of rest enabled me to reflect upon what I had done and what I need to focus on to continue my development. It was actually while doing “nothing” that I came to a revelation that has allowed me to progress in my work.
Here is where the yoga comes in. We do savasana to allow the benefits of our practice seep in. Just the active poses in yoga are not enough, we also need the absence of movement to make a true difference in our body and soul.
Sometimes it’s the moments we give ourselves to sit with boredom, to not have an agenda, and just be when we realize things. We need to have these moments to allow what we are working on hold true and deep within us.
