Happy Thanksgiving...Treat yourself to Savasana & a Marma massage

Breaking from the norm, this will not be an 'everything I'm thankful for' blog post. Although...I've been loving reading other bloggers posts about what they are thankful for, remind me of how grateful I really am. Instead today...I'm going to write about a wonderful savasana experience --> Yes, that's what I'm super thankful for, finding yoga which led me to enjoy savasana....deep relaxation.


I don't think I've mentioned it on the blog, but I started advanced teacher training (TT500) in August of this year. My first training was a total of 200 hours of training (TT200), now TT500 is a total of 300 hours, ultimately = 500 hours of training when I'm done!!! And I wonder where all of my time is going!?!?!


We were in TT500 class from 6pm to 10pm for Ethics of Yoga (a very important class).... around 9pm, the instructor noticed we were all losing our attention span (not to diminish the importance of yoga & ethics by any means, but I have to admit it's pretty heavy stuff for late at night) ... so we shifted gears (great awareness & being present in the moment on the part of our instructor) and he gave us a mini Savasana workshop!! I think he was reading all of our minds, and if I can say this...it was so YUMMY (ok, maybe Thanksgiving food is on my mind)!!!


If you are new to yoga and are curious what Savasana is....it's the last 5 to 10 minutes of a yoga class where you lay on your back in complete deep relaxation allowing your body to reap the benefits of your yoga practice. (Much harder than you think...especially if you are new to yoga and trying to relax and not multitask)


Savasana is actually a yoga pose! Can you believe it, just being relaxed is an activity. Yes!!!...It is also referred to as Corpse Pose...which is actually what you will be doing, laying as if you are dead.

source: pinoyoga.com

For me, Savasana feels amazing after a long physically challenging practice and it can also feel just as wunderbar after a long day at work and a stressful week. Some days I go to a yoga class just so I can have a savasana....


I know I have lots of favorite poses, but Savasana is the best...especially when you get assisted!!! Below is a picture showing some ways to assist yourself, an eye pillow can feel wonderful, or bring awareness to releasing tension in your forehead to allow your eyes to relax, a bolster/blanket under the knees can release any low back tension....now all you have to do is try NOT to fall asleep.

source: anamayaresort.com

As a new teacher and a teacher assistant, I enjoy giving savasana assists to students. Its a way to share the most fabulous part of yoga and deep relaxation with a student in a way that hopefully feels amazing and encourages students to come back for more yoga!


Our 1 hour Savasana workshop was giving & receiving savasana assists. Other than going home in a state of bliss, I also learned some unique savasana techniques such as:

• Massaging the scalp
• Applying pressure to the fleshy/meaty part of the upper chest near the shoulders
• Massaging the cartilage in the ear lobes
• Slight lengthening of neck/spine by pulling on the occipital bone
• Excellent visual on pgs 173-175 in Acu-yoga
• Gentle neck massage, rubbing along the muscle
• Massaging the Marma points along the forehead

The Marma massage felt amazing....and I left with a desire to learn more about what marma's are and why did the massage feel so good.....

‘Marma’ is a Sanskrit term for sensitive or vulnerable points on the body, vital points where flesh, veins, arteries, tendon, bones and joints meet. According to ayurveda healing traditions, marma point therapy enlivens pure consciousness and stimulates a spontaneous healing response. There is sadi to be 107 marma points in the body. Massaging the marma points can help reduce rigidity in the body (and also the mnd). During our Savasana class we primarily worked with the following marma points:

• The middle of the brows: Sthapani marma
• The center of the forehead
• The top of the head: Adhipati marma

Stimulating certain marma points can help to balance energy (prana) in the body, and can help with stress, pain, headaches, sleep, and digestive disorders. I even read that they can provide a natural facelift and the face begin to look more radiant as wrinkles start to diminish! Sign me up for more face massages during savasana!!

source: www.massageandbodywork.com

At the points on the picture gently press down with your thumb or fingers, and then rub your fingers along towards your temple. Here is a How To at home if interested. (maybe I can get my hubby to try this on me).

Source: Yogadork.com

Hopefully after a savasana assist or marma massage you feel relaxed as shown in this image! You can also experiment with giving your self some of the assists above (or maybe tyring to teach a partner how to give them to you, and you can practice giving and receiving) :)



Savasana can also be the only pose you practice...so after your Gobble Gobble dinner....experiment yourself what a few moments of deep relaxation feels like.

Resources for this blog post:
Restoring Prana - the Iowa Source
Practical Ayurveda - Massage and Bodywork Magazine