Corpse Pose
Supine Relaxation Pose
śavasāna
​शवासन

​Practice of Shavasana is purposed for deep restoration, relaxation, integration, somatic intelligence, and balancing of all systems for health, well being, and deeper spiritual and self awareness. It is for finding meditation in your own existence. Shavasana is also one of the best positions in which to practice Yoga Nidra. The experience of leading onesself progressively inwards in self awareness through interior use of the senses, imagination of opposite dimensions of experience, hot and cold, light and heavy, large and small, then into the merging of the self with the Cosmic self at all levels of the reality through the inter-merger of experiences. This leads to the yogic state known as samadhi, realization, attainment, enlightenment, or awakening.

Lay your spine down in a way that feels natural and helps to keep the length. You can try using your elbows or even hold the back thighs as you roll your lumbar down.

As you finish laying down reach your arms downwards away from your ears and make some space between your shoulder blades.

Extend the back of your neck down to rest the head. If the natural resting curvature of your spine needs it you can use a small pillow.

Shavasana can be practiced anytime but it will be the easiest to go "the deepest" after some other concentrated practice. This can be can intense Hatha yoga asana or vinyasa practice or even conventional exercise, pranayama, or some form of meditation. Then lay down comfortably and observe and relax. Feel as deeply as possible into every process of your body. Breath, heartbeat, warmth, position, size, density, composition, energy, consciousness, and existence in the now. As everything relaxes, profoundly you may be on the edge of sleep and wakefulness yet cosmic awareness. The body and senses can seem to disappear completely, leaving a calm and neutral mind, abiding in a state of conscious uninterrupted peacefulness. This is the basic state of self awareness.

Additional Exercises

1. Place soft weight onto the abdomen to experience more awareness in the abdomen, organs, and diaphragm. Breath gently and consciously to the abdomen feeling the movement of the diaphragm. Your diaphragm is the genuinely most 3-dimensionally functioning muscle possibly. 

2. Also add other weights to the body. Beanbags for the hands and eye pillow.

3. Add lavender or another relaxing essential oil fragrance to the weights or diffuser.

4. Pratyahara breathing: Make a soft sibilant "sh" sound on long exhales. Practice getting quieter and quieter.