Saturday, March 26, 2011

Savasana

Savasana is the final resting pose in yoga. You just lay on your back on the floor and it is the most pristine few moments to soak in all of your hard work and treat yourself to doing nothing. It can be hard to just lay there and not think about the to do list or what to eat as soon as you leave class. One thing New York Sports Center yoga instructors were really good at was talking you through a meditation and helping you visualize a calm, wonderful place. I love taking imagination trips while in savasana and usually go to one of the following three places:

The end of the dock at Craftsbury Sculling Center (aka Family Rowing Camp) in the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont. There are three long, floating, wooden docks used for launching boats into Lake Hosmer. I would usually opt out of the afternoon row in lieu of basking in the sun on the dock, which absorbs the heat from being in the sun. As I laid on the dock, I could see pine trees in the periphery of my vision and bright blue above. Thats it. Quiet. Warmth. Nothingness. The best part was that I could dip my toes in the water, which was usually perfect for toe dipping- not too cold. This usually where I go while in savasana.

The front lawn at 26 Dunkirk road, my home in Baltimore for most of my life. As I lay on the floor, I imagine that I'm laying between our house and our next door neighbor's house in the long, borderline overgrown green grass. Above me I see the Japanese Maple (perfect for climbing) and the pine tree (bad for climbing) entering my line of sight from each side. This one smells like mulch and I probably have dirty feet.

The black sand beach in Waimanu Valley on the Big Island in Hawaii. Surprisingly, this one is not a hot place and the sun comes and goes. It's kept cool by the fog rolling off of the town of Waimea on the cliffs that create the valley. Laying on the beach, facing the ocean, I can see the fog descending from behind and disappearing into the vast ocean and sky beyond the mouth of the valley. The cliffs create a 2,000 foot tall cocoon of greens and browns on either side and the sand is cool and perfectly soft. It is completely silent except for the shuffle of trees against each other behind me and crash of the waves in front of me.

After spending 5 minutes imagining the quality of the quiet or the feeling of the sun, I'm usually ready to face the city with a renewed sense of calm (and find myself walking much slower on the way home).

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