Savasana ~ The hardest pose to master

Savasana ~ The hardest pose to master
I’ve been practicing yoga for years now. I admittedly did not embrace it immediately. It moved way too slow for my ever racing brain. It took some time to realize that that was the exact reason I needed yoga in my life. 

Over time I grew to fall in love with the practice and even became a certified instructor and yoga life coach recently. I am nowhere near a master and there are plenty of poses that are far from easy for me. But you want to know the hardest one? Savasana.

Should be easy enough, right? I mean, you just lay there. Let everything in your mind go. Yeah right. My brain does not like to settle (I may be a tad ADHD). If you’re anything like me, as soon as the yoga instructor tells you to lay on your back and relax, your mind goes into overload and you become fidgety. Just like every night when I lay down to sleep. My mind fills with all the things I should have done, the things I need to do, or things that have nothing to do with anything but just want to make an appearance. So goes the Savasana pose. 

You get where I’m going. It’s hard, y’all! Stilling your mind. Allowing yourself to just be.  Letting things go. Accepting where you are in the here and now. Loving yourself as you are. Ahhh, how do I do that???

So yes, the savasana pose has been the absolute hardest for me to master. I can learn to do all the twisty, bendy things. I can loosen up my muscles and joints (very slowly) and allow them to move in ways I never thought possible. Weird poses have suddenly become comfortable, resting poses. 

My mind however, is a whole other story. But I’m learning, slowly but surely. It does get easier. I’m learning to allow myself to slow down and accept the here and now. I’m learning to be at peace, allowing myself to just be, and take one moment at a time. It’s a process. And one I will continue to work on every day. Because the days I allow myself to at least try, go so much smoother. I feel a peace and calmness wash over me. It’s the perfect way to reset my mind and refocus on things that need to be done. This, my friends is what yoga is all about. It can simply be summed up in the savasana (or corpse) pose. 

xo Angela

PS. Need a little help and direction yourself? Schedule a quick 15 minute session and let's chat to see if my yoga life coaching is for you.

How to Get Fit Without High-impact Exercises

How to Get Fit Without High-impact Exercises

If you're anything like I used to be, when you think of getting results from a workout, you think high impact. Low impact workouts are for rest days only, right? Wrong! In fact, I've gotten some of my best results from low impact programs. 


Now, don't get me wrong. Shaun T is always fun! (Cize and T-20 are some of my favorites.) 


But after a freak fall while playing volleyball in February of 2018, I had to slow it down. High impact wasn’t what worked best for my body anymore. (I’ve finally begun to truly heal the last few months thanks to dry needling, but that’s for another post.)


Yoga has become my best friend. Yoga? That's not even a workout is it? I mean you just stand there (this according to a neurosurgeon I was seeing after my fall). 


If you think yoga is just standing there, you have obviously never practiced it. I find it to be the most well rounded form of exercise I’ve ever done, working on the inside and out. 


And yoga is great for defining muscles, not to mention the strengthening and flexibility you get from practicing. 


I’ve tried going back to some higher impact workouts a few times, thinking I miss it. But I really don’t. I’ve fallen in love with yoga. It’s what makes me feel my best, in every way.  


So yes, you can absolutely get results from low impact workouts. The point is to keep your body moving. Find what works for you. Listen to your body and give it what it needs. 


And don't forget to clean up your diet in the process. Bad eating habits will absolutely keep you from your best results.


How are you? Are you a low-impact or high-impact worker outer (yes, worker outer...it’s a thing. Ask me.) 


Find this helpful? Check out my guide to fitness over 40. You can find it here.