Laura recently came back from Teacher Training and is excited to start practice teaching! She wrote this amazing article on the neuroscience behind Savasana as one of her projects and we wanted to share!
Hopefully this will encourage a few more people to stay in Savasana is little longer 😉
A requirement for me at yoga teacher training was to deliver a speech – no power point, no cue cards allowed…eeek! We were given a list of potential topics and I chose the neuroscience behind Savasana. I chose this because yoga teachers always say that Savasana is the most important and most difficult pose of the series, or that we have done all of the sequence poses to enjoy the benefits in Savasana… I never understood this.
Savasana or Shavasana is also called corpse pose. For that final Savasana historically I have two versions: a “good Savasana” when I zone out (google pratyahara). Although I am still awake, I am sort of swimming just under the surface of the water. What I perceive as a “bad Savasana” is when I am focused on such important topics like did I pay the hydro bill, do I need milk, I need to scratch my cheek- the really important stuff.
Now I know that there is no such thing as a bad Savasana…here are a few reasons why.
Cardiovascular: this one is obvious. We work hard in that hot room and our hearts are pounding. Our muscles demand more blood, so all the little vessels open to feed them, our heart pounds quickly and we breathe a little faster- much of this is a result of our finely tuned nervous systems’ running behind the scenes. When we finally lie down in Savasana our vessels continue to feed our muscles with fresh oxygenated blood, the heart and breathing begins to slow down leaving us with this peaceful sensation of having done something wonderful for our bodies.
Interoception: I love this one. Let me define this because I had no idea what it meant. Proprioception is the awareness of where our arms and legs are when we can’t see them. Interoception is defined as the sense of the internal condition of the body. This level of our mind does not use words, the way I understand it is that this is the essence of who we are. Interoception is not the garden but the soil. By spending a few minutes at peace with this part of our being allows us to recognise where some thoughts are coming from, maybe help to change some of the negative ones (Forbes). Interoception is not just within our mind, but through our entire body. Take the time to travel through your most important asset at the end of class and become familiar with what feels normal.
What fires together will wire together: I don’t know who said this first but this is truly a buzz phrase now. When we are doing yoga, we are focusing on breathing with our movements. Our mind is thinking about two things at one time while exercising our bodies. The neurons working together will build stronger pathways so in the future our brain will take this route naturally. That peaceful feeling that you get at the end of each pose could be sought out in the line up at the grocery store or in a traffic jam, just by being aware of your breath.
How does this happen? Neuroplasticity: this is the development of new neurons. Chemicals that are released when we exercise help to create new neurons (Vaughn). Asana, meditation along with all forms of exercise release these chemicals which also improve attention, impulse control and memory (Vaughn). The re-wiring impacts many parts of our brain, making the brain healthier and stronger. One area that does not show any increase in function is the amygdala. The amygdala is our fight or flight centre, it decreases in size when we exercise or meditate. This is a good thing as this area is often overstimulated in our high stress society. After a healthy practice settling down into a deep and relaxing Savasana will allow for these minor renovations of the brain to be done. Leaving us with our “bliss head feeling” (Boccio) accessible whenever it is required.
Inhibitor neurons: Neurotransmitters are also part of our. These are the chemicals that allow for messages to transmit from one neuron to another. Exercise in general increases production of feel good neurotransmitters like serotonin and euphoriants and a stimulant (Vaughn). Asana does not release the stimulant but it does produce the endorphins and euphoriants, as well as something called Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) (Vaughn). GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, it works to “inhibit” the massive amounts of information being synapsed through out motor neurons. The stronger the inhibitory signals are, the easier it is to settle down our over active responses. Lying down in Savasana will allow these feel-good chemicals to flood our system allowing our nervous system to benefit (Coulter).
When I start to teach, you may hear me say that Savasana is the most important pose of the series as well. Hopefully this information will explain why that is.
References
Boccio, Frank Jude. “Mindfulness Yoga: the Awakened Union of Breath, Body, and Mind.” Boccio, Frank Jude. 1993.
Coulter, H. David. “Anatomy of Hatha Yoga.” Body&Breath Inc, 2010.
Forbes, Bo. LA Yoga. 27 04 2015. 03 08 2017. <https://layoga.com/practice/yoga/interoception-mindfulness-in-the-body/>.
Vaughn, Amy. Yoga to Ease Anxiety. 01 01 2016. 03 08 2107. <https://www.yogatoeaseanxiety.com/>.
About the Author:
I am a Dundas native with two sons in their 20’s. I am 48…soon to be 49 and my husband and I live in Pleasant Valley. I teach for McMaster Mohawk in the medical radiation science program, I have a Masters in Ultrasound so that is mainly what I teach.
(Originally published on August 8, 2017)