My restless savasana

How I grew to love savasana. By Melanie Krepp

My time on the mat began with a few sporadic classes to balance out a new fitness regime. I was in my early thirties and began noticing my high metabolism was not all I could rely on to stay healthy.

Group classes motivated me to go to the gym, and I mixed up my options to include everything from step classes (yup, I did step classes), to weight training, and I started to balance it out by including a few yoga classes.

I knew I needed to stretch, and at the same time I was inspired most by classes that made me move and sweat (even without a hot yoga room).

The continuous movement made the classes fly by, until the final resting pose – savasana.

I loathed the end of class. It meant I needed to lie in stillness, be quiet, and attempt to meditate. The five minutes felt like 20 minutes with my monkey mind moving so fast I couldn’t keep up.

I didn’t see the point. I was finished with my workout and I wanted to be the first to the showers so I didn’t have to queue up while attempting not to get my clean towel wet with sweat.

One morning, a teacher played a song during savasana that stirred up meaningful memories. Tears dripped from the corners of my eyes. I felt my entire body on the mat that day including the emotions that were being released from me.

I stayed behind until the room was cleared out and slowly I rolled up my mat. I felt lighter. I was more aware of my surroundings. My body and my emotions felt connected.

The experience intrigued me and I started to attend more yoga classes. The final resting pose began to feel comfortable. The brief morning meditations became something I yearned for at the end of class. They helped me begin my day with a clean slate.

My restless mind was ready to be free and my spiritual journey had begun.