Savasana for the Average Unenlightened Barb

At the end of every yoga practice, there is a brief period of time spent lying still in Savasana, or the "corpse pose."  The idea is that after you've done the physical practice, the body needs a chance to regroup or reset itself, so we spend some time (just a short period of time.  Maybe five minutes or so in my particular class) turning our attention inward.

Here's a typical inner dialogue for me:

Instructor: Scan your body, beginning with your toes.  Anywhere you feel tension, release it.  Focus on your breath moving in and moving out.  As thoughts come in, let them come and let them pass.  Do not engage with any one thought.

Barb: I'm breathing in and breathing out.  I'm focusing on my third eye.  I'm breathing... that was kind of funny earlier when someone described Ujjayi breathing as Darth Vader breathing. It sounds just like that. Except Darth Vader isn't very yogic. Plus, I think he needed some sort of apparatus and that's why he breathed like that in the first place. I love how Star Wars is such a great tale of redemption and that, in the end, a father's love triumphed over all. Except it could have been stronger if George Lucas had made good on the opportunity to make Leia a stronger character --like when Yoda says, "There is another..."  But I guess it was really sort of a product of the time it was made. Leia didn't do much more than flail about helplessly. If Lucas had made her like that Linda woman in The Terminator or Siqourney Weaver in those Alien movies, that would have been cool. It might have scared the kids, though, and it's definitely a kids' movie series. How else would you explain Jar Jar Binks? Gosh, I HATE that guy!  Nothing more annoying than THAT guy. Really, if I never see the movie with Jar Jar in it ever again, I'll be totally FINE with that.

Instructor: Prepare to come out of Savasana...

Barb: Dang it.

Comments

tanita✿davis said…
*laughing so loudly, she scares the dog upstairs*

See, THIS is why I'm going to have to try those floatation therapy thingies where you just are in a dark box in water, because I swear to you, that's my mind EVERY TIME I try to meditate or do anything like that. I'm like, Jar-Jar Binks!?

... How do we even end up there??!

*giggle*
Barb Matijevich said…
I keep trying because people swear to me that at some point, it will happen and my mind will quiet to silence. But I go to yoga 5-6 times PER WEEK and it hasn't happened yet.

And really, what was Lucas thinking with Jar Jar?? My current working theory is that George Lucas is really an 11-year-old boy trapped in a man's body.
Unknown said…
my brother and sister in law do 9 day meditation retreats and they say it isnt until the 5th or 6th day that they can really let thoughts go.
Unknown said…
oh and jar jar/ just freaking weird.
Ei said…
These are the sorts of things that make me think we're related...or maybe part of some strange gene splitting experiment. Here's this gene on Texas/New York vs the same gene on Nebraska/Colorado/Iowa. Hmmm.

I'll bet Jar Jar would be really good at yoga, he looks bendy.

Yes I know you are yelling "POINT, EI! IT'S WAY OVER HERE!" - you have your Shavasana and I have mine.
Susan said…
Yes, that's it exactly! Too funny! My friend Deb calls it "monkey mind".
Lomagirl said…
I sometimes think about my perfect house, or something I want to do- darn it- I don't get that much time in my mind to myself anymore. I need that!
Susan said…
I showed your post to my yoga instructor last night and she decided to read it aloud to the entire class!
Cadence said…
I can never turn my brain off.
Candy said…
Roflmao! This is so how my brain works!!!
Susan said…
I was the same way all they years I practiced meditation. Oh, and when I tried self-hypnosis for weight loss. And when I try to go to sleep. And when I try to stay focused in a boring meeting. I see a pattern.
conniep said…
I hope the reason you haven't posted for awhile is that you're all off on a fantastic vacation or something. (Hope you haven't calmed your mind to the point of coma!) I keep checking and no posts! Miss reading them. You are just spot on.
Anonymous said…
Are you done blogging? I have enjoyed your blog, but am about to erase the bookmark.