Dying for some rest

I’ve been thinking a little about Śavāsana recently, doing a tiny writing assignment for my teachers. In the nice way of coincidences this weekend I also fell into talking with Hubby about introducing a more restorative aspect into his practice. As he’s becoming more free of chronic pain I see him getting onto a bit of an āsana treadmill where he wants to get further each practice and he’s getting a bit competitive with himself. I believe (and as his wife, obviously I know best!) that he would do well to incorporate some bodily relaxation at the close of his practice to balance things out a bit. Trouble is, he’s always hated Śavāsana and found it deeply uncomfortable physically and mentally. He can’t understand why some people claim to love it. He let me fuss around him today, setting him up with various bolsters and blankets to help settle his back. We eventually got him relatively comfortable. Finally, I think the most useful thing I did was also place a folded blanket on top of him. Personally if I’m having a freaky practice and getting a bit swept away, I find this comfortable weight in Śavāsana is very reassuring. He looked quite happy after all this attention so I left him to it.

Actually I sat for my meditation practice. I usually prefer to be alone to sit, but it was kind of nice just having a body breathing near me, settled and calm. It was very grounding.

In fact Hubby was so settled and calm that he actually dozed off and half my sitting practice was done to the whisper of some gentle snoring!

This is a really wonderful yoga first for Hubby. Not only to find a comfortable Śavāsana — but to find such a good place of ease that he fell asleep. The teacher in me was quite pleased with the results of my set-up and how I could translate his needs into the āsana; as his wife I was just happy to see him rest.

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Featured image credit: doyouyoga.com