Four minutes and forty-seven seconds felt like five minutes today; granted, music was playing to help measure time.
I tried to focus on my breath by thinking "in" on an inhale and "out" on an exhale. Of course my mind wandered to and from this In-Out mantra a few times, that's fine, definitely expected, especially when I'd try to feel which muscles were tight and tense (my right hip and thigh held the most tension, for the record). However, I did notice that my breaths weren't fully going into my diaphragm, they were going mid-way between my chest and core.
I wonder if certain tones of different syllables, even though they're thoughts, not spoken words, subtly change the way muscles move. I'm wondering this because of the "So Ham" (pronounced: hum) version of the "In Out" method I did. I've tried this type of breath focus (using "So" on the inhale and "Ham[hum]" on the exhale) in the past, and it seems like those breaths go deeper.
Day 2, Thursday:
Two minutes and 31 seconds was the first time I saw on the stopwatch, 4m56s was the second time; no music was playing to help track time today.
I tried to use the "So Ham[hum]" method to steady my breath today, which was successful, for about the first two breaths. Today's focus (pun, definitely intended) was mostly on my Drishti [Sanskrit for 'focus/gaze']. Even with my eyes shut, I did my best to keep my inner focus on my third-eye [the area above and between the brows - as if to make an imaginary triangle with your two physical eyes], naturally my eyes wandered to the left and right every so often, but it didn't take long for them to go back to the third-eye.
Day 3, Friday:
Four minutes and twenty five seconds felt like six minutes today, with no music to help keep track of time. I really thought I was in savasana for more than five minutes though; time perception is a funny thing.
While doing the "So Ham[hum]" method of keeping a steady breath, I did notice that my breaths were going deeper into my core. There was still the odd breath that went straight into my chest though. Drishti was nowhere near as strong as it was yesterday, it was going off to the left a lot of the time.
Some tension in my left shoulder was released towards the end of the pose, which was nice. "You don't know the weight of what you're carrying until you let it go". I really needed that, and hadn't really realized how tense my shoulders were until then.
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| Mr Nobody (2009) |
Even with music playing, two minutes, on-the-dot, was the first time I checked the timer. Four minutes and fifty three seconds was the second time. I ended up staying in savasana for a total of 7m25s -the aim was eight minutes- because my monkey mind just would not settle today.
Drishti didn't wander too far off from the third-eye as I was mentally singing along with the music; it was pretty fast-pased tunes. That's probably why my breaths were about half as long as they were during the past few savasanas, they weren't necessarily shallow per say, just quicker. There was no "So Ham[hum]" focus to steady my breath, since I was absorbed by the music. In the midst of all this, I did take note of some tension in my face; it's funny how uncommon face massages are.
Day 5, Sunday:
Six minutes and nineteen seconds was the first time showing on the stopwatch today. I had some slower paced music playing to help track time. It was actually surprising to see that today's savasana lasted longer than five minutes.
Starting off with a full-body scan, and trying to combine that with my gaze focused on my third-eye, as well as the "So Ham[hum]" breath focus; I quickly found that I cannot multi-task very well. I could do the first two, but I couldn't even get in a single "So" on an inhale before my mind felt overwhelmed and wandered off. This was all within the first few breaths.
Honestly, today's savasana was incredibly distracting, mentally; physically, it was great! Mentally, I was so excited and distracted by what I was going to remember to write in the blog that I was left in the moment for a total of probably 3 non-consecutive breaths. Physically, that full-body scan worked wonders; I felt my spine lengthen, the tension dissipate, like my body was melting into my yoga mat, the way lava viscously crawls along the ground. It was beautiful, and the first time I experienced why it's commonly called Corpse Pose.
Evaluation:
Well it's been five days and I've officially decided to add savasana to my daily routine. It's an incredibly relaxing transition from on to off the mat, as well as having the perks of a (sometimes) half-assed meditation. It takes 21 days to make or break a habit, it'll only be a couple weeks until I can add this to the list of my "better" habits. I know there's lots of progress to be made, but it'll be worth it, I know my future self will thank me for this.
So, I challenge you. Make a goal, make it small, make it realistic. You just might surprise yourself, you might even make it a habit!
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