My favorite yoga classes as a student and teacher all begin and end with the same pose. In Sanskrit, it’s called savasana: corpse pose.
Lay on your back with your palms up and eyes closed. Relax your temples, your jaw, and your throat. Soften your shoulders, hips, and ankles. Warning: sleep may ensue. It’s totally normal and happened to me during my first yoga class (and a few others since).
What I’ve learned from practicing savasana reminds me a lot about what I’ve learned in Judaism: the value of rest and reflection, one's connection to creating light, and the ability to positively impact the world.
I love starting a class with savasana because it invites students to step away from the outside world and reset their minds and body.
Imagine yourself gently closing a solid wood door on all the noise outside, turning the lock, and hiding the key. In this moment of mental silence, tune into your neshima (breath), clear your mind, and choose an intention you’d like to cultivate during your time on the mat.
Each week during Shabbat, from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, we are invited to set the intention of rest. It’s a chance to unplug from the stressors of our lives and get back to what’s most important to us.
There are many ways to participate in Shabbat, including reciting the blessings over candles, bread, and wine, unplugging from our devices, or going to a service to chat about this week’s parshah (Torah portion). That’s what I love about Shabbat: it’s a choose-your-own-adventure. And while what I choose to experience may differ each week, I still aim to close the door on all the busyness of my week, just like in savasana.
One of my favorite ways of fueling my neshama (soul/spirit) is by lighting Shabbat candles. As Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi once said, “A little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness.” While living in Dallas, I used to teach a candlelit yoga class, and there was something so spiritual about having warm, flickering lights around me. I find that same peacefulness when I light on Fridays. One of my Rebbetzins (Rabbi’s wife) once told me that when you light a candle and say the blessing, the gates to the spiritual world open up. It’s a powerful time to ask for anything you need or send prayers to G-d. Many Jewish holidays, including Hanukkah, Passover, and Shabbat, are ignited by candle lighting.
There’s something special about adding light to a world that can sometimes feel heavy and dark. Just as we add physical brightness to a room, we ignite our internal light because we know that when we do, it’s contagious.
When we cultivate positive energy, we can release it into the world and fill it with our brightness. That’s the same energy I always try to encourage during a yoga class.
Lie on your back and close your eyes. Start to invite stillness back in. Take a nice deep inhale and a long, slow exhale. Allow yourself to rest. Now evaluate how you feel – mentally, physically — maybe even spiritually. Feel grateful for your body and for how far you’ve come.
I like circling back to savasana at the end of class as a reminder of how far we’ve all come together. It’s a homecoming, a return to self, just like I’ve felt during Shabbat.
Now honor the light inside you and think about what you want to take with you as you go out into the world. From my heart to yours, Shalom.
At The Well uplifts many approaches to Jewish practice. Our community draws on ancient Jewish wisdom, sometimes adapting longstanding practices to more deeply support the well-being of women and nonbinary people. See this article’s sources below. We believe Torah (sacred teachings) are always unfolding to help answer the needs of the present moment.
How to Light Shabbat Candles, My Jewish Learning
Why Jews Light Candles, Jewish Theological Seminary
Corpse Pose, Yoga Journal
Twenty-Eight Teachings from Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, Chabad.org
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