You, Your Business, and Savasana

Rest is so uncool these days.

We push and pull and rush until we quite literally collapse.

So many of us resist our need for quiet and stillness.  I know I have fallen into the busy trap more often than I would care to admit.

Without the cloak of busy-ness, we fidget and fret.  Our minds go crazy.

Do. Do. Do.  There is always too much to do. No time for rest…

But what about simply being?

Dark and light.  Yin and yang.  Hot and cold.

States cannot exist without their opposite.

Rest is not a moral failing, but a requirement of our humanity.  Stillness is part of our rhythmic connection with the seasons and the universe at large.  It stands to reason that our businesses have the same requirements for sustainability and health.  And when we are the basis for our business?  Periods of rest are a necessity.

The end of yoga practice calls for rest in Savasana.

After the activity of our practice, the pose of savasana is the counterbalance.  After asking our bodies to expand into the limits of movement, we are able to come to stillness more easily.

Savasana is difficult because it is not a pose to “be done”.  It is a posture of receptivity.  We are exposed – our soft bellies being breathed.

In Savasana we surrender to the earth.  We feel the ground rise up beneath our prone bodies, supporting us fully.

There is nothing more delicious.

Our hearts beat, our bodies hum with delight, as the breath rises and falls.

All we are required to do is receive the gift of our lives in the moment.

Our body welcomes us home.

In these short days of winter, when we are expected to rev our engines and go, go, go, it is a radical act to make space for rest.  Can you make time for your own need for stillness?

Your body will thank you.  Your business will bless you.   People around you will marvel at the sight of a well-rested you.

Whether you practice yoga, or not, savasana is a practice for you.  And if you are a yoga practicioner, chances are good that you haven’t had time for your regular class or practice during the holiday season.

Can you make five, or even ten minutes each day?

Practicing Savasana

Drop to the floor and lie in a comfortable position, on your back.  Line up your spine and allow your hands to face upward, in a gesture of receptivity.  Let your legs roll open from the hips, so your feet roll out to the side.  Close your eyes and let them be soft.  Let the tongue drop from the roof of the mouth as the muscles of the face soften. Notice how your belly rises and falls with the each breath.  Notice your heart beat.  Feel the muscles and fascia sinking toward the earth as you give yourself over to gravity.

Listen to your body in all its gloriousness.

Rest, and receive the gifts of being alive, in this moment.

Let a smile play across your lips, knowing that by honoring your natural rhythms of activity and stillness, you are plugging in to a greater source.  In connecting to that source, you are creating space for magic in your life, your business – and beyond.

May you find time for rest and stillness in the coming weeks, as the calendar turns from one year to the next.  May your commitment to rest fuel your success in the coming year.

Namasté to you, business yoginis!

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