Hello everyone and welcome to Yoga with Adriene. I'm Adriene and today, Halloween, we are going to learn the Corpse pose. One of my favorite, favorite postures. A place where we can practice resting in peace. Super yummy pose. So let's hop on the mat and learn the Corpse posture. (relaxing guitar music) Okay so we are going to come flat on our backs for Corpse pose or Savasana and if you, I've always, I've had short hair for many, many years so I'm just now experiencing this but if you have a ponytail or anything back there, sometimes it's nice to let the hair go so you don't have that poking in the back of your head. So we're coming to lie flat on the back here, I'm gonna actually keep my knees up here just for a second and tuck my pelvis in, scooping the tailbone up, just a slight subtle body movement here to find length in the lower back. So I'm scooping the tailbone up towards the sky, drawing my navel down, maybe even lifting the hips a little bit to get that tuck of the pelvis. Ah, the lower back becomes long and flush with the mat and then from here, I'll extend the right leg out long followed by the left leg out long. Arms come to rest gently at our sides and we're gonna go ahead and turn the palms face up here. Letting the armpit chest breathe a little bit here. We usually do this posture at the end of yoga practice so it's nice to let (loudly exhales) this area of the body breathe a little bit, cool off. So as we come into Savasana, this cooling posture, we're gonna come into a place of surrender or stillness. So always take your time getting situated on the mat for this posture so that once we arrive in the pose, we can really soften, surrender, and let go. So from here I encourage you to scoop the tailbone up, draw the navel down, find that length in the spine. Then also maybe literally press into the elbows, press into the head, and lift your chest up off the ground. Draw your two shoulder blades in together and down, opening the heart, expanding through the chest and then resting back into the earth. Sometimes I like to point and flex the feet here, just to make sure my legs are nice and long. (loudly inhales) Lengthened. Then I'll begin to soften through my fingertips, relax the ankles. Sometimes we're in class and you have no idea that you're holding in your joints and we are, so relax the ankles. Tuck the chin into the chest slightly lengthening through the back of the head, the back of the neck, then close your eyes. In Savasana we want to take a deep breath in (loudly inhales) and then on each exhale, let go. (loudly exhales) Let go you say? That means literally letting any tension, any weight, any holding in the body relax into the earth. So, using each exhalation as an opportunity to go a little bit deeper into this posture. Posture of surrender, the Corpse pose. Creepy name but yummy, yummy posture. So great for the nervous system and really Savasana is about letting the mind and body integrate so that you can really reap the benefits of yoga. So, as you come into the posture, begin to soften the breath. I often invite my students to soften to skin of their face, just to start bringing a more heightened awareness as we integrate the mind and body and find this place of exquisite stillness where we're not reviewing the past, we're not planning or thinking about the future, but we're really, truly taking a moment to rest in peace. Remembering to keep an open heart as we quiet the mind with the soft breath here. If you're in public class and you're uncomfortable in this posture, don't feel frozen like a mummy in your Corpse pose. You can make adjustments, this is for you, right? Your body, your acceptance in the present moment, and so find what feels good (clicks with mouth). (comedic humming) By softening and making adjustments as needed. Sometimes it's nice to rock the heels a little bit. If you have some lower back pain or maybe a back injury that's in healing, a couple of variations for you are to come to soles of the feet here, knees up in the air. Bring your feet to the outer edges of your mat and then allow the knees to fall in and rest together, softening in kind of the bowl of the pelvis here and then resting here (loudly exhales) with happy lower back. So that is an option. Another variation is instead of arms out, if you're wanting to feel more grounded and warm, we can bring the hands to the belly. And this is nice too because then sometimes we can send the breath to a the palms of our hands. As we inhale, they rise (loudly inhales) and we exhale, they fall (loudly exhales). Truth be told, you can create any form of Savasana that you want that's just a nice happy place of surrender. So even though we traditionally practice Savasana here, the Corpse pose, (loudly inhales) I invite you to explore. Keep finding ways that you can really sit or lie rather, still and be with the breath, letting the mind and body and the heart (loudly inhales) take a break (loudly exhales) to be at peace. Savasana. To get out of the posture, we'll begin to activate the breath by maybe coming into a deeper, longer breath and then just slowly inviting a little movement to the body, so inviting a little energy back to the fingertips and toes, blinking the eyes a little bit sometimes, moving the tongue around in the mouth is nice. And then whenever you're ready, we'll inhale, reach the fingertips up and overhead, full body stretch here. Just a nice, long, organic stretch as we maybe rotate the wrists and ankles and then I'll slowly hug my knees in towards my chest, rounding the spine here a little bit, massaging the lower back, and then I'm gonna come into Embryo pose here or Fetal posture, just resting the heart for a moment here on my right side before and then press into the palms and come back up. Okay, so that was Corpse pose or Savasana. A place where we can find stillness and surrender and just bask in the light and love, but it's Halloween so, bask in the light and love. If you have any questions about Savasana or if you'd like to share your experiences with the pose, please leave it bellow in the comment box. Subscribe to the channel if you haven't already and have a happy and safe Halloween, namaste. (relaxing guitar music) (laughing) Hey everyone, welcome to Yoga with Adriene. (slurping) I'm Adriene and today we're going to learn. (faint thudding) Baby Blue Dog pose. (rubbing) (laughing) Aww.