If you’re a yoga devotee, you’re probably intimately familiar with Shavasana (also Savasana, or the corpse pose). You do it at the end of every yoga session, and the rule of thumb is typically five minutes of Shavasana for every 30 you’ve spent practicing other yoga poses. So if you do a 30-minute session of yoga five times a week, that’s at least 25 minutes of Shavasana. When you’re spending so much time in one pose, wouldn’t you like to make sure that it’s as close to perfection as possible?

You might think that the corpse pose is pretty self-explanatory, and it is – but to truly perfect this pose, it takes a little bit more than playing dead. Practice, more heightened concentration, and awareness of the pose’s goal can help you experience the incredible benefits of a perfect Shavasana pose. To get started, check out the following suggestions for improving your corpse pose.

Finding the Perfect Position

Going by the name, a corpse pose would have you simply lie on your back as if you were dead. Easy enough, but it’s tougher than it sounds. To begin Shavasana, sit on the floor with your knees bent, feet flat against the floor, and lean back as you use your forearms to guide your torso down to the floor so that you’re flat on your back. Slide one leg straight out, leading with the heel, as you inhale slowly andexhale. Extend the other leg and arch your back slightly. Now, soften your thigh muscles and allow your legs to turn slightly outward into a natural pose that doesn’t require you to hold any muscles taut. Soften your lower back, but don’t allow it to touch the floor. You want to retain a soft, natural curve in your spine. If you’re having trouble with this, use a bolster to find the curve and remove it when you’re confident that you can retain the curve on your own. Once you’re comfortable in this initial position, you’re ready to move on.

Focusing onAlignment

Try to keep your body symmetrical with your left and right sides reflecting each other along the mid-line of your torso. To get your head in the game, take hold of it with both hands and gently lift it away from the back of your neck. Keep your ears at equal distances from your shoulders – this will help you stay symmetrical along your mid-line. As you support your head with your hands or a folded blanket, try to release your spine and relax it from the base of your skull down to your tailbone.

Using Your Arms and Surface Area

Reach your arms up to the ceiling, perpendicular to the floor, as you rock gently from side to side. The purpose of this is to broaden your back by moving the ribs and shoulder blades away from the spine, giving you the sensation of having more surface area between you and the floor. This will help you feel rock solid as you fully relax your body. Allow your arms to find a natural position at your sides, equally angled away from your mid-line, with the palms facing up. Keep your shoulder blades firmly but gently pressed against the floor, allowing your collarbones to spread open and your chest to expand.

Silencing Your Sense Organs

Your sense organs are always at work, but in Shavasana, it’s important to try to silence them and participate in total relaxation. You can start at the top of your head and work downward, relaxing your eye and facial muscles, your inner ear canals, and nostrils. To become more aware of the stress you’re holding in your nose, try flaring your nostrils and then actively relaxing them. Now, soften the root of your tongue and release the tension in your jaw. If your teeth are gritted at this point, work to soften your jaw muscles and your tongue will naturally relax during this process. Any muscle groups that are still taut should be tensed and deliberately released. Trouble spots can include the shoulders, neck, face, back, and jaw, so make sure that these parts of your body are entirely relaxed.

Breathing and Mental Relaxation

There aren’t any specific breathing tricks to learn for Shavasana. Just observe your breath as if you were outside of your body and become aware of its natural rhythm. Focusing on this simple act of respiration will allow you to relax your mind, releasing any stresses or concerns you might have and eliminating thoughts of what you’ll have to do when you’ve finished your yoga session. Let your breath guide you within the moment of Shavasana and exclude the world as you know it. Detach yourself from your body and watch your thoughts slowly dissipate, enabling you to enter a state of total relaxation. No matter what you do, treat Shavasana as a pose that deserves your full concentration just as much as the toughest handstand. You’ll be rewarded with the perfect ending to your yoga session.

Bio: Alexis Bonari is currently a resident blogger at College Scholarships, where recently she’s been researching scholarships for ice hockey students as well as student loan forbearance. Whenever this WAHM gets some free time she enjoys doing yoga, cooking with the freshest organic in-season fare, and practicing the art of coupon clipping.

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If you had the chance to design and then enjoy a weekend retreat that was tailored to your own needs and preferences, what would it look like? Would you want to be in a beautiful place, eat wonderful healthy food, to get to know the natural environment of ocean and mountains? Would you want to meditate and have personalized restorative yoga sessions? Would you want to end your evening with the most amazing bodywork you will ever experience? Does that sound better than the usual spa experience where m

ost of your time will be spent inside and eating food that is cooked for multiple guests? Having been to many spas in different parts of the country, my recent weekend at Soma Get Fit was in a different league entirely and far surpasses all my other experiences. Here’s why: For starters, the staff spends considerable time before you arrive to develop a personalized itinerary and menu. They want to know what priorities you have, be it cardio/aerobic, yoga and meditation, hiking, biking, kayaking or other water sports. Once that is established, they develop a schedule that integrates the extraordinary natural environment of Santa Barbara into your entire exper

ience. I biked in town, stopped at a number of beautiful parks where Karen led me and my friend Marlo in Yoga sessions. Scott and Karen took is on an amazing hike into the hills of Romero Canyon where the views and flowers were terrific. We visited a soothing Buddhist temple, which allowed us to appreciate silence and some time for reflection and more. Karen guided us on our kayaking trip in the harbor and educated us about the marine biology of the area.

We went to the Farmer’s Market with our personal chef Lys Poet where we picked out the produce that she transformed into a 4 star meals. Each evening ended with Scott Crawford giving us each the most amazing 2 hours of bodywork. His talent must come from the Gods. His work is magical and you won’t want your session to end.

The activities, the setting, the food and the tone all contribute to this unique experience. But the essential quality of the Soma Get Fit stems from its people. They are invested in creating experiences for their guests that change body and mind. Their goal is to facilitate personal transformations that their guests have envisioned for themselves. They come to you without judgment, they don’t have preconceptions and they really want to “be there” for their guests. They are gentle but determined that the time you spend at Soma Get Fit will mean something, both while you are there and after you leave. The only drawback to this entire experience is that you have to leave. I for one will go back as soon as I can.

Do you know the difference between Yoga and Pilates?  If your answer is no, you aren’t alone.  Over the years as a Pilates Instructor I’ve been asked by friends “how’s yoga going.”   Today that question makes sense as I’m in the middle of a yoga certification.  However, for the past 7 years while I’ve only been teaching Pilates, the question would make me laugh.  Then I sometimes get “what’s the difference between the two”?  My go to answer for years was “think of yoga as mind/body and Pilates as body/mind.”  It seems a little simplistic to me today, but until recently I didn’t really know how to give a more in depth answer.  Now many years into teaching Pilates, practicing yoga, and being immersed in a yoga certification, I feel I can answer with more substance.   Happily I’ve also come to realize that the two compliment one another quite nicely.

While there might be a few similarities between Pilates and yoga, like the obvious increased strength and flexibility, at the core they are quite different.  Pilates has only been around for about 100 years, while yoga with much more spiritual and meditative aspects dates back at least 5,000 years.  Pilates uses apparatus with springs to give bodies the resistance they are unable to find on their own when doing the mat work.  Yoga is all done on a mat, with props and walls used when needed.  I’m so grateful to those walls as they’ve saved me with my inversions on a number of occasions.  Peter Fiasca wrote in his book, Discovering Pure Classical Pilates, “Although some of the postures of yoga may resemble those found in Pure Classical Pilates, it is in the emphasis and execution that one discovers their distinct differences.”  The classical approach to Pilates keeps bodies moving from one exercise to the next with breath being important and core always a constant focus.   Where as yoga poses might be held for many minutes at a time while perfecting the alignment and focusing on breath.  The breath is also linked to movement.  Many  yoga teachers like to have students set an intention in a yoga class and carry that through until the end of class.  Pilates is an all over workout, but the strength starts at the core.  While yoga touches on the core in some of its poses, it definitely isn’t the main focus.

When I started doing Pilates it was because I thought it was similar to yoga but better.  I tried yoga when I was in college and I have the distinct memory of laughing my way through the class with my friends.  It’s funny to think about that now as yoga has become just as important to me as Pilates is.  Honestly I can’t imagine not having either modality in my life.  Pilates might have helped me get to yoga, but I wouldn’t be able to practice yoga the way I do without my Pilates background.  Anyone with experience in Pilates knows the core is the primary focus, but this is not the case with yoga.  Although, recently I have had some yoga teachers do ab work in their classes.  It seems they are beginning to realize the importance of core strength.  I’m convinced that my inversions, which at times are still tricky, haven’t been as hard for me in my yoga training as they have been for my fellow trainees, because of my core strength and understanding.  This goes both ways though.  My mid-back and shoulders tend to get tight and standing over people all day teaching doesn’t help.  I look forward to that first moment in yoga when I get to extend and twist my spine.  I can’t say I love the deep shoulder stretches we do, but I can completely appreciate what they’re doing for me.  There is plenty of extension work in Pilates, but yoga just goes that much deeper.

So for all you yogi’s out there wanting to move your practice forward, why not try Pilates.  And for all you hard core Pilates fanatics, take a stab at yoga and see if you can increase your extension or twists.  If you haven’t tried either, I hope you now have a better understanding of the differences between the two and will pick at least one to add into your workout routine.   I’m a firm believer of cross-training as muscles can be like people and get bored.  Mix it up and have fun!  Take note that there are many styles of yoga and Pilates out there  (another topic for another time) and finding the right style for you is important.

Kristen Matthews teaches Pilates in Los Angeles, and is currently going through Yogaposer’s 200-hour yoga certification.  You can follow Kristen on twitter or become a fan on facebook.  To read more about where she teaches go to www.kristen4pilates.com.

We loved hosting Chill Out LA for a Press to Impress Retreat Package. See what they had to say in their review:

http://www.chilloutla.com/chill-out-la/getaways/

Check out our most recent press in the daily healthy online magazine Vital Juice.

We hosted the LA editorial team here for one of our weekend retreats and they absolutely loved it.

Click below to read the full review and save 20% off your next retreat.

http://vitaljuice.com/entry_detail/la/1037

Everyone strives for happiness. The question is, how do we get there?

The Buddha once said, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own thoughts unguarded.” The Dalai Lama has said, “Training the mind to think differently, through meditation, is one important way to avoid suffering and be happy.”  The Buddhist practice of Vipassana, or insight meditation, trains us and transforms our minds to achieve a happiness not dependent upon on our circumstances. Insight meditation heals us as we learn to hold ourselves and our experiences with kindness and without judgment.

With dedication and practice, Vipassana trains us to see clearly, without the distortions stemming from the stories, projections, desires, and aversions we normally carry with us. We thereby free ourselves to live and be at peace in the present moment, letting go of our suffering and our fears about the future, most of which fail to come to pass.

It has been shown that meditation changes thought patterns. According to recent findings in the neurosciences conducted at the University of Wisconsin, Harvard, Yale, and MIT, meditative practice may refashion the neurological circuitry of our brains. It increases our ability to concentrate, boosts our serotonin levels, and engages the left prefrontal cortex of our brains, thickening it and making us more predisposed to positive emotions.

In short, through daily meditative practice, we can, quite literally, become the happier people we all strive to be!

To read more on the neuroscience of meditation and its proposed effects on brain activity, consult the following articles:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/meditation/

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/daily/2006/01/23-meditation.html

http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/~lazar/Lazar_Neuroreport_00.pdf

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/101/46/16369

By Bronwyn