If you answer yes to more than two of the questions below, then find a chair and grab a sandbag. Tell everyone in the house that you’ll resurface in 10 minutes.
- Are you tired?
- Are you wired?
- Are you lacking in patience?
- Do you feel like your battery is low?
- Do you feel ungrounded?
- Are you overwhelmed?
- Are you having a hard time making decisions?
- Does your back hurt?
It’s pretty simple. Lie down on your back and place your calves on a chair. Place a sandbag on your shins and scoot yourself back just enough to feel the spine elongate. By putting your calves on a chair, your overworked back muscles get some much-needed relief, and your spine gets some traction. The weight of the sandbag on your shins will ground you and release your calves. The binding of the calves is part of the epidemic of being stuck in fight-or-flight mode. Very few poses can bring on complete relaxation in the way that this variation of savasana can. You can add an eye pillow, a blanket, and a drop of lavender to the mix. If you want to take it even deeper, elongate your exhalation and notice the pause after the exhalation. Welcome to the awake, grounded, patient, and pain-free version of you!
