Śayanāsana - The process of coming into one's own

4. Build confidence:

As you slowly grow more comfortable with your ability to balance, you can stretch the legs upward. If you start to lose balance, simply bend the knees again (figure 4).

5. Shift weight and apply leverage:

To challenge your balance further, you can move your feet backwards slightly and bring your shoulders straight over your elbows. By shifting your weight and applying leverage you will be surprised how effortlessly your head will lift from the ground (figure 5).

6. Time stands still

The next step requires a lot of patience as you move towards taking the final position of Śayanāsana. First observe how your weight is distributed in your forearms. Shift your weight toward the elbows as much as possible. Lift one hand from the ground and bring it to your chin. Once stable, lift the other hand and do the same. When you practice this, make sure to start with alternating sides as the first side to lift. The ultimate key to reaching balance in the final position is balance throughout the entire body. (figure 6).

Śayana: the resting place of the universe and the point from which the entire universe expands and contracts. There are few poses which test your diligence in practice and patience as much as in the final position of Śayanāsana. And yet, it is completely worth it! Once you are in this pose, the world seems to stand still. What might at first be just a moment gradually becomes longer periods of time when you feel that you are simply floating in space. Once you experience this for yourself, you will fully appreciate how aptly this asana was named.

Shifting focus from the external form to the internal experience of balance

To me, yoga is not about what you are able to see from the outside, but rather the cultivation of balance within. Any doctor would agree that even finding inner balance has a lot to do with our nervous system. To develop this skill you need even more frequent practice than the most challenging balancing posture. You do so by tracking your sense of inner balance and working to bring yourself back to center over and over again. Have fun practicing!