After doing a session of physical yoga such as Hatha, Bekram, Ashtanga, or Iyengar, the yogi usually lies flat on their back in a pose called savasana ("sha-vash-na"). Savasana is designed to relax both the mind and the body after a vigorous yoga session of stretching, breathing, balancing and twisting. Sometimes savasana can be the most challenging pose in the yoga session because the yogi is left alone with nothing but their own thoughts. When thoughts start invading the mind during savasana they are usually thoughts of the present moment and the immediate future such as, "Why am I lying here? This is a waste of time! I need to go now and prepare supper."

If there is music playing or if there is an instructor teaching the class, he/she may be guiding the yoga students through a meditation practice of visualization. Music and guided meditation keep the mind focused on an object through the sense of hearing. This allows the mind to focus on the object of the music or the voice of the instructor so that the mind is not left alone to think distracting thoughts. If, however, there is no music or no vocal guidance, what happens then? There is "horrible" silence and the mind begins to wander and distracting thoughts begin emerging. Five minutes of silence, in savasana, may seem like an hour to the novice student, ten minutes an eternity and fifteen minutes shear torture. Even advanced students have problems with silence during savasana. The body is not moving and there is nothing on which to focus the mind during this relatively short period of time, so what is a yogi to do?

Silent savasana is challenging but is also the most rewarding. It is the most rewarding because it allows you to visit yourself from the inside out. In the silence of savasana, thoughts appear out of nowhere. They are manifested from the mind somewhere deep inside. The thoughts you have are unique to you because they are born from your ancestral inheritance over thousands of years and from your life experiences. Lying in silence, after a physical yoga session, is a rare opportunity not many people get to experience. Seize the opportunity with enthusiasm, not trepidation. Allow thoughts to come and go and observe them as a witness without acting on them. The task is to become the master of the mind and not the other way around. If you get up from savasana before the allotted time - you are the loser and the mind is the winner. Be the winner, not the loser.