Iyengar Quotes On Relaxation And Sleep, Explained

Iyengar quotes on relaxation: the short version

Can you tell your brain to relax? Mr BKS Iyengar said you cannot, and then showed what works instead: give the body a good shape and let the brain follow. These Iyengar quotes on relaxation, rest and sleep come from Mr Iyengar, Geeta and Prashant. They are short, often funny, and easy to try on the mat or in bed. Each one is explained in plain English, with links to our notes on Savasana and rest.

Iyengar quotes on relaxation in short form

• Savasana is a skill: lying down is easy, resting well is not.
• You cannot order the brain to relax: a good pose does it for you.
• Stretch fully, rest fully: the quality of one sets up the other.
• Sleep matters: Geeta and Mr Iyengar both treated it as part of life and practice.
• Rest is not rust: Prashant asks us to know the difference.

Iyengar yoga is the style developed by Mr BKS Iyengar. In the 20th century he did more than anyone to set down traditional Indian yoga, through his books and his teaching, and he pioneered the use of props. It is sometimes called modern classical yoga, and it’s the style we teach at Flametree. The quotes below come from Mr Iyengar, his daughter Geeta S Iyengar and his son Prashant S Iyengar, who both became leading teachers in the tradition.

What did Mr Iyengar say about Savasana?

Savasana (Corpse Pose) is the lying-down rest at the end of class. Mr Iyengar and Geeta both wrote about how hard it is to do well.

Savasana is just a pause between passive and active life.

What it means: Mr Iyengar gives Savasana (Corpse Pose, the lying-down rest at the end of class) a job: it is the pause between passive and active life. Think of a drummer’s rest between beats. The rest is part of the music.

In a class you work hard through the standing poses, the twists and the backbends. Then you lie down. The idea is that the rest is not a gap or a reward. It is the other half of the practice.

Read more: how to do Savasana properly, relaxation, stress and sleep notes. See also: More quotes on life and happiness.

Savasana is not simply lying on one’s back with vacant gaze or flopping on a foam-rubber mattress. Nor should Savasana end in snoring.

What it means: Mr Iyengar is poking fun here, and making a serious point. Lying down is easy. Resting well is a skill. A vacant gaze means a blank look with nobody home. A flop on a soft mattress means no care at all.

The snoring line gets a smile in class for a reason. Teachers set you up on the floor with some care: legs even, arms a little away from the body, eyes soft. Then you stay awake and notice what is going on in you.

Read more: how to do Savasana properly, how the Iyengars used humour in teaching.

But Savasana is not about falling asleep. If it were, Savasana would hardly be a difficult pose.

What it means: If Savasana were just a nap, it would be the easiest pose in the room. Mr Iyengar says it is hard. Most of us find that is true. The body goes still, and then the mind starts to chatter about tomorrow’s list.

Try this: next time you lie down at the end of class, give your attention one small job. Follow the outbreath, or feel the back of your head touch the floor. Staying awake while you are quiet is the practice.

Read more: how to do Savasana properly.

Savasana is being without was, being without will be.

What it means: This line is short and a little puzzling, so read it slowly. Was is the past. Will be is the future. Most of our worrying lives in one or the other: what I should have said, what might go wrong next week.

Mr Iyengar says Savasana is being free of both for a few minutes. Nothing to fix and nothing to plan. Only this breath and this floor. You may not manage it for long. Noticing when your mind has wandered off is already the practice.

Read more: how to do Savasana properly, stillness in yoga. See also: More quotes on attention and awareness.

In the beginning one may fall asleep when silence is experienced, but later one will learn to be silent without falling asleep.

What it means: Geeta is honest and kind here. Falling asleep is common at the start, when a quiet body finally gets the chance. She says it is a stage, not a failing.

Her point is that with time you learn to stay quiet and still be awake and aware. If you nod off in Savasana, you are in good company. Keep coming back, and try a folded blanket under your head and a gentle weight over the eyes to help you stay with it.

Read more: how to do Savasana properly, yoga for beginners notes. See also: More quotes on beginners and stiffness.

Although this asana appears simple, it is most difficult to master.

What it means: Geeta wrote this about the resting pose at the end of the practice. It looks like the easiest thing in the world and turns out to be one of the hardest to learn.

Students often say the same thing in class. Lying down takes no effort. Letting go of the effort already in you takes a lot of practice, and it comes a little at a time.

Read more: how to do Savasana properly, Legs Up The Wall. See also: More quotes on learning.

Can you tell your brain to relax?

These quotes are about the small, practical places where we hold on, and how a pose can let them go.

If I say, “Relax your brain,” you cannot do it. If I put you in a certain asana, your brain relaxes, and you become quiet. This is the beauty of yoga.

What it means: Try telling yourself, “Relax your brain.” It does not work. The words alone do nothing. Mr Iyengar’s answer is that you give the body a shape, and the brain follows.

In practice that is what a supported pose does. You lie back over a bolster (a firm, long cushion) or sit with your legs up a wall. The body is held, so the brain has less to manage. This is why Iyengar classes use props: they make quiet easier to find.

Read more: restorative yoga, using props in yoga. See also: More quotes on mind and meditation.

One who knows the art of relaxation, also knows the art of meditation.

What it means: A short line from a collection of Mr Iyengar’s sayings. Relaxing well and meditating well are close neighbours. Both ask you to stop pushing and start noticing.

If you have never meditated, begin with the resting poses. Learning to settle the body is a sensible first step towards sitting still with a quiet mind.

Read more: meditation classes, restorative yoga. See also: More quotes on mind and meditation.

Do not clench your teeth or you will also be “clenching” your brain.

What it means: A very practical tip. Notice your jaw right now. Many of us clench the teeth when we concentrate, lift something heavy or sit at a screen. Mr Iyengar says a clenched jaw goes with a clenched brain.

In class a teacher may say, “Soften your tongue, let the jaw hang.” Try it in Triangle Pose or while you wait for the kettle. The face is a good place to start letting go.

Read more: calming the nervous system, yoga for stress relief. See also: More quotes on stress.

Relax the eyes, the ears, and the tongue. Keep the jaws loose and do not clench the teeth. If you are tense, the benefit of the asana is lost.

What it means: Geeta gives a checklist: eyes, ears, tongue, jaws, teeth. Each is a place where we hold on without knowing.

She adds that if you are tense, the benefit of the pose is lost. That is a teaching point rather than a threat. It explains why an Iyengar teacher walks past and asks you to soften your face while you work your legs.

Read more: calming the nervous system, using props in yoga. See also: More quotes on body and alignment.

If the feet are tense the whole body will be tense.

What it means: A one-line lesson from Geeta’s class in Sydney. If you grip with your feet, the tension travels up. The legs tighten, then the back, then the shoulders and the jaw.

Next time you stand in Mountain Pose, spread your toes and let the sole of the foot be wide and calm. It can change how the whole body feels, and it takes ten seconds to try.

Read more: Mountain Pose (Tadasana), yoga for body, breath and mind. See also: More quotes on body and alignment.

There is a feeling as if the body has been elongated by several inches. This is freedom of the mind and freedom of the body.

What it means: Geeta describes what a good resting pose can feel like: as if the body had grown longer by several inches. Many people tell us they feel taller and wider after a supported pose, with more room in the chest and back.

She calls this freedom of the mind and freedom of the body. It is a feeling you learn to recognise over time, and a teacher can help you set up so you find it.

Read more: restorative yoga, Legs Up The Wall. See also: More quotes on body and alignment.

How do stretching and resting fit together?

Work and rest are partners in an Iyengar class. Here are six lines on how they balance.

Tensions are not stretches. If the stretching is good, relaxation is bound to be complete. A half-hearted stretch gives a half-hearted relaxation.

What it means: Mr Iyengar separates two things we often mix up. Tension is not stretch. A stretch is long and open. A tension is a hold, a gripping.

Then he links effort and rest: a stretch done fully lets you rest fully. A half-hearted stretch gives a half-hearted rest. In class we work the body with care, then rest. The quality of the work sets up the quality of the rest.

Read more: Seated Forward Bend, restorative yoga. See also: More quotes on body and alignment.

If one stretches completely, one relaxes completely. Look at a cat, a master of stretching and a master of relaxation.

What it means: Mr Iyengar points to the household cat. It stretches all the way, from claws to tail. Then it flops completely, with no sign of holding on.

The lesson is to give each stretch your whole attention, and then let go just as fully. Try stretching your arms up beside your ears and then dropping them. Notice how different the two moments are.

Read more: stiffness and flexibility notes, how to do Savasana properly. See also: More quotes on body and alignment.

In every pose there should be repose.

What it means: Repose is an old word for rest. In every pose there should be repose. Even in Warrior 2, with strong legs and long arms, some part of you stays quiet. The face is soft. The breath moves without a fight.

This is a good question to carry into class. Where am I working harder than I need to? Let that part go and keep the rest.

Read more: Warrior 2, stillness in yoga. See also: More quotes on practice.

Learn not just the activity of a pose. Learn the passivity of the pose.

What it means: Prashant asks us to learn two things in each pose. The activity is what you do: the legs, the arms, the lift. The passivity is what you allow: the parts that can rest while the others work.

It is a neat idea. Strong poses need some quiet in them. Resting poses need some alertness. Learning both halves is a lifetime’s work.

Read more: managing effort in practice, stillness in yoga. See also: More quotes on practice.

You don’t have to do something all the time.

What it means: Short and freeing. Many of us believe that if we are not busy we are wasting time. Prashant says you do not have to be doing something all the time.

In practice this might mean holding a pose and not adding more. Or sitting for a minute after class. Doing less well is a skill that needs practice like any other.

Read more: Legs Up The Wall, how to do Savasana properly. See also: More quotes on effort and discipline.

Are you resting or rusting?

What it means: A joke with a point. Resting is good rest: purposeful, restoring, awake. Rusting is the kind where you stop and slowly seize up.

Prashant is asking us to notice which one we are doing. A quiet pose with a clear intention is resting. Drifting off while you scroll is a different thing.

Read more: restorative yoga, managing effort in practice. See also: More quotes on practice.

What did the Iyengars say about sleep?

Sleep is not a pose, but both Mr Iyengar and Geeta wrote about it with care.

By living each day presently and thoroughly, we earn a clear conscience. A clear conscience is the best preparation for a restful and peaceful night.

What it means: Mr Iyengar links the way you spend the day with the way you spend the night. If you do what is in front of you fully, you have less left over to worry about when the lights go out.

It is a daily habit rather than a trick. A clear conscience here simply means you have not left things half done or half said. If worries still come, a few slow breaths and a quiet pose before bed can help you settle.

Read more: yoga and sleep, relaxation, stress and sleep notes. See also: More quotes on life and happiness.

If we toss and turn at night, we shall toss and turn in the day.

What it means: A short saying with two halves. If the night is restless, the day tends to be restless too. Mr Iyengar sees the two as one long pattern.

It does not promise a quick fix. It invites you to look at the whole day: how you rush, how you eat, how you stop. Small changes during the day often show up at night.

Read more: yoga and sleep, yoga when you are tired. See also: More quotes on life and happiness.

Good sleep makes consciousness brilliant. Poor sleep leaves it tarnished.

What it means: Mr Iyengar describes sleep with a simple picture: good sleep makes the mind shine, poor sleep leaves it dull, like silver that needs polishing.

Most of us know this from experience. After a bad night everything is harder, including patience. It is a good reason to treat sleep as part of your practice rather than a gap in it.

Read more: yoga and sleep. See also: More quotes on mind and meditation.

Sound, undisturbed sleep is a life-giver. The conscious mind ceases to function for some hours, recharging batteries for the next day.

What it means: Geeta calls good sleep a life-giver. Her picture is a phone put on charge overnight: the busy, thinking mind switches off for some hours so you can start fresh.

She wrote this in a book for women, but it applies to everyone. If you want to look after your sleep, start by giving the evening a little quiet.

Read more: yoga and sleep, relaxation, stress and sleep notes.

You are not completely tired but the brain has taken in too many things at one time so relax your brain. You have studied, so after studying you have to rest your head.

What it means: Geeta spoke these words in Sydney in 1996, to students who had been taking a lot in. She says you may not be physically tired, but the brain has been working hard and needs rest.

Rest for the head can be simple: lie down with the legs on a chair, or sit quietly with the eyes closed for a few minutes. It is useful after study, after a big meeting, or after a long day on screens.

Read more: Legs Up The Wall, yoga when you are tired. See also: More quotes on learning.

Related pages

• Yoga for Relaxation, Stress and Sleep: notes and articles
• Savasana: how to relax properly at the end of class
• What is restorative yoga?
• Yoga for improved sleep
• Iyengar quotes on stress

Frequently asked questions

What did Mr Iyengar say about Savasana?

He said Savasana is not simply lying on your back with a vacant gaze, and it should not end in snoring. He also called it a pause between passive and active life, and said it is a hard pose, not an easy one. The quotes at the top of this page give his exact words.

Is it normal to fall asleep in Savasana?

Yes, especially at first. Geeta wrote that in the beginning one may fall asleep when silence is experienced, but later one learns to be silent without falling asleep. Staying awake and quiet is the skill you are practising.

What did Geeta Iyengar say about sleep?

Geeta called sound, undisturbed sleep a life-giver, and said natural sleep happens in a tranquil body and mind. She wrote this in her book Yoga: A Gem for Women. Her advice is to give the evening a little quiet.

Where can I learn relaxation poses in Darwin?

Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga in Darwin, at Woolner and Coolalinga, in the studio and LIVE online. Your first class is free if you’re new to Flametree, and the timetable shows what is on.

Flametree Yoga Studio, Darwin and LIVE online. Information only, not medical advice. The quotes on this page are short credited extracts from the books, articles and talks named beside each one.