The word ‘pasteurize’ jumped off the page at me from June’s Yoga Journal. The sidebar of the Tree Pose article talked about ‘tapas’ or creating heat. It said that we create heat in yoga to ‘pasteurize’ the body. We burn off impurities and imbalances so that the prana or energy can move freely. And so that we can feel clear and calm.

What a great way to describe it. Sometimes people come into class tired and want to head right to Savasana but there’s a reason that yoga class isn’t just naptime - it wouldn’t be half as effective. Your mind would still be churning about your day and your body would be tense and stiff. We do Sun Salutations and standing poses to pasteurize our bodies and take care of all that. More active styles like Power Yoga, Vinyasa and Ashtanga classes build the heat really well. But even when I teach more gentle classes I keep it active with 1/2 Sun Salutations, or swingy stuff borrowed from Kundalini or Breath of Joy type moves from Kripalu. Or even simple poses done on repeat with the breath, like cobra, can work well. You’ve gotta get your yah-yahs out before you can relax.

I find that when I’ve had a really intense workday and I’m exhausted, it’s really my head that’s exhausted and my spirit that’s depleted. My body isn’t tired as much as it is tense and leaden from sitting absorbing all the adrenalin of the day. I may have been in Fight or Flight mode but I didn’t actually do either. So all that stress and tension settles in the body (always the same places right?) making it stiff and tight or dead feeling. Not to mention that without taking a deep breath all day, it’s no wonder my toes feel like they’re attached to someone else’s body.

When I get home from a day like that I *think* that I need to camp out on the couch, but that’s the worst thing to do.

And this is where yoga comes in - we move, breathe and oxygenate, use the muscles, heat up, then stretch deeply and *then* we’re ready for Savasana. And a good sleep.