Ahhh savasana, isn’t it the best part of a yoga class?! The final few minutes at the end of your practice where you lie on your back, all rugged up in a warm blanket, eye bag on, nice and cosy, letting go… But when you’ve finally managed to reach that total state of relaxation, the chime bell rings and you vaguely hear the voice of the teacher asking you to come out, and roll on your right side… But why on the right side? Why not on the left?? When one of my students popped that question after class a few months ago, the first reasoning that came to mind was physical (or anatomical): rolling away from the heart allows the heart to remain open and puts less strain on it, making it easier to pump blood without gravity getting in the way. We kept discussing it, which led me to share the teachings of one of my teachers who once mentioned to me that, from an energetic point of view, when we lye on the right side the left side is free, and by opening the left nostril the right hemisphere of the brain is stimulated i.e. the creative side! Being a very left brain driven person (most of us are), I really liked that theory and always remember it when I go to bed – although I have a natural (persistent, annoying) tendency to turn back to the left!!! ;-)

In search of further knowledge and explanation on why we always roll to the right, I googled it! And here are a few other excellent reasons that totally justify it…

1- Adding onto my version of avoiding putting pressure on the heart, rolling on the right allows the body and Blood Pressure to gradually come back to a state of neutral (homeostasis) after relaxation/savasana.

2- Energetically, the left side of the body is passive, cooling, and comforting. The right side is warming and energizing. When lying down, the uppermost side is considered the dominant energetic side. So when you roll to the right, with the left side being uppermost, it helps you to stay in that passive relaxed mode as long as possible.

3- Traditionally in yoga you roll to the right during the day to honour the sun, and roll to the left in the evening to honour the moon.

Note: If you are pregnant, roll to the left! The reason is purely anatomical as it could restrict the amount of blood and nutrients that reach your placenta and baby.