Book of Yoga

  What is in a Corpse Pose? We just have to lie down on the floor with spine grounded. Simple, isn’t it? It is quite a tendency among the common people to consider the Shavasana (corpse pose) as the most simplistic of all the yoga poses. But, if you ask the experts, nothing can be farther from the truth. If the asanas or poses are graded as beginner, intermediate and advanced level ones depending on the difficulty level, then this asana might be placed at the intermediate level, not in the beginner level category. Why? The reason why this is not an easy pose to do is that it involved considerable mindfulness which is not easy to cultivate. The beginners will take some time to develop this to the level which is required in doing this pose. It is only with the regular and conscious practice that mindfulness meditation activity can be mastered. It might take weeks or even months to do it. In fact, this corpse pose could itself be used as one of the methods or daily techniques for...

  The common understanding of asanas is a pose involving twists, stretches and balancing of the body. But, when you are asked to lie down and do nothing, can it still be called an asana? This is the case with Shavasana , also called the Corpse Pose or the Mritasana. At first, let us understand that the literal meaning of an ‘asana’ is ‘posture’ and it can be any posture. If you are familiar with a number of yoga postures, you would know that these are based on how various animals, birds, and other living being including humans sit, stand, walk, run, sleep or respond to a particular situation. So, Savasana is also a posture within this meaning of the word ‘asana’ and, therefore, is an asana . If you think that you do not have to do anything in this pose, except lying down, you are gravely mistaken. This means that you have not understood the profoundness of this pose. It is important to remember that this pose requires you to be in complete relaxed state of mind. Bringing abou...