Shavasana (Corpse Posture)

Also known as, ‘Ananda Asana’ (Posture of beatitude) or ‘Yoga-Nidr?’ (Yoga-Sleeping with awareness), but the real sense lies in the name Shav?sana.

In Sanskrit, Shava means a corpse, dead body, and Asana, posture. Thus Shavasana is a posture that simulates a dead body and evokes the experience of remaining in a state of death, hence the name. It means relaxation and recuperation.

For the Yoga Practitioners it is necessary to know the complete method of practicing Shavasana in details, because it is not simply lying on one’s back with an empty mind and gazing, nor does it end in snoring. As regards to achieving perfection, it is the most difficult of Yogic Asana, but at the same time, it is also the most refreshing and rewarding for the Sadhaka. However a novice need not be discouraged about mastering the details.

Though Shavasana can be practiced at any time, any place, but that time is most suited when one is physically and mentally fresh and peaceful. After practicing Yogasana and Pranayamas, one should perform Shavasana as mandatory and concluding part.

One should not practice Shavasana in dirty, polluted, noisy, foul smelling, uneven and insects manifested place. Also see that the place is in solitude, and leveled. Blanket or the mattress should not be too soft or too tough also. Spread the mattress along East-West direction in an airy room or open pleasant space. If required, it may be covered with a cotton bed sheet.

Before starting the practice remove all constrictive garments, belt, glasses, contact lenses, hearing aids etc. Switch off the mobile phone if any. Clothing should be loose and soft.

Shavasana is performed lying down full length on the back (supine position). Draw an imaginary (or practically if possible) straight line in the center of blanket. Sit on the line with knees drawn up and feet joined together. Rest your forearm over knees with hands joined for a while. Gradually lower down the back vertebra by vertebra along the line. Take help of supporting hands if needed. Place your body exactly in a straight line. Join heels and rest the hands near thighs about half foot apart, palms facing roof. Ensure that touching point of heels, spine from tail bone to cervical, neck and point of contact of head and blanket, all are in a perfect straight line.

First adjust the back and then the head from front. Press elbows and heels to lift the hips and sacroiliac region and stretch them towards legs. This is done to minimize the space between floor and back so that full relaxation is enabled to spine. Place hips down on floor and ensure that maximum surface of back rests over floor. With the help of hands adjust to rest head in a perfect position, forehead parallel to roof and lying straight vertical, not tilted on either of the sides.

Join heels and if possible knees also. In case you find them uncomfortable in doing so, keep a distance of one yard or less between heels; lie down the toes on either side. Ensure that back side of knees rest over floor, if not, place a folded blanket or a pillow below them. Forehead, nose tip, chin, sternum, navel, pubis, and heel’s center should be in a perfect straight line.  It is important that whole body is perfectly resting over blanket evenly and not tilted. Finally stretch and adjust the neck so that it is centrally placed on the blanket. Adjust your shoulders and thoracic region so that it rest evenly on floor, rib cage and pelvic bones are also evenly spread. Sacrum is placed centrally so that hips also rest evenly. Close your eyes gently and if the light is too much, cover them with a scarf or handkerchief. Keep hands near thighs making an angle of fifteen to twenty degrees with chest at the ‘arm pit’?

Bend the hands at elbows and touch shoulders. Bring them back with placing triceps muscles of arms on floor. Stretch the elbows downwards and place hands on floor so that the knuckle (of middle finger) rests over floor. Don’t try to keep thumb and fingers straight, let them lie in a natural restful way. Relax chest region too. Let complete body become weightless; transfer it to holy mother earth’s lap and be free.

Many of the practitioners are even not aware of the tensions that prevail in heels, toes, soles, palms and fingers. They should be prepared to relax these one by one. During practice of Shav?sana the journey of relaxation starts internally from gross to subtle, from body to mind and finally to the soul. We therefore start from toes to head with internal mental suggestions.

Now gather all awareness and give autosuggestion to mind to relax every organ one by one and feel them restful.

In this order first relax toes, sole, heels, ankle joints, calves, knees, thighs and hips. Relax complete lower body below waist line.

Now relax stomach, its internal organs; chest, ribs, heart, and lungs etc. Feel them restful. Let all the tensions and grips of trunk go away. Breathe normally and slowly with a feeling of a rosary thread of inhalation and exhalation keep on holding the pearls of gently moving ribs. Experience this state of restfulness for a while.

Further focus your awareness on the spinal column. Start relaxing it from tail bone (coaxes), sacrum, all the 5 lumbers, 12 thoracic and 7 cervical vertebras one by one as if the links of a chain are dropping to rest. Scan with insight, complete spinal column from cervical to tail bone and tail bone to cervical.

Now bring the insight to hands, relax the fingers, thumb, palm, wrist, forearm, elbows, arms and shoulders. Lift shoulders and gently place them back on floor. Relax throat, neck, chin, lips, nostrils, eyes, ears, cheeks, forehead, and head. Loose down face muscles and if felt necessary let the lips open gently. Let the eye brows spread outwards so that no stress remains on forehead. Let the tongue lie in mouth by its own weight in lower jaw cavity. Keep jaws gently open. Eyes are the windows for the external world to enter mind, keep them closed gently by lowering down eye lids as flower petals.  Don’t make eyes tense by squeezing them. Nothing can be done for external ears, but calm down the internal ears (audio sense center of mind). You will see that internal ears and insight are calmed down simultaneously. Feel complete body relaxing, relaxing and relaxing……! Feel like a wave of relaxation is passing over from head to toes and toes to head.

Skin that covers whole of body is very sensitive. It sends and receives back sensual communication signals through nerves to mind as ears, eyes, nose or the tongue do. It is therefore essential to relax skin in order to still mind. If skin is relaxed, so will be the mind too. Relax skin in totality from smallest hair root to all cells, nerves and up to face muscles, temples, and all organs of body. No movement whatsoever in body. Breathe gently and normally. Inhale slowly and exhale even more slowly. It will calm down all nerves and mind becomes peaceful and still. Then breathe normally. During practice of Shav?sana, breathing is an art. Achieve perfection in this art and be rewarded with beatitude and perfect bliss. Every exhalation will draw your intellect and ego nearer and nearer towards soul. Make your mind still with all the energy of your willpower and in the last let itself also merge into soul. All activities and vigor of mind is stilled, relieving all tensions from it. Exhalation of Yogi can become the greatest surrender towards life, soul and the God. Such is the glory of breathing art in practicing Shav?sana. No thoughts, no contemplation of any kind, mind perfectly balanced and stilled so that Equanimity can be realized finally.

Samatvam Yogam ?cchyate.

That is yoga.

Come out of Yoga Nidr?, Yoga sleeping. Feel movement in the body. Gently move toes and fingers. Stretch complete body with making a finger lock, bring hands behind head and straighten full length, straighten legs also, inhale deeply and relax body instantaneously with quick exhalation. Rub your palms together keeping them above head and put them on closed eyes gently. Feel the warmness of palms, also massage forehead, throat and neck and get up by turning to left and with the help of right hand. Keep eyes closed and come to any meditative posture.

Advance – As long as the sense organs and mind are active, Spirit or soul is in back ground. As soon as they are stilled, the clouds of desires and ambitions disappear. Only then the soul Atm?, the indwelling self, illuminates with effulgent light. “Tad? Drashtu Swarupevasth?nam. At that time (in the state of meditation), the seer (Purusha) rests in its own state. As soon as the waves have stopped, and the lake has become pure and quite, we see its bottom. So is with the mind; when it is calmed, we see what our own nature is; we do not mix ourselves but remain our own selves. Vrattiswarupyamitaretra. At other times (other than the state of stilled mind), the seer is identified with the modifications”. That is Yoga. That is Kaivalya.

Shavasana and Yoga. Shavasana and Kaivalya.

The aim of practicing Shavasana is relaxing body, keeping the breathing passive and gradually sublimating the mind & intellect. When external and internal waves rise, energy of mind & intellect diminishes. In Shavasana when external waves and internal emotional urges are stilled, mind starts merging in to soul, like a roaring river merges into ocean with all its vigor, identity and existence, virtually becomes ocean itself. When a Yoga Sadhaka controls the thought waves to enter his mind, he is able to stop diffusing the internal energy of mind. He is then master of his mind and intellect. He can not be disturbed now by thoughts. It is the state of absolute silence, pure realization of the self. The perception of soul, illuminating like Moon, reflecting the light of Sun.

For achieving perfection in Shav?sana, a kind of firm commitment and discipline is required. It is rather easy to relax for a few minutes, but to maintain the wave free stillness of body and mind for prolonged time, a self-training is necessary. Initially it is very uncomfortable for mind to remain in Shav?sana for a long time; in fact it resists to some extent.

When we start practicing Shavasana in rhythm, breathing becomes like a thread of rosary holding the beads of gently moving ribs reverentially. Reverentially, because in such a state of subtleness and deep concentration, body, breathing and mind, gathered from all sides, are channeled towards soul. Such a state of amalgamation of Chitta (sum of mind, intellect and ego) is called the state of Sam?hita Chitta.

Initially the ribs are not restful, breathing is not regulated, and mind wavering, unsteady. Body, breathing, mind, intellect and soul are not ready to merge together. For perfect Shav?sana, their amalgamation is a must, where the rein is in control with soul. All the four are in a bow-down-surrender -posture before the Soul and it controls them. Then the Chitta is Sam?hita Chitta. In this way the balanced mind achieves steadiness. Such a state of steadiness is achievable only by disciplined body, mind and controlled sense organs. It will be a mistake to understand peace as the Sam?hita Chitta, because peace is achievable by mere will power alone. Submergence with soul is not there. That is the subtle difference between peace and steadiness of mind. Endeavors are made in Shav?sana to achieve steadiness at all the five levels. First body, then delicate motions of breathing, is to be stilled. Thereafter learn to still mind, emotions and Chitta. Only then the real amalgamation with soul is possible. Only then the Yogi is rewarded with beatitude, the perfect bliss ‘Ananda’. Shav?sana becomes the practice of fifth organ of Patanjali’s Ast?nga Yoga, Praty?h?ra, steadiness of mind, detachment of sense organs from their subjects, a perception of their supreme control.

Above general, a Yoga S?dhaka, experiences four stages of consciousness. 1. Sleep 2. Dream 3. Conscious and 4. T?riya. Among them, T?riya has different dimension in which a Yogi is spiritually illuminated (by Soul). Some call this stage beyond time and space, some eternal and others becoming of self Soul, (Jeevatm?) one with the Soul of universe, Parm?tm?, the creator. In perfect Shav?sana a Yogi can perceive that T?riya state in which body rests as if in deep sleep, the senses as in dream, but Chitta the intellect alert and aware.