You’re lying in shavasana. What’s the last thing you remember before you heard the teacher’s calm voice inviting you to slowly make your way back to consciousness? Was your first thought that you hoped you hadn’t been audibly snoring for several minutes?

It’s a common scenario. It’s been a busy day. You managed to get out of the office, navigate rush hour, and get a spot in the always-crowded parking lot outside the Yoga studio. You were focused and content during your asana practice and it’s time to move into shavasana…somehow, without warning, you slip helplessly into slumber.

Don’t fret about it. It happens because the body has a need. There is so much exhaustion at the level of the emotion, the mind, and the tissues, that the body can’t help but let tamas overtake it. With the demands of work and family and the chronic overstimulation of the world we live in, the body is constantly in a state of depletion and fatigue. When it’s at last offered shavasana, the opportunity to relax and release all the roles and responsibilities and thoughts and distractions, it’s as if the starving body has been offered a gourmet meal. And so, it can’t help but surrender to the power of the calm and slip into glorious sleep.

But why do we even practice this pose? How did shavasana evolve? (Of course, you know that nothing is without meaning when it comes to Yoga.) There are several purposes to this seemingly simple pose.

Shavasana—literally corpse pose—can be traced back to ancient Vedic rituals, one of which is called shav yatra—the pilgrimage of the dead. In this ritual, the body is wrapped in white cloth and carried to a cremation ground, usually near a river, and placed on a pyre. As we practice shavasana, we may recall this ritual to remind us of the temporary nature of the body.

Another ritual, antyeshti, or last sacrifice—gives perspective to our role in the universe. The intent of the ritual—the burning of the dead—is to help the recently departed to release attachment to the body and move on quickly to the next phase of existence. We, in our bodies, are the microcosm reflecting the macrocosm of the universe. The final ritual of life is to release the soul and return the body to the five elements: air, earth, fire, water, and ether. As we remember this ritual in shavasana, we offer our individual prana to the cosmic prana as if we’re performing a cosmic fire ceremony, or yajna.

It’s not only about the transition between life and death. Shavasana is also an exercise in spiritual/consciousness evolution. The pose requires us to restrict the senses to redirect our focus inward. For example, we practice mauna, or silence, in shavasana. Yogic thought values the practice of silence, even recognizing an official Day of Silence, mauni amavasya.

Thus, shavasana represents a practice in the fifth of the eight limbs of Yoga—Pratyahara. Pratyahara is not often talked about but may be considered the most important limb as we practice sukshma yoga—subtle yoga—a bridge from external to internal yoga. In Pratyahara, we teach the sensory organs how to retract and take nourishment from within, to take the opportunity to detach and turn toward the realm of consciousness. Through repeated practice of Pratyahara, one can hope to develop Dharana, concentration, Dhyana, meditation, and eventually reach Samadhi.

Similarly, as shithali karan, shavasana helps ease the samskaras of doshas in the body, vikalpas and gunas in the mind, and prepare for deeper practices. Further, in laya yoga, shavasana promotes the dissolution of the five bhutas for liberation from the karmic cycles.

So, you see that there are many pieces that make up the importance of shavasana. Evaluate the self-care habits in your life. Give your body, mind, and emotions what they need and make a sankalpa to put effort into staying present during shavasana. It may take some conscious practice and time, but the rewards are boundless! Don’t give up!

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