“And now for Savasana” is one of the sweetest phrases an aspiring yogi hears. After an hour of bends, twists, inversions and flows, the opportunity to sprawl out on the floor and relax can feel like a little taste of nirvana. Translated from Sanskrit as ‘Corpse Pose’ – Savasana is recommended by just about every instructor worth their Prana as the pose with which to conclude a routine. But corpse pose doesn’t have to only be about lying on the floor cradled in a warm yoga buzz. Savasana is where we can truly begin to integrate and assimilate the deeper truths of the yogic discipline.
Referencing Psalms at the beginning of an article about Yoga might at first seem a bit out of place. However, behind all of the ceremony and vocabulary that divides the myriad spiritual traditions, the essential wisdom at the heart of most paths is in fact one and the same — we’re all of the same essence, and that essence is Divine.
Savasana, an asana of complete stillness with zero resistance, is a portal into this awareness of Unity, of Yoga. As we become still our senses become more and more refined we eventually experience the way things really are — in a constant state of flux. The Buddha termed this impermanence anicca while quantum physicists call it a quantum vacuum fluctuation. And like anything, while it’s one thing to read about it, when experienced it’s a different story all together. Our world view alters and our lives are never the same.
Experiencing life from the subtle/quantum level gives us the opportunity to make different choices for ourselves, not because we should, but rather because we know from our own experience what we feel like when we deviate from the Golden Rule.
Alexander Wayne teaches yoga and meditation at the UofA and Fiddlehead Fern Therapeutics.Contact him at alexander.wayne@gmail.com
Savasana: Corpse Pose
By Alexander Wayne
“Be still and know that I am God.” — Psalms 46
“And now for Savasana” is one of the sweetest phrases an aspiring yogi hears. After an hour of bends, twists, inversions and flows, the opportunity to sprawl out on the floor and relax can feel like a little taste of nirvana. Translated from Sanskrit as ‘
Corpse Pose’ – Savasana is recommended by just about every instructor worth their Prana as the pose with which to conclude a routine. But corpse pose doesn’t have to only be about lying on the floor cradled in a warm yoga buzz. Savasana is where we can truly begin to integrate and assimilate the deeper truths of the yogic discipline.
Referencing Psalms at the beginning of an article about Yoga might at first seem a bit out of place. However, behind all of the ceremony and vocabulary that divides the myriad spiritual traditions, the essential wisdom at the heart of most paths is in fact one and the same — we’re all of the same essence, and that essence is Divine.
Savasana, an asana of complete stillness with zero resistance, is a portal into this awareness of Unity, of Yoga. As we become still our senses become more and more refined we eventually experience the way things really are — in a constant state of flux. The Buddha termed this impermanence anicca while quantum physicists call it a quantum vacuum fluctuation. And like anything, while it’s one thing to read about it, when experienced it’s a different story all together. Our world view alters and our lives are never the same.
Experiencing life from the subtle/quantum level gives us the opportunity to make different choices for ourselves, not because we should, but rather because we know from our own experience what we feel like when we deviate from the Golden Rule.
Alexander Wayne teaches yoga and meditation at the UofA and Fiddlehead Fern Therapeutics.Contact him at alexander.wayne@gmail.com