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april / may 2017yogajournal.com.sgheavenly
For the fullest experience of yoga and a
deep connection with your vital energies,
Savasana, or Corpse Pose, is one
posture you can’t live without.
rest
BY JOHN HANC
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDREA COBB
There I was, cocooned in warmth and darkness, feeling as light
as air and as relaxed and carefree as a million-dollar Lotto winner
on a Caribbean beach. I might have been a space traveler in
suspended animation, rocketing off at light speed to a new solar
system, or even an infant in the womb,except that I had avague
sense I was watching myself in a state of what could best be
described as alert relaxation.
Begin to bring awareness to your inhalation ...That
voice... so familiar. Cautiously, Iopened one eye and found that I
was not floating along on a river of soothing darkness or soaring
through the outer reaches of the Milky Way, but lying motionless
on the floor of Om Tara Yoga Studio in Massapequa, New York.
When you’re ready, gently roll to one side ... observe how
you feel ... It was Maria Yakkey, my regular Thursday-morning
yoga teacher. Soon, a half-dozen classmates and I were alert
and energized, sitting in Sukhasana (Easy Pose) with our legs
crossed, bowing to the Divine within.
Namaste.Then class was over.
As I was clearing up my props, Maria came over. “John,” she
said. “You’re really getting better at Savasana.” I almost dropped
a pair of blocks on my foot. Better? AtSavasana? You mean, my
ability to imitate a corpse has improved?
“You used to be more fidgety,” she said. Understand: I’m an
overcaffeinated, Type A New York guy—and on top of that, I’m
an avid marathon runner and gym rat. Of course I’m fidgety, and
it’s clear to me that I need yoga. Still, I thought, of all the things
I haven’t done well in my seven years of practice—which, to my
mind, was almost everything—surely, lying quietly on the floor
was the exception.
“So,” I said, “I’m getting better at lying on the floor?” Maria
sighed and looked at me reproachfully. “Savasana is a lot more
than just lying on the floor.”