In yoga, the final resting pose in every class is one where you are guided to just be. To be still and allow your body a chance to integrate the blessings of the practice, to find stillness inside your head. The original intention of the asana practice was to wear out the body and quiet the mind enough to be in total stillness, like a corpse. Savasana (shah-VAHS-uh-nuh) means corpse pose. “Sava” meaning “corpse”, and “asana” meaning “pose”. It has been called by many a teacher, the most difficult pose of the practice. It is a challenge for us to just “be.” Our society tends to place greater value on speed and productivity. We believe we must be doing something or we won’t keep up or have value.
The final pose of class gives us minutes to pause. Pauses allow us to reflect. It is only when we reflect that we are able to learn and grow. Some of us are right now. You see it in posts, in phone calls, in texts. We are reflecting. Many are still fidgeting and not able to be in the pause yet. Not ready to give up travel to the beach or nights out, this group is afraid of the stillness of pausing and reflecting. It is scary. Looking inside. But it is how we grow.
I see this global pandemic as Mother Nature’s way of asking us all to savasana. To slow down and reflect. She is gifting us a time to learn and grow. It’s going to be a long savasana, for all of us. Even those unable to settle into stillness initially will have to eventually. Please take this time to really examine what motivates you, what is your true nature and what has been piled on by our society’s expectations. (This includes the debt you’ve accumulated in order to keep up and have value.)
My true nature is love and I feel committed to creating communities of loving, cooperative humans. I am pausing at home for as long as it takes for the world to heal. If you find yourself in need of some distanced style gatherings, please get a free zoom.us account and join the Facebook Group – Global Savasana. I am facilitating online community gatherings where we will share wisdom and love. We’ll share ideas, have conversations, play charades, sing karaoke, and bond. The first is set up for Sundays 5-6p and begins March 22. The password is Global143.
I will create ways for us to gather and be together. We will need it. Especially when the actual corpses begin.
I love you. Take care of you and your community. The world needs you.