Ending Your Practice: Shavasana and Fetal Pose

Sometimes, when my mind is really racing, I step on to my mat to get to one goal: a calm, quiet, meditative moment in shavasana, or corpse pose. Shavasana deserves more time than we often give it, for several reasons. First, it challenges us to find a stillness in the mind without using movement as a way to quiet thoughts. Corpse pose is arguably the most difficult pose in yoga simply because of the challenge to be still in both body and mind. My mind frequently wanders, and sometimes it is hard to bring myself back to stillness. I try to focus on the breath, or a mantra that I used during class. In addition to the meditative aspect of shavasana, it also gives the body a chance to simply relax and absorb the benefits of the practice. The heart rate is given a chance to return to normal, and the muscles can find rest and stillness.

After shavasana, yogis frequently roll over to one side to find fetal pose. Fetal pose is a great way to transition from laying on the back to sitting up, and different benefits result from rolling onto one side versus another. The right side is said to be the side you should roll to if you are looking to relax, and the left side is the side you should roll to if you are in need of energy. One of my teachers said once that we can decide which side to roll onto by placing our fingers below our nostrils. Whichever side is releasing the least amount of air is the side that we should roll onto.

There is also a beautiful symbolism about the transition from corpse pose to fetal pose that I really enjoy. Corpse pose marks the death of our practice, while fetal pose marks our rebirth and renewal: a new chance to present the best version of ourselves to the world, and to take our yogic principles off the mat and implement them into our lives outside of our yoga practice. It is a reminder that the practice is not meant to be a refuge from our lives - the practice is meant to teach us how to live the best lives off our mats, outside the studio. It reminds us that each time we come to our mat, we strip away all bad energy and negativity, to walk away renewed and prepared for the challenges of life.