Celebrate Life Through Yoga in SHAVASANA
by Azmi Samdjaga in Mind+Body+Spirit | 1 Comment | Add your comment

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If having a cigar or champagne denotes celebrating successful endeavors, then going into Shavasana is a celebration of each yoga practice. “During Shavasana, the body assimilates all the energies created during the practice and channels them through the entire system.” – David Swenson. Thus, we can fully acquire the benefits of yoga and truly enjoy its rewards.

Shavasana means Corpse Pose where at the end of each yoga practice, one is to lie down, face up with legs apart, limply flop the feet to the sides, relax the arms and place them slightly away from the body, and softly open the palms up to the sky. A state of total relaxation, a plight of letting go of your discomforts and abdicating to utter stillness, where one allows the entire body to calm down and the mind to be quiet.

“The key word to Shavasana is ‘dissolve’.” – Bryan Kest. It is in the state of repose that we permit our mind to function satisfactorily for us to be able to deal with our worldly issues. It is in that same state that allows us to attain equanimity, a balance in life and be in peaceful harmony with everything that is around us.

To abstain from being in Shavasana is to be in an unnatural state of suffering. Not allowing the body to rest is denying its needs for rejuvenation and is akin to exhausting its energies inanely, thus inhibiting its role in us. The beautiful element about being in Shavasana is that it reduces anxiety, the most infamous of life’s many agonies. Therefore it is detrimental to ignore the importance of Shavasana.

“The ugliest of all egos is the spiritual ego.” – Louisa Sears. At times we find ourselves battling with our egos by not fulfilling our bodies’ need for survival, i.e. replenishing it of oxygen, energy and rest, which are literally food for the soul and nutrients for the mind. Instead, we force ourselves to get into complicated and challenging postures even though we struggle in doing so. We end up worrying about what people perceive us as and thus, we want to do our best, or so we thought; not to let people think we are inadequate. Eventually we lose sight of our inabilities and push ourselves over the limitations of our abilities. Ultimately, something gives way and we get hurt. If it’s a minor issue, we are lucky, however irreparable damages may in due time leave ugly ramifications. Having said that, Shavasana becomes something of a necessity, something that is of prime importance to the practice of Yoga and rest to the living of life, for that matter.

We celebrate our successes by enjoying ourselves, going on holidays or simply by having a nice drink to show that we acknowledge our victory. Likewise, we celebrate our yoga practice with Shavasana to acknowledge our triumph in prevailing over its challenges.

In Shavasana, the body is in an anabolic state where organ and muscle repair development occurs. Activities requiring the body to switch back to the highly active catabolic state of metabolism are therefore introduced sensitively, consequently preparing us to undertake the demands of life.
In the same way with our profession, the Shavasana we take may be in the form of going away for a holiday, not one of those busman’s holidays but a complete break from our jobs, unwinding in a peaceful environment. In such circumstances, Shavasana becomes mandatory to our health.

On top of all the great things that have been mentioned above about Shavasana, the most significant is that it helps in relieving stress and mild depression. It reduces headaches, fatigue and insomnia besides helping to lower the blood pressure. For those reasons alone, it would seem fatuous not to indulge in Shavasana when it proffers a world of benefits and well being, that consecutively turn out to be of paramount importance to having a happy and healthy life.

In a nutshell, we cannot take Shavasana or rest uncaringly. It is part of what makes us alive, be human, have conscience and be compassionate. It allows us to sharpen our thoughts so we will not be confused, it teaches us patience so we avoid being indignant and in the fullness of time, it makes us a better person so we can live our lives as paradigms to others.

So let’s not miss this celebration by taking it for granted. Let’s respect and honor our body, mind and spirit by rewarding them with a state of serenity that each of them deserves. After all, they are entities that define who we are and what we have become. Namaste.

~~~ About the contributor ~~~

If passion is what keeps a person alive, then Yoga is his life. Azmi Samdjaga has been one of the strong and well sought after teacher in the Yoga industry having taught in countries like Indonesia, Singapore and Japan. With over a decade of experience and studying under yoga legends such as the late Sri Pattabhi Jois, Matthew Sweeney, Lance Schuler and Louisa Sears, Azmi has converged his expertise that he acquired and brought it to the heart of his practice. An Ashtangi by training and a background in dance and massage, Azmi often shares the grace of his practice in the classes he teaches.

Groomed to be an Architect in school, Azmi changed his course of life and found his calling in teaching after he experienced a great shift in his life during his training in India. He is known for bringing his passion in his classes, creating a close bond with his students which, have built a yoga following that, has grown in numbers throughout the years. Up till today he has students who have been practicing with him since the day he started teaching. The greatest thing that he loves about Yoga is that it has helped him through difficult times in his life. He believes that yoga only works best when you apply it to your life.

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