What is the purpose of relaxing in Corpse Pose?
Shavasana or the Corpse pose has enormous benefits accruing to it and, while a lot of people take it to be an easy asana (Yoga Pose), adepts know that it is, in fact, one of the toughest in the index of poses. The real benefits of relaxing in Shavasana (Corpse Pose) are also known only to the really proficient ones. The Corpse Pose is a lot more complex than it appears to be.
Ideally, no Yogasana session should begin or end without this vital pose. First and foremost, it puts the body, mind and heart at a state of rest. This it achieves through deep relaxation. Most of us believe that a short nap can leave you feeling refreshed Well, not really, and yet, you feel relaxed, revitalized, revived and recharged. This is what a short rest can do for you. But, unbeknown to most, the way the majority of us rest, relax and even sleep is very shallow. This is because, like our breathing, even our sleep is very shallow. Strange as it may sound, we haven’t learnt the art of relaxing’ or sleeping, for that matter. Yogasanas (postures) such as Shavasana (Corpse Pose) and its counterpart Yoga Nidra (Yogic Sleep) put the body, mind and heart in a state of deep rest.
In fact, today a lot of research is being done into the subjects after certain leading Yoga schools have laid claim to the fact that just twenty minutes of Shavasana (Corpse Pose) is equivalent to four hours of normal sleep. When you sleep, you just let go and relax. Most of us however are blissfully unaware that the mind and heart are still working, and far from relaxed? This is because we have taken some things for granted, like our breathing, and expect nature to take care of them for us. But Shavasana (Corpse Pose) teaches the art of conscious relaxation.
In Shavasana (Corpse Pose) you go over each and every aspect of your body, part by part, limb by limb, organ by organ, and then your mind and heart with gentle autosuggestions, commanding it to relax. Peculiar as it may sound to the novice at first, over time it is known to work. The benefits of practiced Shavasana (Corpse Pose) are such that a wide variety of psychosomatic diseases are known to be alleviated, if not completely healed, mainly through the practice of the pose.
