the history of savasana

[Guest guest]

According to Theos Bernard's HATHA YOGA (written

long ago and still one of the best references on yoga

I've found), the Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists savasana

as being among "the 15 most important asanas adopted

by such great Yogis as Vasistha and

Matsyendra."<br><br>Savasana the corpse pose is also known as "Mrtasana" in

the 2nd chapter of the Gheranda samhita. I'm just

speculating here, but since Sanskrit is an Indo-European

language, it may be that this word comes from the same root

as "mort," i.e, death.<br><br>That's about all I can

find on the history of savasana. On its practice,

chapter 30 of Iyengar's LIGHT ON PRANAYAMA is a great

place to go.<br><br>For my part, I've found that really

effective savasana depends on a seemingly contradictory mix

of focus and surrender. To "just relax" there on my

back, en mass, doesn't work nearly as well for me as

the section-by-section relaxation method. That is, I

start with my left foot...relax completely....my left

ankle...relax completely.