Lizzie for Free : a yogi's blog
The Free State of LizArchive for off the mat
Leading and being led
In life, we’re constantly invited to play in spaces existing at opposing ends of the spectrum. We are caregivers, decision makers and leaders of teams in some capacity, yet at the same time, we have all been looked after by others, have had to surrender to someone else’s choices and ‘go with the flow’. At one time or another, willing or not, we’ve all been led out of darkness.
Who has led you, and when what are the traits that has enabled you to let go of the reigns?
For me, the most inspiring leaders are those that celebrate the opportunities to be led themselves. It marks the sign of great self-confidence to let go and entrust another being with your time, whether it be for a staff meeting, a yoga class, or taking the hand of a young child wanting to lead you to the next activity.
I remember a time years ago when I fell into a position managing a large group, many of whom were older than I and fearful of losing their jobs. It was difficult for me to lead that group, and I’m sure it showed. Every day I woke up pretending; pretending to know where I was ‘leading’ the team, pretending to know how to engage the group and build enthusiasm about learning to work differently, pretending to have answers for my superiors about who and how to downsize. I wasn’t a very good leader, in part because I wasn’t prepared to be led by the group, and because I didn’t take the first step, there was no mutual trust.
As a yoga teacher, sometimes I’m in the role of a leader. During this time I observe people in the class, some of whom have a difficult time letting go and being led. I give vocal instruction to come into an asana, and inevitably certain students decide not to follow my lead, preferring to do the posture a different way, or doing something else altogether. As a yoga student myself, I understand that sometimes injury and life circumstance take us on a detour from the led class. Sometimes, however, we deter from the teacher or the group because the mind overtakes us, reminding us about things like: how our other, favorite yoga teacher teaches the pose, deciding to do it that way; or reminding us that we are professionals at urdhva dhanurasana (wheel pose) so there is no need to go through the process to better align the arms and feet to stabilise the shoulders and hips; or reminding us that we did a perfect headstand last week so there is no problem in tuning the teacher’s instruction out and just jumping up into it. The point is, there are an infinite number of ways to practice and teach yoga. David Life once said, “when you go to a yoga class, throw away anything another teacher may have taught you in the past. For those 90 minutes, give the teacher leading the class your attention and trust, and allow yourself to be led.” This has stuck with me, not just in yoga class, but in life.
We are all dynamically moving between states of leading aspects of our lives and being led in others. When we are able to acknowledge this and let go of the need to dominate or control certain elements, the flow of life is steady and vibrant. People will be more inspiring to follow, and as a result, we are be more aspirational in our own lives.
“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.”
― Oswald Chambers
From Whistler with Love.
Live your truth. Live Epic. Get Real. Inspire others to Greatness. This is a small taste of the language used and the air breathed by the gathering of athletes and yogis, lululemon employees and special friends (aka ambassadors) alike over the past three days at the Ambassador Summit in Whistler, BC.
What’s impressive about this is that neither the language nor the mentality started or stopped with the summit. The bedrock of lululemon athletica, founded by a small group of like-minded individuals and led by Chip Wilson (it turns out they were all neighbours!), is based on harnessing passion through bravery, truth-telling, honesty, and much more.
Prior to showing up for the summit, I was asked by colleagues and friends about my involvement with the brand, often with a critical eye. I didn’t have many answers; my relationship as a new ambassador in London, England as part of opening up the showroom in Chelsea was vague, and my knowledge about the driving force behind the company and its corporate governance report card limited.
One thing was clear. From the start of my relationship there was certainly a positive vibe from everyone I came into contact with at lululemon, and with every interaction I had more and more confidence it was genuine. When I arrived at the Vancouver headquarters, it was no different. I was overwhelmed with the authentic kindness stemming from each person within the organization (in honesty, Vancouver is an exceptionally friendly place). Then, there were the many different ways the ‘corporation’ expressed its gratitude towards the employees, including through transparent communication, exceptional leadership, resources and support for personal and professional development, and the offering of a beautiful yoga and fitness practice space and free classes throughout the week. My breakthrough moment though, was in seeing and hearing the dedication from the executive members — to the ambassadors, staff, community, product producers and larger community, the world we live in — to create change and greatness. This included experiencing the full participation at the summit of the CEO, CFO, VP of branding and head of the design team. The familial interactions between everyone on an individual level was truly endearing.
After a couple of days, I don’t have all the answers as to what makes this company great, but I know truth from fiction. lululemon is not like *any* other company. The people are genuine, inspiring, down to earth, and at the same time, aspirational. They don’t perceive themselves as a company, but a group of people fit to change the world, and this includes paving the way in corporate governance from design to final product in an international production line. At the end of the day, people and relationships are what matter, and lululemon certainly takes this to heart.
How do you feel your breath?
Movement is life. Without movement life is unthinkable.
Moshe Feldenkrais
The breath is sometimes referred to as the life force, as it is the purest form of nourishment for human on planet earth.Without it, we simply cannot survive, yet without movement, the breath is valueless.The body has a streamlined set of intricate tools to ensure the breath keeps flowing in and out of our lungs, as long as we are alive.The truth is, when I reflect on the breath and it’s relationship to movement in my body, I feel my whole body in a state of constant ebb and flow with the inhale and exhale.
In anticipation of the breath, the body organizes itself.The lower back muscles relax and drop, inviting the abdominal and pelvic diaphragms to go into flexion. The throat softens and tongue releases away from the palette and front of mouth.There is a looseness in the skin and tissues of the body that creates space around the boney structures. In a sense, the whole body makes room for the breath.
As the oxygen moves in through my nose upon taking a breath, I feel my nostrils flare slightly, my upper palette subtly lift into the cranial cavity, and a gentle contraction through the gums receding from the teeth. Air moves into the body through the pharynx,trachea and windpipe,and the abdominal diaphragm contracts and pulls down enabling oxygen to be pulled into the lungs like a vacuum sucking air into two great balloons.The lungs fill, my ribcage expands and the abdomen is moved down while expanding anteriorly, posteriorly and laterally. As the breath fills the space of the abdomen, the pelvic diaphragm broadens across the base of the torso as the breath fills into the space of the lower abdominal cavity, extending the upper buttock muscles and lumbar spine.
Meanwhile, the base of the sternum lifts, the front of the shoulders in connection with the collarbone lift ever so slightly and flair back, raising the front base of the armpit to allow the upper corners of the lungs to fill.The scapula broaden laterally as the rib age expands, making space for the spine to lengthen vertically in both directions. I feel the neck muscles flex while the trachea and pharynx also move in flexion. There appears to be a lifting through the cranium, particularly the occiput and temporal bones which flex laterally, lengthening the eustachian tubes and creating space between the inner ears. The upper palette lifts and the tongue presses slightly, naturally upon the roof of the mouth. A spaciousness encapsulates the whole of the cranial cavity, I can almost envision the pineal and pituitary glands rounding and lifting as they expand into the newly created space. As a result of the inhalation, the skin feels porous and expanded; a healthy, supple container that aides in my breathing the whole body.
The exhalation is initiated at the top of the inhale, and feels like a journey downhill as a passive sensation takes over my whole body. Air moves out of my nose, and I feel my throat soften and collarbone drop.The scapula relax as the intercostal muscles soften and release the ribs inward. As the diaphragm expands upward compressing the lungs, the sternum drops, the abdomen pulls up and the sides of the torso soften.The pelvic diaphragm’s inverted dome releases downward, flaring the sit bones slightly apart.This subtly rotates the outer thighs inward.The whole body is at rest, loose and empty, preparing for the next wave of breath to inspire, to ventilate, to move life through the body.
How do you feel you body breath?
Vancouver Sundays
Yesterday began pretty early due to the 8 hour time difference and jetlag. By 8:00am I checked myself into a “flow” class at YYoga on Burrand St. There were around 20 others there, and despite the studio being outfitted in a high-end, minimalist style, the yoga mat I had to rent for a 2.95$ fee had *no* grip and they suggested I also rent a nonslip cloth. After replying that I’d rather practice on the floor and give the extra money to a homeless person, they gave me the nonslip cloth for free.
Class was OK. The teacher, while sweet and very excited about her weekend spent with her teacher, omitted several postures on one side, and there were also sequences with repetitive movements only on one side. While no one else seemed to notice, little things like this are big things for our lopsided bodies(!) having said that, I did love the transition from ardha matsyendrasana to parsva bakasana, and compass pose was taught in a very accessible way.
After class I met up with Michelle Phillips from lululemon athletica and we covered a large part of the city by foot before settling in a funky little cafe in Gastown for lunch. I love Michelle. She’s wonderful, both in engaging in conversation about the brand’s history and how the products come to be, where in the world they are produced (better question is where are they not produced with the Lycra coming from Belfast and metallics from the middle east…) and also in receiving feedback. We talked extensively about where we would each like to be in five to ten years time, a conversation I found hugely helpful as its something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately both personally and professionally.
We finished off our day at the lululemon lab, a microcosm of how the label got started; designers working on ideas right along sides the showroom in an open space, perfect for customer input and dialogue.
Today will start at the lululemon headquarters with a yoga class, then a run, then breakfast followed by a little tour. After that, more yoga and circuit training, followed by a bus ride to Whistler where we will arrive around 4pm.
I suspect (and secretly hope) that I will snore rather heavily on the bus!
Taking Flight
It’s hard to believe that in only one more day I will be on the plane to Vancouver, home to amazing air quality, incredible Asian food…and the groove pant. Lululemon athletica has invited me and other yogis from around the world to get down doggy on the yoga mat for a few days and explore Whistler and have a look under the company’s proverbial hood. I’m so delighted to have been asked to take a peek.
The schedule appears to be rather Full On, but all of the sessions look interesting, interactive, and many of them involve sweating. Yippee! Of the physical activities, I halve to admit the prospect of snowshoeing on Tuesday is sounding preeetttty goood right now. I’m also looking forward to hearing the CEOs thoughts on where the company is going, production in China and any possibilities for expanding their line into organic fibers (yes please!). But mainly, I’m eager to meet and get to know others who are passionate about yoga. A change of scene is always such a nice time to shift perspective on the world and allow a little magic in.
I’ll be in Vancouver part of Saturday and Sunday and can’t wait to check out one or two yoga studios, catch up with some friends and explore being on my own in a city I’ve always loved without my sidekick. Monday will be packed with a yoga class followed by a run, a visit to the Vancouver Support Centre and a circuit training class before bussing it up to Whistler. And then the real fun begins.
Stay tuned for thoughts, images and ideas from the road, until then, let it rain! The past few days have been earth quenching and so needed. Keep the ‘brellas out and wellies on!
Jivamukti focus of the month, May 2012:Renaissance
Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya navani grhnati naro parani
tatha sharirani vihaya jirnany anyani samyati navani dehi
Just as a man, having cast off old garments, puts on other, new ones,
even so does the embodied one, having cast off old bodies, take on other, new ones.
-The Bhagavad Gita, Chap. 2, verse 22
We are born again in each breath that we take and every step we make. The idea of being reborn, or born-again, signifies a rebirth or revival. For the yogi, the breath indicates that life exists, and each new breath is a new living moment. The choice we have is to consciously partake of the construction of our reality or to remain the victim of fate (really unconsciousness). The one who strives to be reborn consciously into life is the jivanmukta. When our life is consciously re-vivified, it has been reconnected to its source and nourishment. When we trade in a love-less life for a love-created life, we are reborn. Our sense of purpose and our core values are re-ignited. Re-incarnation is another word that refers to this continuous process-lifetime after lifetime.
In the Yoga Sutra, Master Patanjali tells us that the substrate of existence contains all possible characteristics whether latent, active or future. Through yoga practices, we can gain access to this substrate of existence and bring forth our greatest vision. When we create variation in causes, they become changes in the results. Yoga practices get to the root causes for unhappiness. When we create change on a causal level-for example, the purification of intention or the removal of fear or ignorance-the results of those changes will be felt automatically in our lives. Knowledge of past, present and future is the result of samyama-perfect balance, perfect equilibrium of mind-on the three kinds of transformation that lead to enlightenment (nirodha, samadhi and ekagrata-parinama; see PYS Chap. III, sutras 9, 11, 12, 16). By observing past impressions (samskaras), knowledge of previous incarnations is obtained (PYS III.18). Samskaras are evident in the difficulties we encounter in yoga practices from unconscious breathing and movement to a fragmented mind. Knowledge of your own death may be obtained through samyama on the two types of karma-active and latent-in shavasana. The goal for the yogi is to be freed from the cycle of rebirth and samsara, the coming and going. It is only through understanding how the cycle of rebirth continues that we can overcome it. This goal is achieved through the disassociation from the movements of chittam (the mind stuff).
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
And all the King’s horses,
And all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
Religare, the Latin root of the English word “religion,” like the Sanskrit wordhatha, means “to bind up,” and the traditional task of religion and yoga has been to bind up the pieces that have broken away from the ecstatic Oneness of Being-to heal the separation and be reborn whole and complete.
-David Life
Focus of the Month Teaching Tips
Renaissance (May, 2012)
…started writing a book on Renaissance individuals, but discovered in the end
that there are no individuals.
-Renaissance Self-fashioning, Stephan Greenblatt
Some of the writing of the Italian Renaissance may be interesting especially in relationship to the city state as a reflection of the individual-collecting the parts together to make a whole.
Of course the sutras that address the transcendence of time (all the siddhis) allow us to incorporate our particular birth into the context of a larger coming and going. Emphasis of vinyasa would provide the platform for the witness consciousness in asana practice, and in life itself.
The key to this skill is to witness yoga practice and your life as process- notobject. We can tend to view ourselves as a fixed and vulnerable object that all the monsters of the universe try to destroy rather than as a flowing confluence of cosmic energies that flow around and through time and space. As well, the asanas and other practices can become “things we do” rather than tools for enlightenment. As we flow through all the forms of an asana practice with an unchanging breath we can witness the shifting of shapes at the same time with the continuity of spirit.
As a person’s desire is, so is their destiny. For as their desire is, so is their will; and as their will is, so is their deed; and as their deed is, so is their reward, whether good or bad. A person acts according to the desires to which they cling. After death they go to the next world bearing in their mind the subtle impressions of their deeds; and, after reaping there the harvest of his deeds, they return again to this world of action. Those who have desires continue subject to rebirth.
-Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
-Bible, John, 3:5-6,14
It is said that the thought we have on our mind at the moment of death will propel us into the next birth. The key to an evolutionary transition is consciousness in the moment of transition and fixing of the mind and being on the single-pointed goal of perfection. Using mantra during meditation can help to train the mind to the ekagraha- single pointed focus.
For most of us, death is the trouble, not rebirth. In breath-work the emphasis on exhale (Kapalabhati) and exhale retention (Bahya Kumhhaka) prepare us for the last breath we take. Purifying thoughts when we experience the absence of breath prepares us to make a conscious transition to a new body. But also, attention should be called to the first in-breath after retention, experiencing it as new, original, unlike anything you have experienced before. In fact, our attention upon each new breath as a rebirth, is both a revelation and a tool for realizing the passage of the life force from moment to moment. When we can welcome the newness of each breath with wonder rather than guardedness and fear, we can overcome the fear of death of the body. When we accept change as the rule, rather than the exception, we welcome change and exercise our ability to manifest change. The ability to manifest change is called siddhi.
Savasana has obvious benefits. It is a small death and rebirth, and preparation for the actual death of the body and rebirth to the next life. The worst thing that a person can experience is death as confusion and panic. This leads to unconscious transition and unfortunate rebirth. (See Prof. R. Thurman’s translation of Tibetan Book of the Dead.) Practicing our physical death and rebirth each day of our lives helps us to place an authentic value on a life lived, and fearlessness in the face of new possibilities of a new day.
Slowing Down
When I made the decision to change careers 6 years ago, I had a very different perspective on the world. At that moment in my life any job seemed that it would be less stressful than the one I was in, and I looked around me and was envious of those appearing not to be stressed. I was especially intrigued with those teaching yoga, imagining it impossible to be stressed in that type of job situation. I remember lying in bed in Amsterdam one Sunday afternoon looking out my enormous windows at the cyan sky watching the little white puffy clouds go by, thinking, if only this moment could last forever. A moment where I didn’t need to do anything; a moment where I wasn’t all consumed by my Very Busy Brain thinking fearfully about my Very Important Job.
Years later, as a yoga teacher, I know too many yoga teachers and therapists who are stressed, becoming increasingly busy with the small stuff: scheduling appointments, classes, workshops, retreats….consumed by the running of the business rather than creating space to slow down and lead by example. I should know, I have been one of them.
Only by injury and illness have I learned that space is necessary in the continuing path to wellness and evolution of the mindfulness practice of yoga. It seems to be a fine balancing act for all between work, play, a disciplined practice of asana and meditation, and time for family, which often doesn’t fit into any of these categories but is no less important.
The rhythm of life is one like the ebb and flow of the tide: constantly changing, consistent in its inconsistency, sometimes rough but flowing, other times calm to a point of intertia. We are all born to surf, going for it when a big wave comes yet doing our best to remain calm and fluid, not to get blown off the board when the wave is too great or to get sucked down when there is no dynamism at all.
Ida Rolf, the founder of the Rolfing technique, referred to this as adaptability and dynamic balance, two of the five principles of Rolfing. Adaptability meaning how flexible, how malleable we are in our bodies and in the circumstances of environment to change and morph to new conditions. Dynamic balance is in keeping with the yin/yang symbol–unifying opposites to create a balance physically, emotionally and mentally.
While Ive never actually managed to surf successfully,since I have been working on slowing down, making time each week to assess if I have enough time for work, play, practice and family, I have found a lot more time for everything. I feel more energised, and less defeated and frustrated at my lack of sense of accomplishment at the end of each day. Thank you, space! Here’s to slowing down for long enough to identify what your needs are and how to feel nurtured and whole.
When Joining Separates
At one point or another, we have all joined a bank, a company, a political party or a book club. Lets face it, subscribing to an organisation is almost a necessity in today’s world in order to function. While I’ve never been an much of a ‘joiner’, I have affiliated myself with groups and schools in the past and still do to some extent today. I love connecting to people who share passions, and savour opportunities to bring people together to make new connections, but in truth, there is something about an organization that leaves me feeling a little funny inside. Perhaps it’s the wearing of a label (though we all do wear various ‘tags’), the superficial fencing in of certain people versus other, the exclusivity, or the various forms of side agenda that may be more or less present depending on the organization. And then there are the politics. One of my dear friends and graduate professors once told me, “only hang out with, only work with people that celebrate you, that bring out your best and make you want to be even better.” If there was an organization that bottled that without all the additives, I’m pretty sure we’d all want to sign up.
Yoga, the state of ‘yoking’ or ‘union’, is the confluence of two things; when two things merge into one. This can happen when the small, individual self merges with the understanding of the universal, collective consciousness; when day becomes night, when the in breath becomes the outbreath, when the state of living transitions into the state of dying. Sometimes, when people seek a connection to others, they ‘join’. There are many things to join: gyms, book clubs, a yoga method or studio, a religion, you name it. But in the most traditional, purest sense of yoga, it’s not something you can ‘join’, rather, it’s something magical you can experience. Present day yoga, however, involving methods, expensive teacher trainings, dogma and heavily marketed yoga studios (not to mention yoga teachers ‘branding’ themselves) creates the potential for division when the original intention implicit in the word was union.
At a pinnacle time in my life, I remember being a philosophy student searching for meaning in the world. I enthusiastically studied the eastern religions, eager to discuss the similarities and differences, the things that resonated for me and the things that didn’t. Without knowing any better, I was “shopping” around for purpose. One day, my professor looked at me and said, “Lizzie, a religion doesn’t have to be something you adhere to or join. You can apply the principles of any religion to your own life and create something meaningful in your life that is all your own- your set of beliefs.” An idea so simple, yet so profound, as been what has shaped my ideas of the world, organised religions, and my yoga practice.
Yoga methods, school, teachers and studios are important and useful in providing insights about one’s individual path to experience yoga. However, if the student doesn’t know to ask questions, or isn’t aware not to take everything at face value, we may be in jeopardy in becoming isolated and separate in a world of others seeking comfort in their insecurity and ignorance by sticking together under a label. This unstable state of being forms cliques and supports ideas that one style, teacher, place, clothing is better than another. It is avidya at is finest hour. The aspirant in this state is a wonderful disciple, but separated from a much richer, more authentic path of union. Inquisition, the right to hold beliefs that are different from the group even while being a member, having a mind and a voice to speak out and up about ones own beliefs are such an important part of self expansion, creativity, and ultimate joy and freedom. Find the place where all these aspects of yourself can be celebrated and augmented, and never be afraid to go against the grain to question what is being taught and to try something new.
Caveat: I am a certified Jivamukti yoga teacher, a method that melds several types of yoga together on a backdrop of asana practice. I am proud of this lineage, I believe my teachers from this method to be two of the world’s talented, creative and generous teachers who have devised one the most thorough, well-balanced yoga teacher training programs available in the world today. However, I don’t subscribe to the idea of a ‘tribe’ within any one yoga school of yoga, nor do I consider myself a member of a specific yoga group. In fact, much of the desire to write a post such as this has been propelled by what I’ve witnessed within the constructs of organised yoga. As in any school of yoga, not all Jivamukti teachers are good, honest or compassionate teachers, and I don’t stand behind everything my teachers have ever said or done in the interest of yoga. They are human beings, and don’t profess themselves to be ‘gurus’. While I have been so blessed to find a handful of gracious, honest and down to earth teachers, the most valuable aspect of my yoga path has been enriched outside the doors of any one studio by the teachings of many, yoga teachers and non-teachers alike.
Say Om While Dying (or Die to OM)
om ity ekaksharam Brahma / vyaharan mam anusmaran
yah prayati tyajan deham / sa yati paramam gatim (BG VIII.13)
If one can remember while dying to utter OM, he/she will go to the supreme goal.
I was always a bit baffled by this verse in the Bhagavad Gita. I thought that Krishna would have said, “utter my name,” but instead he suggests to “utter OM” while dying. I have often heard many of my friends who are Krishna devotees say, “OM is for yogis or Vedantists,” not for Krishna bhaktas, and I have noticed that many of the Krishna mantras do not start with OM as do many of the other deity mantras. But interestingly enough, in the very next chapter, in verse 17, Krishna says, “I am the sound OM.” The sound of the Divine in its essential manifestation, is found in OM, in other words by saying OM you are saying God’s name. I think this verse is giving instruction for how to consciously pull one’s soul out of their physical body at the time of death with the potency of OM.
Krishna is known as the supreme yogi, and the best way to understand his teachings is to immerse yourself in the practices He suggests, as insight is more likely to dawn through experience. My guru Shri Brahmananda taught me to chant the bija mantras in relationship to the chakras. Because of his guidance I practice shavasana as a practice to prepare me for my own death. While lying on my back, I recite the bija mantras out loud, moving through the first six chakras, from the root (muladhara) to the third eye (ajna): LAM, VAM, RAM, YAM, HAM, OM. When I come to the sahasrara chakra I silently chant OM, and this silent chanting of OM acts as a profound launching of my awareness into an expanded reality. After that final OM there is a profound letting go of the physical body-all of the joints between the bones seem to unhinge, tension releases, and there is a feeling of great spaciousness -perhaps it is close to what I can only imagine and assume to be something like dying-my breath stops and along with it thought and sensation-I feel like I am floating bodiless-a freed spirit. This usually only lasts for a moment or so, but nonetheless it is quite extraordinary that the chanting of the bija mantras culminating in that final silent OM can facilitate an experience of kevalam kumbhaka-a spontaneous suspension of the breath and thought, classified in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika as a preliminary level of samadhi. For a short, almost timeless moment we can experience yoga-freed of all desire-feeling whole and complete, needing nothing. You don’t stop breathing in the normal sense, instead you become integrated with the breath to such an extent that there is no need to breathe, no need to grasp the breath and bring it “into you.” To be able to die with ease and a sense of direction is the definition of a good death.
Previous to that final silent OM, with each successive chanting of the bija mantras and focusing on the associated chakra and area of the body, I always feel like I am putting my life, via my body, in order. It is a “cleaning house” kind of feeling, where things that are no longer necessary are let go of and things that were out of place get put back and the “house” is more organized and spacious for it. It also prepares me for the silence of that final OM. I don’t think you can take the short cut ignoring the other chakras and mantras and just lie down and silently chant one OM and facilitate the same kind of experience. If you don’t believe me, just try it yourself. Lie down and inhale, then exhale with the sound of OM and see if the abbreviated experience is equal to the methodical process of moving up through the chakras, dropping each body part in successive order by means of the breath and mantra.
During the death process, each element leaves the body in an organized progression starting with the element of earth in the root chakra and moving upward into water, fire, air and then followed by more subtle forms of ether. The shavasana practice I describe above-the methodical process of successively moving upward consciously through means of the bija mantras-is a meditation on the dissolution of the elements that occurs naturally at the time of death to everyone, although it may occur more consciously to a yogi. This process is referred to in the previous verse in the Gita, where Krishna gives instruction by saying, “closing all the gates of the body and drawing the mind into the heart, then raise the prana into the head” (BG VIII.12). When the prana is in the higher chakras of the head, if we utter the sound of OM at that precise moment, we might be able to aim our soul’s flight out through the top of the head, the sahasrara or crown chakra, and reach our supreme goal-liberation. Shavasana, or corpse pose, can be a practice for that important moment, as the Mundaka Upanishad describes: “OM is the bow, the arrow is our own soul, Brahman is the target, the aim of the soul.”
For many practitioners of yoga, the time spent in shavasana is taken as a time to rest from the exertion of the asanas. But when the practitioner begins to investigate the significance of shavasana, he/she will realize that it provides a tangible opportunity to consciously practice dying and even to experience samadhi. When we practice dying, we can become liberated from the fear of dying, or abhinivesha, which is an obstacle to yoga, and move towards a good death and the ultimate attainment of the supreme goal, which is cosmic consciousness-maha samadhi, liberation from samsara-no need to take another birth.
-Sharon Gannon
