The Zen of Nothing

(Abstract of cake icing)

 

 

It's no secret that my favorite yoga pose is Shavasana - Corpse pose. At first, this was a pose that I figured I would dread. I could not imagine myself happily lying flat on the floor doing nothing for any length of time. The million and one reasons this sounded like an awful idea to me included:

 

 

1. I hate lying on the floor.

 

2. Lying on the floor hurts my back.

 

3. Lying on the floor hurts my head.

 

4. Lying on the floor doing nothing is counter productive.

 

5. Doing nothing, no matter what position, is counter productive.

 

 

Repeat each of those reasons 200,000 times and you have my list, then add: And getting up off the floor is torture.

 

 

So, why now do I actually look forward to the time I spend in Shavasana?

 

 

1. It's the opposite of doing nothing.

 

2. It has improved my back pain tremendously.

 

3. I have permission to do nothing, but it's not really nothing, it's really actively working to improve my back and my legs.

 

4. It's actually restful.

 

5. Getting up from the floor is not that hard now.

 

 

I never would have imagined that lying on the flat on the floor would be high point of my day - in fact that sounds like a pretty bad day when you say it that way, but I really look forward to it and I actually feel bad when I don't get to do it. [Tonight may be one of those nights, in fact.]

 

What's your favorite yoga pose?