‘Shava’ in Sanskrit means corpse; and therefore, Shavasana literally means ‘corpse posture’. Death makes a person completely relaxed. Features of a person who dies are no longer tense and a strange beauty shines from his face. There can be no real beauty without relaxation. Death is not the end of the life but it is the beginning of next life. To an oriental who believes in reincarnation, death is a merciful incident in the evolutionary cycle and does not carry the tragic implications.

Technique:

The technique of Shavasana is simple enough to describe, but not quite easy to practice. Lying on the back, the legs are spread and a comfortable distance is maintained between them. The arms are placed on the side of the trunk. The head may be turned on one side or may be kept facing up. The back and shoulders remain in touch with floor. The eyes are kept close. All the muscles of the body are then relaxed, there being no stretch or pull felt anywhere in the body. This requires some practice. By paying attention to each part of body one by one starting from the toes upward, one should see if any tension or uneasiness is felt anywhere; and if so, one should try to give it up. Particular attention should be paid to the joints and the large muscles. Care should be taken to avoid sleep.

One should try to draw one’s mind to think about some beautiful scenery which one has ever seen or try to think about any happy incident of life, and concentrate on breathing. Slowly the mind becomes calm and one is able to have a floating sensation, feeling lighter and lighter.

Physiological Effects:

Shavasana provides the most natural position of the body which helps in complete physical and mental rest. Anatomically, there can be no better position than this for complete relaxation in which no imbalance is left in the muscles of the limbs. Horizontal position of the body on ground helps in normal flow of blood in the body. No system of body is required to work against the gravity. There is no question of balancing the body against gravity of the earth. No extra energy is required for any one of the various systems of the body and therefore, metabolic rates come down. Even the blood pressure and heart rate get reduced to a minimum because there is no need to apply any force to circulate the blood. With the help of practice of this asana, breathing becomes slower, slightly deeper and rhythmic.

Abdominal type of breathing which is a part of this asana helps in the relaxation at the nervous level. The abdomen moves up when one inhales and sinks down when one exhales. It helps in toning up the abdominal organs and removes their congestion, if any. During this asana, the practitioner passively observes his/her own breathing and its flow. He/she witnesses the inhale and exhale process like a third person. He/she does not have awareness of the rest of the body.

Benefits:

Various types of benefits that accrue from Shavasana are:

(1) It helps in the reduction of physical and mental tension.

(2) It removes all the abnormalities in the physical and psychological system of the body.

(3) it has soothing effect on whole body.