A solemn All Souls’ Day! (& dead man’s pose, ashtanga)

A solemn All Souls’ Day! (and the dead man’s pose, ashtanga yoga)

The dead man’s pose in ashtanga yoga is the favorite pose of many: it’s the last after dozens of challenging asanas in the sequence: Just lie down, flat out, relax, and melt like wax (keep your mind steady or empty). i have an overarched back, that means, when lying flat on any surface, (for example, in dead man’s pose) there’s a bubble or space between the surface and the back created by the overarch. Here it is.

According to experts, people who have an overarched back usually have back aches in the morning. Based on my experience, those experts are correct – i used to have morning back pain after every more- than- five- hours of sleep, flat on the back on any surface.

(and that is why the “dead man’s pose” is not my favorite pose, not comfortable, but i never complain because…. nobody complains in lying- flat- on- your- back pose or “dead man’s pose”, for crying out loud, it’s the most naturally occurring pose)

the back ache caused by the overarch was cured by the forward bends, by the

hug-your-knees transition pose, and by the inversion poses especially by my favorite pose, the asana posted here last month (the last practice, haven’t practised in a month).

As it turns out, that “favorite pose” is called pindasana or… embryo pose, in English. it “closes” and “shuts down” my spine, effectively “fuses in” the gap created by the overarch, and “integrates” my back. If you look at the shape of a fetus (human embryo): When we were in our mother’s womb, our spine was “closed” that way, like in pindasana. i stay here until… well, when somebody walks across the room with their mat, or there are big movements or noises, it makes me think people are preparing to leave the room,  i “wake up” from this pose. (as it turns out, they’re just crossing the room to go to the wall).

Whoever invented pindasana is a wise person (you are “asleep” yet can sense movements).

Before pindasana, there’s another inversion pose that also strengthens your back, here it is:

urdhva padmasana or upside down lotus pose, urdhva means upside down, padma means lotus, and you already know what asana means (except that, the full form should be higher and straighter than this).

Which would you rather have for a cure:

Surgery?

(before ashtanga, i thought i’d have to get surgery someday)

Painkiller pills? (that will make you dependent and cause an addiction)

Or ashtanga yoga…?

Get to know your body well, and hopefully, your soul, too. A solemn All Souls Day, y’all!