Die Smilingly

So, the assignment for my Yoga Teacher training course is to do six savasanas in six days. In the two months leading up to the class, I had only managed to do two. Six in six days seems like some kind of Extreme Makeover: Enlightenment Edition. I can barely find the time to floss right now, much less lay down and die for 20 minutes.

In case you are not aware, savasana means "corpse pose". Pattabhi Jois says "Savasana offers the possibility of a small death, every moment, every day." The idea, essentially, is to completely let go of everything we are thinking, the constructs of every day life, the identity cage we have created and allow a re-birth upon waking. In theory, I love this idea. It reminds me of the Vipassana course I took last fall where Goenka Ji would often say, "Die Smilingly" {which I gleefully later discovered was also the title of a Buddy Wakefield poem}.
Our number one fear is death. {Well, some say it is our number two fear, after public speaking but since I am a performance poet, death pretty much takes the cake for me.} It is quite possible that the death of our identity is even more terrifying than the death of our physical body. When I think about this, it becames sadly clear why I hesitate to start this assignment: I don't want to die.

Fact: I feel mountains better when I finish Savasana. Fact: Savasana activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the opposite of the sympathetic system, also known as "Fight or Flight." In today's society we spend the majority of our time functioning from the high stress/ "put up your dukes" place. My teacher says that the Parasympathetic System is more like "Eat. Play. Sex. Rest." I like all those things! Its like Bunnies! (Bunny Up!)

So, why am I putting off doing something that is so splendidly joyful? I sure as heck don't avoid, eating, sexing, playing or resting. Maybe because my brain is still so radically controlled by the Doing Sargeant. If I am not "doing" something then I feel like it is not worth the time. Or maybe my rowdy little ego is not about to let me wake up from the illusion of itself. Whoa. That is deep for 9AM.

Recently, I have discovered this great lil blogger named Havi. She has a process she calls the Metaphor Mouse. It is an excellent tool for destuckification. I figured it wouldn't hurt for me to use this process for my block about Savasana.

List the qualities, aspects and attributes of the thing that isn’t working.
"It can help to put a star or something by the ones that you do want to keep.
I usually ask: How does this feel? What does this remind me of?"

death, lazy, relax, stillness, corpse, pose, practice, discipline, monk, escape, breaking free, expectations, control, boring, labor, hard

Make a list of what you do want (your ideal state)
"This is the X = ? thing. You keep the parts of the old thing that do work, and you add whatever qualities would help you have a good relationship with this.
Also considering: How do you want to feel? What will it look like/sound like/feel like to be there? This is what helps you identify a possible metaphor.
Try it out. See how it feels. Check to see if there are any stowaways (metaphor!) that might trip you up (extra-mixed metaphor!) later. And if so, try something else."


calm, awareness, luxury, beauty, birth, relaxation, cleansing, gifting, creativity, chamber, bliss, release, freedom, miracle, rejuventation, exploration, healing,


Deep Bliss Creativity Chamber? Cleansing Bliss Creativity Chamber? Bliss Chamber? Fresh Paint? New Page? Inner Canvas Exploration? Stretched Canvas Pose ...heehehhe...this is fun. Maybe I am reaching.... I like the idea of a chamber because it creates a idea of luxury. But also, I think I would like to feel like something is happening while I am in this pose. Like when you de-frag your computer or clean your hard drive...hmmm....maybe... Disk Cleanse Bliss Pose. Yes.

Disk Cleanse Bliss Pose

This name also gives a fresh perspective on the process of thinking that inevitably happens when you are in this pose. We try to avoid all of our thoughts but when our computers are searching, cleaning and updating you often see it scanning over every file. This must also happen to the mind, it must scan through all the recent file uploads and storage and see where there are useless un-helpful thoughts and where there might be openings for new, fresh thoughts.
That will work for now. First scheduled Disk Cleanse Bliss: Today {Tuesday} at 8pm. I will put the kids in front of a bed time movie and then head up to the Creativity Chamber (now the new name for our loft) to Update and Restore.