The History, Evolution and Current Practice of Śavāsana

I was thrilled to participate in the SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies Postgraduate Student Conference for the second time. My talk begins at approximately 43:30, though all of my colleagues’ papers are well worth a listen.

ABSTRACT:

Śavāsana is taught for the first time in the Dattātreyayogaśāstra (13th c. CE), therein described as one of the saṃketas, or secret methods of layayoga (Mallinson, 2017: 90). The Haṭhapradīpikā (15th c. CE) refashions śavāsana as a posture, corpse pose. It moreover assigns therapeutic benefit, affirming that, “it removes fatigue and gives rest to the mind” (1.32, trans. Akers, 2002: 22). Today śavāsana is a compulsory component of modern postural practice, and is framed in contemporary biomedical, political, and religious rhetoric.

Using primary and secondary textual and visual material from a range of interdisciplinary fields of study, this paper investigates how rest became a pan-yogic mandate in modern yoga culture and practice. To do so it will chart the medicalization and politicization of fatigue in modernity, from the late 19th century onward. It will then explore how yoga became a method of relaxation, perfectly suited to address this epidemic of exhaustion. It will further situate yogic rest in the political present, drawing attention to how śavāsana and rest are being utilized in radical ways to counter the death zones of necropolitics. It will conclude by sharing preliminary ethnographic findings on the current practice of yogic rest in a yoga community in East London, and by proposing possible areas for further study. What does the practice teach us about science, art, medicine and culture?