Day 249 – Today’s readng is about shavasana, corpse pose.  Rolf writes of beginners to a yoga class, who are “invited just lie back and do nothing for five minutes after an hour or so of asana.”  It does, indeed, feel “like an amazing gift.”  When we are “blessed with the a beginner’s mind, we simply lie back and are grateful.”

As we go along in our life and squeeze our newest yoga commitments into our busy schedules, we sometimes become like the beginner, who arrives to her first class “physically drained, old before our time.”  As beginners, Rolf writes, we understand “the power of class being ove, of pausing to take something in, the balance of giving and receiving” and we are happy and appreciative to “lie back and let go.”

Today’s reading reaches me on my 49th birthday.  I repose on my bed with the TENS unit on my sore shoulder.  I am beyond blessed with the presence of family and friends and abundance, and yes, today, like all days had its moments of stress already (and the day is young).  The point Rolf touches on about shavasana is that it is called corpse pose for a reason.  He writes:  “Death is a part of life.  Avoidance of that fact is a part of the problem.”  Simply put, “showing up” for the that thing that comes to an end, is part of the solution.  Showing up and letting go.  It’s all good.  All good (and bad) things pass.