Transform Your Relationship with Mortality Through Yoga's Most Profound Practice

What to Expect From This  Journal Club

Death anxiety touches nearly everyone — and it shapes how we plan (or avoid planning) for the end of life. In this month's Yoga for Arthritis Journal Club, we're digging into a thought-provoking new paper by Lori Rubenstein Fazzio, Anne Pitman, and Shelly Prosko that reframes one of yoga's most familiar poses, savasana (corpse pose), as more than just relaxation. Drawing on Antonovsky's salutogenic model and yogic philosophy — including the concept of abhinivesha, our natural clinging to life — the authors propose that a mindful, mortality-aware savasana practice can help people build Sense of Coherence (comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness) as they face the reality of death. Rather than treating death anxiety as a problem to fix, they suggest savasana can be an accessible, low-cost way to turn toward mortality with greater ease across the lifespan. Dr. Steffany Moonaz will lead our discussion, unpacking the paper's key concepts and what they mean for how we teach and practice yoga — especially with populations navigating chronic illness, aging, and pain. Before the call: We recommend reading the article ahead of time so you can bring your questions and reflections — but it's absolutely not required. Come as you are; we'll walk through the key ideas together. 📄 Read the article: Turning toward mortality: yoga's savasana as a salutogenic practice for engaging with death anxiety