Facing Fear of Death Through Yoga

Published on December 12, 2012

Death is the one certainty we face. How do you make sense of this inevitability? A recent New York Times piece describes one man’s journey to India, where a yoga instructor informs him “yoga is not some circus routine you do with your body. It is about aligning the body, breath, intellect, and soul.” Yoga is also, he noted, “dying many times before we actually die—and that way we are forced to find calmness and experience rebirth.”

According to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 2.9, the fear of death pervades all aspects of human consciousness. For many, death hearkens a cold, unpleasant, and unwelcome end to all we find precious. We live in a society that is both deeply fearful of and uncomfortable with death. This often manifests as an avoidance of discussing it, dealing with it, or embracing its inevitability with openness and honesty. Of course, it would be odd not to experience fear of death, given that life is a shared, evolutionary prerogative for most sentient beings. Yet other cultures (for instance, India) have a much different relationship to this transition.

Patanjali would argue that powerful attachments to our bodies, relationships, material possessions, and identities feed into the fear of death. These attachments obscure the ultimate reality: that death is merely a transition from one life to the next, with the soul’s essence remaining intact. When we acknowledge the roots of our fear of death as residing in our (justifiable!) attachments to all we value in this lifetime, it plants a seed of freedom. When we accept that death is inevitable and face this reality fearlessly, a new spaciousness and presence can arise in the space previously occupied by fear (easier said than done for those facing terminal illness or mourning the recent loss of a loved one).

How does yoga help us die before we actually die? The practice of yoga is a beautiful metaphor for the rising of the phoenix from the ashes. Each human being possesses a jumbled tangle of samskara; the habitual orientations and patterns through which we interact with the world. When yoga is practiced, these subtly shift, and over time they radically transform. In this process, parts of who we are die and are reborn. Like shavasana, where stillness is practiced in the pose of a corpse, yoga prepares us to welcome death, as life, with graciousness and ease.

Ultimately, yoga is about elucidating and facing our deepest fears with spaciousness and love, as we traverse aspects of our psyche that may not be available to us in a “default” state of mind. As the architecture of our psyche is gradually unearthed, fundamental patterns and fears are revealed. We can then challenge these fears based on the embodied, moment-to-moment awareness that we are already full, love then fills the space formerly occupied by fear.

In a youth-worshipping culture, this is challenging to accept. We tenaciously resist the march of time and our inevitable demise. In so doing, we unwittingly perpetuate the stigma of ageing and the underlying discomfort with our collective mortality. Yet yoga philosophy teaches that this life is only the beginning. It is a precious gift that should be nurtured and lived in the richness of the moment, celebrating the continuity of this and other souls that will continue long after these bodies have passed.

What does fear of death mean to you? Have you thought about this in the context of your yoga practice?

Share with

Friends

Our Latest

Yoga Articles
  • Purusharthas

    Purusharthas: The Four Goals of Life

  • Trimurti

    Trimurti: The Hindu Trinity of Brahma Vishnu Shiva

  • Brahman

    Brahman: Definition, Meaning, and Philosophy

  • Yoga Nidra

    Yoga Nidra: Meaning, Benefits, Videos and Tips

  • Living Like a Yogi

    17 Rules for Living Like a Yogi

  • heart opening yoga poses

    The Best 16 Heart Opening Yoga Poses

  • Negative Energy in a Person

    18 Clear Signs of Negative Energy in a Person

  • Three Doshas

    The Three Ayurvedic Doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha

Remove Ads with a

Premium Membership

Viewing ads supports YogaBasics, which allows us to continue bringing you quality yoga content. Sign up for a premium membership to remove all ads and enjoy uninterrupted access to the best yoga resources on the web.

Explore More

Yoga TipsAdviceArticlesPracticesBasicsTechniques

  • Partner Yoga

    Partner Yoga: Tips, Benefits and Best Poses

  • yoga when sick

    Should You Practice Yoga When Sick?

  • Yoga practice community

    How to Find Your Practice Community

  • meditation before bed benefits 2

    11 Benefits of Meditation Before Bed

  • Yoga astrology element

    Yoga and Astrology: Find the Best Practices for Your Sign

  • Yoga for Self-Care

    How to Use Yoga as a Self-Care Tool

  • basic yoga pose sequence

    Let it Flow: The Art and Science of Yoga Sequencing

  • difficult yoga pose

    The Poses You Hate the Most, You Need the Most

  • sun salutation yoga pose

    6 Reasons to Practice Daily Sun Salutations

2 responses to “Facing Fear of Death Through Yoga”

  1. possum1969 Avatar
    possum1969

    well said,,I hope to be with the Lord Jesus and Father GOD.

  2. lokeshputran2004 Avatar
    lokeshputran2004

    Every human being or animal will have fear of death. Through yoga practice, human being can reduce the fear of death since they will be connected always to body mind and soul level while doing yoga. With this fear of death can be reduced.
    Fear of death is negative energy. Since everybody has to undergo death, why fear of death? Practice yoga always to avoid this negative energy.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tosca Park Avatar
About the author
Tosca Park, a 200-hour Kripalu Yoga instructor and 500-hour Integrative Yoga Therapist, is a doctoral student in Clinical Health Psychology at the University of Connecticut, where she conducts research on yoga, mindfulness, and health with her mentor, Dr. Crystal Park, and collaborators. Prior to UConn Tosca spent five years as a research intern and project manager with Kripalu’s Institute for Extraordinary Living, an organization devoted to the scientific study of yoga-based curricula. She holds bachelor’s degrees from Reed College and SUNY Empire State College in history and health psychology, respectively, and has more than 2,000 hours of training in yoga, Ayurveda, and the mind-body connection.
Yoga Basics