The Rehearsal: Why Meditation is Practice for Dying
The Ultimate "Letting Go"
When I mention meditation to clients, they often think of stress reduction. They picture a calm app telling them to breathe so they can be more productive at work.
But in my 20 years of facilitating movement and meditation, I have come to see it differently. Meditation is a rehearsal for dying.
You Don't Need to Be "Spiritual"
You might assume that to meditate on death, you need a belief system, incense, or a guru. You don't.
The practice of letting go is biological, not just theological.
Whether you believe in reincarnation, heaven, or simply returning to the earth as compost, the process of dying is the same for the body. The nervous system has to down-regulate. The grip has to loosen. The breath has to soften.
Meditation teaches the nervous system safety in stillness, regardless of what you believe comes next. It is a practical training for the physiology of release.
Savasana: The Corpse Pose
In Yoga, the final pose of any practice is Savasana, which literally translates to "Corpse Pose."
It is not called "Nap Pose" or "Rest Pose." It is named after a dead body. Why? Because the goal is to practice the art of total release. To lay the body down, to withdraw the senses, and to surrender control.
Every time we successfully meditate, we are practicing the skills required for a good death:
Stillness: Learning to be in a body that isn't doing anything.
Witnessing: Watching thoughts and sensations arise and pass without grabbing onto them.
Surrender: Trusting that it is safe to let go.
Why This Matters for the Living
You do not need to be terminal to benefit from this "death practice."
When we fear death, we are usually fearing the loss of control. Meditation is the safe laboratory where we practice losing control in small, manageable doses. We learn that we can let go of our thoughts, our identity, and our tension…and still exist.
By practicing this "little death" on the cushion or the mat, the "big death" becomes less of a terrifying cliff edge and more of a familiar terrain. We have been here before. We know how to let go.
A Beautiful Reminder
Although I have never met her, Zenith Virago is an inspiring pioneer in the Australian landscape of deathcare and death literacy. I stumbled across this video years ago in one of my trainings, and feel what she offers here in very much aligned with this spirit of the message in this blog around ways to “practice” death before it actually happens. Enjoy.