Turning toward mortality
Yoga’s savasana as a salutogenic practice for engaging with death anxiety
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22081968 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lori Rubenstein Fazzio (Loyola Marymount University), Anne Pitman (Institute of Contemporary History), Shelly Prosko (Toyobo (Japan)) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Pages | 1771782-1771782 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-04 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1771782 |
| PMID | 41859253 |
| OpenAlex | W7133536788 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 51 |
Death anxiety is prevalent across many modern cultures and is associated with significant psychological, social and economic costs, including avoidance of advance care planning and the overuse of life-prolonging medical interventions at the end of life. From a yogic perspective, this pervasive clinging to life reflects abhinivesha , one of the five kleshas (mental afflictions) described as a potent contributor to human suffering. This Perspective proposes a conceptual shift from pathogenic models focused primarily on life-extension and symptom reduction toward a salutogenic approach that emphasizes meaning-making and adaptive engagement with mortality across the lifespan. Antonovsky’s salutogenic framework highlights Sense of Coherence (SOC)—comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness—as a psychosocial resource that supports wellbeing even in the face of profound existential stressors. We suggest that cultivating conscious mortality awareness may strengthen SOC by supporting individuals to relate to death with greater understanding and existential coherence. Drawing on yoga philosophy, contemplative practice and public health scholarship, we propose savasana (corpse pose) as an embodied contemplative practice that may offer a structured experiential engagement with impermanence. Rather than positioning savasana as a treatment for death anxiety, we frame it as a salutogenic practice that can surface existential concerns and support reflective meaning-making over time. When practiced intentionally and upstream across the lifespan, savasana may provide an accessible, low-cost compassionate approach to facing death anxiety through embodied conscious awareness of our own mortality
Anxiety · Contemplation · Death anxiety · Disfigurement · Existentialism · Mindfulness · Mortality salience · Psychological intervention · Salutogenesis · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Health, psychology, and well-being · Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
Western Attitudes toward Death
Report of the Lancet Commission on the Value of Death
Medical Education in the United States and Canada
Resilience, sense of coherence, purpose in life and self-transcendence in relation to perceived physical and mental health among the oldest old
The Causes and Consequences of a Need for Self-Esteem
Positive death attitudes and psychological well-being
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Reducing defensive responses to thoughts of death
Abhiniveśa
The salutogenic model as a theory to guide health promotion
Mindfulness of Death as a Tool for Mortality Salience Induction with Reference to Terror Management Theory
| Highly cited | No |
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