Final Surrender

The most important pose in yoga. The one that makes everything else land. The one almost everyone skips.

Every yoga class ends the same way — lying in Śavāsana, corpse pose, the practice of yoga nidrā, or "yogic sleep." Most practitioners give it five minutes before rolling up the mat and heading home. Almost none of them know what they just walked away from.

The yogis of ancient India understood Śavāsana as the most profound of all āsanas — the hardest to master, and the only one that blossoms the crown chakra. Far from a simple rest or "final relaxation," it is the very essence of haṭha yoga: the art of conscious relaxation that underlies every other pose and opens the door to self-knowledge.

In a marketplace crowded with fitness routines and self-appointed experts, Final Surrender returns to the source. Darin Somma, Yogeshwar draws on more than thirty years of lineage-based practice, the sacred mythology of the Vedic tradition, and the living teachings of Her Holiness Amma Śrī Karuṇāmayī to reveal what Śavāsana really is — and what becomes possible when you learn to practice it fully.

You will discover:

• Why the ancient yogis considered Śavāsana the supreme āsana — and how to actually master it


• What is truly happening in the body, the breath, and the subtle anatomy during corpse pose and yoga nidrā


• How deep relaxation rebuilds the nervous system, deepens meditation, and can even replace ordinary sleep


• The relationship between surrender, the crown chakra, and spiritual awakening

Whether you are new to yoga or have practiced for decades, Final Surrender will permanently transform your understanding of what you are doing on the mat — and why.

At age 4, Darin discovered his life purpose when his mother told him he had to do something to make the world a better place. At age 8, he had determined the best way to help the world was to discover the truth.His introduction to yoga āsana came at college where he pursued degrees in mathematics, philosophy, psychology, and physics. He met his first teacher who came to the same college after healing himself of a fatal disease through Bishnu Ghosh yoga. Darin deepened his study through years of lived practice, spending extended periods in residence at the monasteries of Venerable Thích Nhất Hạnh and Śrī Swami Satchidānanda, followed by nearly a year on pilgrimage through India.In 2003, he encountered the living presence of Divine Mother, Her Holiness Amma Śrī Karuṇāmayī - revered saint and Vedic master. He served for six years on Amma's U.S. tour, and Amma blessed him to teach a special ten-āsana practice for spiritual evolution.He has taught yoga and meditation in Washington, D.C. since 2001. He is the author of Yoga is Union: The Yoga of Amma Śrī Karuṇāmayī, which has reached thousands of practitioners and inspired study circles around the world. Final Surrender is his second book.He teaches at sriyoga.com.