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Home , Anandamaya kosha, Chakra, Kosha, Prana, Yoga, Yoga (philosophy)

KOSHAS Panchamayakosha Model

Introduction & Overview200RYT I From the Vedic text the , comes a model to describe human N beings, a tool for mapping our of self. The model describes five , translated as “sheaths” and often referred to as “layers” or “bodies.” T • Annamaya – Food Sheath or Physical Body R • Pranamaya Kosha – Vital Sheath or , or Life Force Body • Manomaya Kosha – Mental Sheath or Mental & Emotional Body O • Vijnanamaya Kosha – Intellectual Sheath or Wisdom Body • – Bliss Sheath or Bliss Body D Annamaya We are a Composite of the Finite & Infinite U asks us to consider that we are not only solely the physical body, [and] not only the Pranamaya C thoughts and emotions we experience on a T daily basis, but a composite of the finite and the infinite, woven into the fabric of many layers of Manomaya I being. The called these layers koshas. –

O Vijnanamaya Considered Separately But Are an N Interrelated System We describe and often work with the koshas Anandamaya separately but ultimately they are one interre- lated system that make up the whole human being. – Beth Gibbs

This model is often called the panchamaya kosha model:

• panca = five • = illusion of separateness or “that which has a relative ” • kosha = sheath, treasure or bud (as in bud of a flower)

Five Dimensions in the Play of Illusion Though the – atman – is viewed as an unchanging witness, being human manifests through five —panca — constantly changing dimensions, which exist as parts of the illusion of separateness — maya. – Julia Romano

200RYT PHYSICAL, ASTRAL & CASUAL BODIES

In addition, yogic describes three bodies—the physical, astral and causal—said to be formed by the koshas:

The Physical Body • Stula sharira • Formed from the annamaya kosha (physical)

The • Sukshma sharira • Formed from these koshas: pranamaya (energy), manomaya (mental), and vijnanamaya (intellectual)

The Seed or Casual Body • Karana sharira • Formed from the anandamaya kosha (bliss)

200RYT MAKING MINDFUL TEACHING

When introducing philosophical topics in class, here are some considerations:

• Avoid making assumptions about students’ current knowledge and their of the concept’s validity and relevance.

• Consider taking time to specifically evaluate why you care about the topic, why your students might care, and how you can make it as real and as useful for them as possible.

• Remember that you have the option of using yoga philosophy to guide the way you plan, sequence, speak and teach—but without directly naming or speaking to the concept itself. Perhaps you are teaching in an environment where students may be “put-off” by or the . You always have the option of translating yogic wisdom into language that be most effective with your audience.

• Koshas and are prime examples of concepts that can help to guide your teachings and words without the need to use the word kosha or .

• See also: Guidelines for Teaching with Themes or Incorporating Philosophy

The koshas are a metaphoric “map” of the inner landscape. The model helps to demonstrate the practice of yoga as an inner journey. Yoga therapists typically rely heavily on the kosha model as a guide to choosing yogic tools of healing for their clients. Here, a yoga therapist shares her integration of joy into her clients’ healing path:

A Model That Points to Much More than During my first conversation with a new yoga client I always ask – What do you enjoy doing? It is surprisingly effective in shifting people’s perspective. After talking at length about challeng- es, issues and shortcomings, if you ask a client “What do you do for fun?” many people are taken aback. As they start to reflect on things that bring them joy, they relax, soften, open up, take a step back to notice the big picture of their lives. This is an essential step in working with physical, physiological and mental-emotional issues – the ability to recognize that “I am not my condition.” – Olga Kabel

200RYT FOLLOWING THE KOSHA MAP

The kosha map can be used as a guide, to creating an arc of awareness or focus for:

• An entire class • A sequence • A • Or even a single asana

Purifying & Integrating the Levels of Our Being The human being can be compared to a precious gem with many facets, and the yoga process involves bringing awareness, purification and integration to the various facets, or levels of our being on a journey of discovery from physical to subtle. These levels of being are known as the five koshas. – Joseph & Lilian LePage

The following are some considerations for incorporating the kosha model in class.

Annamaya Kosha: Physical Body

• An entire class • A sequence • A meditation • Or even a single asana

200RYT considerations for incorporating the kosha model in class (CONT.)

Pranayama Kosha: Energy Body

• Then begin to shift the focus to the breath as a purveyor of energy. • We can bring increasing awareness through such practices as linking breath with movement, through poses that require stamina and breath support, or through other particular breath practices.

Yoga devotes an entire class of practices called to replenishing the vitality of the pranamaya kosha… In addition, getting plenty of fresh air and sunlight is essential for maintaining the health of the vital force. Yoga texts explain that the is the ultimate source of prana, and it is said that some advanced yogis go for years without eating; instead they simply absorb the prana radiated by the sun. For most of us, however, fresh whole foods are a major source of prana. –

Manomaya Kosha: Mental & Emotional Body

• Bring an increasing focus to mental & emotional activity or patterns. • Often, teachers use long-hold & hip opening poses as a place to invite this awareness.

The “feeds” on the impressions we offer it. If we supply our third sheath with a continual stream of violent TV shows and video games, for example, it begins to crave increasingly aggressive forms of stimulation, and may become more agitated and less sensitive to the suffering of others. If we “stuff” it with too much work or too much play we may experience a form of mental “indigestion,” leaving us feeling harried or exhausted. A harmonious environment, interesting professional challenges, and fun and supportive relationships offer an ideal diet for the . A daily session of , or sensory withdrawal, leading into meditation provides an excellent inner tune-up. – Linda Johnsen

200RYT considerations for incorporating the kosha model in class (CONT.)

Vijnanamaya Kosha: Wisdom Body

• Teaching meditative awareness in the form of a witness is a powerful tool that can invite deeper insights into one’s self. • Some opportunities for this focus can be during a traditional meditation, in long-hold asana, or a restorative posture.

This is the path of the intellect in which you are advised to study spiritual truths, contemplate them deeply, and finally incorporate them into the very core of your personality. – Linda Johnsen

Anandamaya Kosha: Bliss Body

• At some point in class, many students have a moment or more when all these previous aspects of self seemingly dissolve, and they are left with a feeling of joy, wholeness, oneness, integration or bliss. • Savasana is the classic pose for offering a time to just “be” and integrate, inviting such . • Simply reminding students that they have had such moments – whether in class, in or elsewhere – can be a powerful teaching that brings increasing awareness of their potential, choices & priorities.

We can awaken our bliss sheath through three practices. The first is , selfless service. This opens our heart to our innate unity with other beings. The second is yoga, devotion to God. This opens our heart to our unity with the all-pervading Divine Being. The third is , intensely focused meditation, which opens our heart to our own divine being. – Linda Johnsen

200RYT considerations for incorporating the kosha model in class (CONT.)

“COMING OUT”

• You may find it most pleasing to your students to gently bring them back when they have “gone deep.” • An intention can be to gently guide students back to aspects of themselves that may have receded from their awareness during practice. • To do this, employ your tools of choice for re-establishing a sense of grounding. At the end of Savasana, for instance, you might ask students to once again notice or deepen their breath, then invite them to feel specific parts of their body, where they are touch- ing the floor, etc.

200RYT & OTHER GUIDED

Another brilliant way that yoga teachers can use the kosha model with students is via Yoga Nidra or a .

• The progression of Yoga Nidra follows the kosha model of moving steadily inward through each sheath, exploring specific practices that are effective for each.

• Please see Yoga Nidra for much more detailed information. If you have less time than it takes for Yoga Nidra, you can choose or design a guided meditation that uses the same idea of , progressing through the koshas.

• Jillian Pransky is a Restoratives teacher trainer who demonstrates and teaches this concept in her trainings. She has shared the following excellent point to help increase effectiveness of meditations by following the kosha model. Once beyond the physical body and working through the deeper, subtle bodies, it’s most effective to avoid using language that requires “left-brain” activation. So, for example, once you have led a body scan to release tension and worked with the breath, the mental/emotional body and witness consciousness, consider avoiding language such as “first, second, right, left, etc.” that require the left brain to kick back in and analyze the instructions.

• For a guided meditation designed to experience the 5 sheaths see the Yoga International article by Linda Johnsen: The Koshas: 5 Layers of Being.

200RYT READINGS

How Things Work Within Our Bodies & Our systems are complex and multidimensional. The way my teacher, Gary Kraftsow, puts it: “I’ve never seen a lumbar spine come into my office without a liver attached to it. Or a liver come in without an attitude.” Therefore, if we are planning to be vibrant, healthy human beings, we need to consider all the components that make up our systems: physical structure, physiological processes, the content of our minds, our ideas and attitudes toward our surroundings and our sense of longing for connection to something greater then ourselves. The Panchamaya model (also called 5 koshas) is a way to organize our thinking when it comes to different layers of our systems. Everything you’ve ever learned about yoga fits somewhere within the panchamaya model and is meant to serve a practitioner on one level or another… it just describes the yogic of how things work within our bodies and minds. – Olga Kabel

Practical Benefits of Kosha Consciousness Once you become conscious of the layers, you can see how they affect each other, and you can begin to unlock their powers and gifts. In other words, when you know how it feels to be fully present in your physical sheath, rather than floating through life dissociated from it, you will find yourself more centered and sane, less prone to accidents, and more intuitively tuned in to which foods and activities nourish the body. When you can touch the subtle power of expansion and healing in the vital energy sheath, you can move stuck energy, release your own vitality, and connect to the energy in nature and in others. When you acknowledge your mental sheath, you can note the effect of certain thoughts and step out of the -like states that arise when you blindly accept thoughts and emotions. Access your wisdom sheath, and you’ll find that you have more clarity and to keep your life on track. And each time you get in touch with the bliss sheath, you fall into the fundamental goodness of life. – Sally Kempton

200RYT READINGS

What Separates Us from Our Divinity The conceptualized the human being as a set of sheaths (koshas), or bodies, superimposed upon the central divine core of Atman. Imagine Russian nesting dolls one inside of another. The koshas are like those dolls, only they interpenetrate and affect each other. They are the mechanisms that keep us separate from the divine in having our human experience… In this system, the core is the same as God, , the All That Is, Great Spirit, Allah or whatever name you apply to that ineffable supreme Beingness. Our koshas—wondrous though they are —keep us from experiencing our core, and thus we suffer. We “see through a glass darkly” thanks to the distracting and deluding power of the koshas. Not only that, but each sheath over time develops it own distortions, giving rise to illnesses and diseases of all kinds. This process is natural, given that everything in the manifest universe is subject to entropy and decay. It is also a huge clue to our healing! – Susan Pease Banitt

A Template for Exploring the Mystery of Being Alive From the kosha perspective, yoga helps us bring body, breath, mind, wisdom, and spirit (bliss) into harmony. Like a tapestry, the koshas are interwoven layers. You have no doubt experienced this in your own body: When you are tense or strained, your breath becomes shallow, your mind becomes easily agitated, and wisdom and joy seem far away. When you are filled with joy and communion with life, these feelings permeate your entire being. Separating the strands of the tapestry is a way to look at how your whole being can become integrated or in discord. The kosha map is not a rigid truth but a template for exploring the mystery of being alive. – Rea

Problems Show Up on Multiple Levels The yoga tradition says that humans are multidimensional beings and when problems arise they usually show up on multiple levels… the external layers can obscure what’s happening on the inside. If you experience physical symptoms of discomfort, it is tempting to try to figure out the cause on the level of physical body, but it might be deeper than that. – Olga Kabel

200RYT QUESTIONS ANSWERED HERE

1. From what ancient text does the kosha model originate?

2. What is the purpose of the kosha model?

3. What are some meanings of kosha?

4. What are the names and meanings of each kosha?

5. What is at the core of the koshas?

6. Describe a way that you can teach koshas.

7. What class practices might you use to teach the kosha model?

200RYT