Koshas

We are more than just our physical body and in yoga we talk about the Koshas, which are the layers of the body that surround the soul. Koshas were first discussed in the Taittiriya Upanishad yoga text and described as the casings of the body that bring together your true self, away from the ego. Attention to these different layers of the body increases the mind, body, connection and self-awareness. Yoga can help us get in touch with the koshas. In asana practice we ground ourselves and become aware of the body, connecting movement with breath. We start by connecting with the physical body and then can connect to our deeper layers, eventually perhaps reaching samadhi, a blissful meditative state.

The different koshas, from outer to inner layers, are as follows:

Annamaya (physical sheath)

This is the physical body, the outer layer. This is a layer affected by weight/food or physical ailment.

Pranamaya (life force sheath)

This is the breath or life force sheath. We can energise ourselves through moving stagnant air through pranayama (breath work).

Manomaya (mental sheath)

The mental sheath represents the mind including emotions and inner world. Identifying this as a separate body, might help with understanding that there is illness affecting this body that we are healing. Yoga may be able to help through helping us understand ourselves and giving us time away from things that are acting as mental stresses so that our perception can be improved, and we begin to understand our mental patterns.

Vijnanamaya (wisdom sheath)

The awareness sheath is linked with intuition and deeper thought and awareness.

Anandamaya (bliss body)

The deepest layer of the body, has no words as such to describe as it because it has to be felt and experienced. Not everyone will be able to connect to themselves on this level, as it requires a lot of spiritual work for a long period of time.