What Are the 5 Koshas?

When we look at the body/mind/spirit in yoga or spirituality we see it as a science. The person or personality is the the single perspective of that body/mind/spirit complex. It’s like looking through one facet of a prism. When you start to see the difference between the personality and the human being as a whole, it becomes a lot easier to have a deeper level of empathy and compassion for yourself and for others. This is because we stop using the lens of the “I” or “me” vs. “them” and start seeing through the prism with different aspects of one. In yoga, we are all one but our individuality is a different expression of the one. When you can begin to see how the different facets of the prism influence the personality in yourself and in others, It becomes easier to notice how your own life experiences (good and painful) influence your reactions, emotions, thoughts, and behavior patterns. When we can see the different facets, we can choose a yoga tool or practice to address the patterns we want to remove or reduce and replace them with something beneficial.

"When you start to see the difference between the personality and the human being as a whole, it becomes a lot easier to have a deeper level of empathy and compassion for yourself and for others."

People often think of themselves as the physical body and refer and identify with the physical body because that is your single point of reference. However, I want you to use your imagination and think of the human being as having other dimensions or aspects, the physical being the only one we can experience with the five senses. Imagine that the human being is suspended on an axis of energies that are in constant flow and interwoven with the fabric of life energy around us with your body in the center.

Inside of your field, there are 5 Layers to the Human Being (koshas). Just think of this as an intellectual construct for us to refer to the different aspects. Its much like the physical body has the circulatory system, the endocrine system, the digestive system…etc…they all work together but we separate them into systems or categories for our intellectual sake.

Physical Body - all the systems inside the meat suit
Energy Body - energy centers, energy currents/flows, energy channels
The Mind - the thinking aspect of the being
The Wisdom/Soul - higher self/intuition
The Spirit/ Bliss body. - a piece of or a fractal of Source, an aspect of consciousness of the creator We can use certain tools of yoga to heal aspects of the being to become a more clearer version of the person.

The physical body - we practice the poses and we can make our experience of occupying the body more enjoyable, more comfortable, strong, and healthy. It brings movement to the body, improves strength, flexibility, digestion, pain relief, balances the nervous system, the endocrine system, and improves the quality of sleep.

Energy body - when we move the body into the postures, we are affecting the flows of energy through the body and the energy centers. We can bring balance to the energy body. My favorite yoga tools for influencing the energy body are: Intention and mindful awareness breathing techniques and exercises (pranayama in sanskrit) are used to do different things. (eg. balance the nervous system, cooling and heating) mudras / - mostly hand gestures - direct the flow through different channels of energy for a desired outcome (each one of your fingers is in direct connection with a major energy channel and by putting your hands in different positions you are directing the energy in a certain way.

The Mind - The mind starts to become more present in the moment and a greater sense of clarity can be achieved when the energy becomes more balanced. An example of this is when people get into the flow state. My favorite yoga tools are: meditation - too many benefits of meditation to talk about in this video. yogic sleep - a form of self-hypnosis where you learn to bring the body into the alpha state or or deeper and use intentions to access the subconscious mind. Training the body to go into a parasympathetic state. The rest and digest is great for healing and repair. Many people never get into this state, even when they sleep at night.

Wisdom Body - We gain more access to the higher self - which exists beyond the physical reality and beyond time. Results in a greater sense of peace, acceptance, unconditional love of oneself. The physical body, the energy body, the mind all are in alignment we become aligned with the soul and spirit.

The Soul / Spirit - When we are in alignment in mind/body…it’s easier to become aligned with the soul. When this happens our experience of reality changes. All tools of yoga will help with this, but meditation is my favorite for accessing this.