CHAPTER
20

The Koshas: Your Five Layered Bodies

In This Chapter

How many bodies do you have? You’d probably answer just one, the one you can see and feel. According to Ayurveda, however, you actually have five bodies that extend far beyond your physical. These bodies, or layers, are all connected to your deeper soul.

The reason you must work so hard to balance your mind and body is so you can tap into your soul self. Your soul knows exactly what you should be doing and what your purpose here on Earth is. Your soul operates from a place of love, joy, and union. Your soul is your highest self.

In this chapter, you start to understand more about your deeper, soul level so you can tune in and listen to your inner voice of wisdom. I teach you about the deeper layers of your body you never knew about before, and by the end of the chapter, you’ll see how interconnected your spiritual, intellectual, energetic, and physical selves truly are.

People Are Human Radios

People are energetic beings. Although they live in human bodies, they have many layers of vibrating energy surrounding them, sending and receiving signals. In a way, people are human radios, constantly picking up on these subtle vibrations. This is why certain people, places, and things give you good or bad vibes.

Even if you don’t see these layers, they still exist. Think about it: do you see the sounds coming out of a radio? No, but you still pick up on them. Energy works the same way; it’s felt but not seen.

Not only do you give off vibrations, but you are constantly receiving them as well. Your intuition works through these senses, and the more tuned-in you are to the subtle vibrations, the more aligned with your true self you become.

The Five Bodies

Ayurveda categorizes this energetic field into five sheaths, called the koshas.

I understand how this might sound a little far-fetched, and you might be thinking How can I have five bodies when I’ve only seen one? You’ve actually been in contact with your other bodies, almost every day. And by just thinking about this question now, you are in contact with several of them.

Have you ever sensed that you were getting sick right before you did? Your body felt fine, but something within you said “Take extra care of yourself because you may become ill.” That was one of the outer layers of your body communicating with one of the inner layers. Your energy detected illness and signaled your mind before it manifested in your body. These were your koshas at work, constantly communicating with one another.

The five koshas are unseen sheaths surrounding your body that sense energy: annamaya (sheath of food/physical body), pranamaya (sheath of energy/energetic body), manomaya (sheath of mind/mental body), vijnanamaya (sheath of wisdom/intuitive body), and anandamaya (sheath of bliss/blissful body).

Definition

Your koshas are five layers surrounding your physical body that comprise your whole being. They are your physical body, energetic body, mental body, intuitive body, and blissful body.

The koshas, or subtle layer bodies, are the physical, energetic, mental, intuitive and bliss bodies.

Annamaya Kosha (Physical Body)

The annamaya kosha is the body you are most familiar with, the one you see in the mirror every day. This is your only tangible body, comprised of skin, bones, muscle, tissues, organs, blood, and water. The term annamaya literally means “comprised of food” because remember, you are made up of what you eat.

Your physical body is your most basic form but still of upmost importance. It’s the body in which you experience all the others and truly the foundation of your spiritual practice. If you are not physically healthy, you cannot access your more subtle layers. This is why Ayurveda recommends eating healthfully, drinking teas, practicing yoga, sleeping soundly, and spending time outside, among its countless other suggestions. Your first priority is taking care of the temple you reside in so you can experience the bliss of life.

When you are connected to your annamaya kosha, you feel comfortable in your physical body. You exercise, take care of yourself, feel sexually balanced, and have confidence in your body.

When you are disconnected from your annamaya kosha, you disassociate from your physical body. This can cause binge eating, addiction, drinking, drug use, eating disorders, laziness, and self-harm.

Here are some ideas for connecting with your annamaya kosha:

  • Eat mindfully, and tune in to your body’s needs.
  • Practice yoga and meditation.
  • Perform abhyanga self-oil massage.
  • Move your body in a way that feels good—dance, sports, or other forms of physical activity.

Pranamaya Kosha (Energy Body)

With some people, you just can tell what their energy is like. What you’re observing is their pranamaya kosha. Your pranic body is your energy and the next thing you notice about another person after their physical body. It’s the first sheath surrounding your physical body, about 21⁄2 inches away from you skin. Your pranamaya kosha is also referred to as an “aura” or “etheric” body.

This layer is made up of your pranic life force. Your pranamaya kosha gives off the vibration of how you are breathing. When you are tense and stressed, your breaths are fast and shallow. When you are relaxed and peaceful, your breaths are slow and deep. Just that difference in breath gives off a totally different frequency.

Wisdom of the Ages

Your Dosha says a lot about how you breathe. Vatas typically breathe quick, shallow, and cool breaths. Pittas breathe hot, shallow, and fiery breaths because of their heat energy. Kaphas breathe slow, deep, and cool breaths.

When your pranamaya kosha is balanced, you are connected to your breath. You have a calming energy and don’t easily become frustrated. You can pick up on the vibration of others and are aware of their energies.

When your pranamaya kosha is imbalanced, you are out of touch with your breaths. You may have fast and shallow or hot and heavy inhales and exhalations. You are out of touch with your energy and cannot pick up on others’.

Here’s how to connect with your pranamaya kosha:

  • Notice your breath. Try to take deeper, slower breaths from your belly.
  • Practice pranayama, or controlled breathing.
  • Become aware of the subtle energies of everyone and everything around you, from people to trees.

Manomaya Kosha (Mental Body)

“My name is Sahara Rose, and I am an Ayurvedic practitioner and author of Idiot’s Guides: Ayurveda.” That’s not me talking—that’s my manomaya kosha.

Your manomaya kosha is your mental self. This layer contains everything you know, including your sense of self, or ego. Your manomaya kosha is constructed of the things you were taught, the beliefs you hold, and your perception of the world. My body is not Sahara; it’s just a body. My energy is not Sahara; it’s a vibration. Only in my mind have I decided I am Sahara. It is my mentally constructed sense of self.

Similarly, you are not your body or your mind. You are your soul.

Your soul is different from your personality, which is a construct of your mind. Your personality is the part of yourself that encounters other people in day-to-day life. It’s the “Hi, I’m _____, and I like to _____.” It carries emotions, attachments, and judgments and learns about the world through comparison and experience.

Your soul, however, is unchanging and ever-knowing. It doesn’t go through phases or have mood swings. It’s who you truly are on a deeper, core level. It’s who you always were and always will be. It was you as a child and will be you the day you die and even beyond that. It is infinite.

Your soul holds the gifts you were put on Earth to do. It contains infinite inspiration, energy, and downloads from the universe. If you’ve ever had a moment of absolute wisdom, that was your soul speaking.

Wisdom of the Ages

Your soul is who you are underneath your personality—the true you that has existed since your childhood and maybe even in past lives before that. By knowing your soul, you will discover your true purpose.

That’s not to say your mind is useless. Your mental body is important because it contains knowledge and identity. I wouldn’t have been able to write this book if it wasn’t for my manomaya kosha. However, many of us become too stuck in our mental selves. We lose association with our physical, energetic, and spiritual bodies and only see ourselves as our egos. This can either make us self-obsessed or anxious because we are living in the mind, not the soul.

Your manomaya kosha contains your accumulated mental patterns. These are the ways you go about leading your life based on your upbringing and experience. We all carry our own stories, which are frameworks through which we see the world. For example, someone who grew up in poverty may have a “there isn’t enough” outlook. This causes them to adapt a scarcity mind-set to everything in life, which may cause them to become short sighted and greedy, or even leading them to steal.

Another person may have always sought the approval of their parents and look at life with an “I need the approval of others in order to be happy” philosophy. They may go through life trying to please others before themselves, leading them to make unfulfilling life choices. These mental patterns are called samskaras. Your samskaras can hold you back from your true potential. They cause you to see the world from a state of illusion rather than reality. Instead of seeing the opportunities in life, you might focus on the lack of them. Rather than choosing your own path, you might follow the steps of others.

Wisdom of the Ages

No one is free of samskaras. Everyone sees the world from their own unique perspective based on their upbringing, cultural conditioning, and years of experiences. However, to drop your stories, you first must become aware of them. Notice the repeated patterns in your life. These contain cues of your own samskaras.

You must become aware of your perceptions in order to become free of them. Letting go of your stories creates a space in your mind for new creative thoughts and infinite possibilities.

When your manomaya kosha is balanced, you feel connected to your mind and sense of self. You are confident, inquisitive, intelligent, and aware. You do not play the role of the victim but instead take ownership of your actions.

When your manomaya kosha is out of balance, you become egotistical and self-obsessed or unconfident and unsure. Your sense of self is either too strong, and you put yourself before others, or too faint, causing weakness and insecurity.

Here are some suggestions for connecting with your manomaya kosha:

Vijnanamaya Kosha (Intuitive Body)

After you’ve removed any blocks in your three lower koshas—your physical, energetic, and mental bodies—you can tap into your higher self.

Have you ever had a deep, wise voice from within you give you perfect advice with absolute clarity … and then moments later wonder where the heck that voice came from? That was your intuition.

The fourth sheath, vijnanamaya kosha, is the source of such moments of wisdom. It guides you on your higher path and speaks to you in subtle whispers. If you’ve ever felt a pull toward a certain direction and that ended up changing your life forever, your vijnanamaya kosha is the one to thank.

The more connected you are with your intuition, the more you receive “downloads” from the universe containing great insight. These downloads are essentially messages of divine wisdom and realization from your higher self. They give you an idea of what you are supposed to be doing and make you more aware of your true nature.

Wisdom of the Ages

The universe is constantly communicating with you. The more you can pick up on its subtle energies, the more in line you become with your true nature. By healing your body, enhancing your prana, and releasing your samskaras, you can more finely tune in to this intuitive layer.

In this kosha, you become aware of buddhi, the discriminative intellect and knowledge of the ego. You are aware that you aren’t your physical body, your thoughts, or even your personality. You are able to recognize your emotions without being attached to them.

Morality lies in this kosha. You realize you have the free will to make decisions in your life. It’s up to you to choose what’s right. Yamas and niyamas are ethical rules that tell you to not steal, lie, harm, or overindulge, and these arise from your wisdom body. Most people on a spiritual path are deeply aware of this kosha.

Here are a few ways to connect with your vijnanamaya kosha:

Anandamaya Kosha (Bliss Body)

When you have expanded beyond the koshas, you achieve self-realization. In your truest form, you are a blissful being. Bliss is not a fleeting emotion but rather an absolute experience. You don’t witness the bliss but rather become the bliss. How can this be?

Notice the difference between dancing a dance and becoming one with the dance. When you are the dancer, you are merely performing the steps. Your ego is still in place, aware of how you appear, and your mind is still involved, coordinating your moves. When you become one with the dance, there is no more you anymore. You have become one with the rhythm. When the dance and the dancer become one, that is pure bliss.

Wisdom of the Ages

Bliss occurs when you are free of your worries, stresses, anxieties, aches, pains, and even your own ego self. It’s when there stops being a “you” and you become one with the experience. The singer becomes the song. The artist becomes the painting. The musician becomes the melody. The yogi becomes the asana. The meditator becomes the moment in time. This is true bliss.

Everyone has felt glimpses of this blissfulness before, but true enlightenment is to extend its visitation and bring it forth in your everyday life. How can you feel bliss on a daily basis, leading your ordinary life? Through mind, body, and spirit alignment. Ayurveda, yoga, and meditations are just tools to help you achieve this balance. When you heal your body, slow down your breathing, become aware of your surroundings, let go of your stories, and listen to your intuition, you achieve self-realization.

Here are some pointers on connecting with your anandamaya kosha:

  • Participate in an ecstatic dance, a free-flowing silent dance party.
  • Practice yoga.
  • Try a guided meditation or visualization.
  • Play a musical instrument or sing a song.
  • Get lost in nature.

Beyond the Koshas People Are One

In their truest beings, people are all the same. There is no separation between you or me or anyone else. People are all just different branches of the same tree, connected to the same trunk, fed the same water, and nourished by the same soil. Rather than comparing one leaf as more green and another as more red, you must realize everyone arises from the same source. The differences between people are merely illusions, preventing them from realizing that they are all one.

According to Ayurveda, every action has an energetic reaction. When you eat a balanced diet, you feel mentally balanced. When you begin your days in meditation, you have more meditative days. When you treat your body with love, more love will show up in all aspects of your life. These little things you do, like soak your beans and dry brush your body, aren’t just so you win the Ayurvedic lottery. It’s so your body and mind are no longer obstacles preventing you from accessing your deeper soul self.

In your core being, you are pure bliss. Bliss is not momentary. It isn’t being drunk from wine or indulging in a chocolate cake. Those are just moments of satisfaction, only temporary illusions. True bliss is everlasting and results when your body, mind, and spirit are connected.

The whole purpose of seeking health is so you can tap into this higher, awakened side of yourself. This internal consciousness operates from a place of joy, truth, awareness, and love. It is the wisdom that guides you through life’s questions and turbulences.

Everything in Ayurveda is a tool to help you get to this very state of pure bliss. The more awareness you have about the subtle energies of your body, the more you can tune in and assess what’s off balance and fix it.

The Least You Need to Know

  • The five layers of your body are called the koshas. They are your physical, energetic, mental, intuitive, and bliss bodies.
  • We are constantly picking up on signals like human radios.
  • You are not the thoughts you think. They only exist in your mental layer.
  • Underneath all of the koshas, people are all one; pure bliss.