Introduction

Yoga is not a one-size-fits-all regime. The traditional Indian yoga teacher would give each student individual instructions. The individual as a whole being would be cared for and any special condition or need catered to, whether this was an agitated mind, a persistent health condition, or simply to maintain good health.

With practice, we develop an intuitive feeling for each pose. We taste the flavor of each exercise and are then able to alter the combination of our yoga ingredients to those that best suit our aims for that session.

Yoga, rooted in Eastern thought, considers each individual as more than just a mind inhabiting a body. Five dimensions or sheaths, called koshas, are recognized. These dimensions, from grossest to subtlest, are: First, the physical body; second, the pranic body; third, the mental and emotional body; fourth, the dimension of wisdom. Fifth, there is the spiritual bliss dimension, from where we access a sense of oneness, or transcendence. Eastern thought considers that no one dimension can ever be independent of another. An imbalance anywhere can manifest on that same plane or another. This concept of ourselves as multidimensional beings is gaining greater acceptance in the West.

Yoga is a superb holistic therapy and an excellent rebalancer. Seeking to harmonize the parts that make up all of us, yoga effectively covers all bases under the body-mind-spirit paradigm.

A combination of yogic practices will target each of the sheaths. On the physical level, you can practice asanas and yogic kriyas and maintain a good diet. Pranayama and kriyas work on the level of the vital force. The mental, emotional, and wisdom koshas benefit by the practice of discrimination, analysis, learning, experience, meditation, and the devotional aspects of yoga, such as chanting and turning one’s thoughts to God. Feed the bliss sheath with the practice of relaxation and meditation.

Yoga practice is made up of a combination of ingredients that can be altered depending on