Dear Friends,

In the yogic tradition, there is a framework for human development called the Five Koshas. The Koshas are interpenetrating energetic fields that fuel our consciousness. Each Kosha is accompanied by practices designed to energize the various aspects of self. Taken together, they are a vision for human development that leads us from care to joy.

The Five Koshas are as follows:

1. Annamaya Kosha–The Food Sheath or earth element.

2. Pranamaya Kosha–The Vital Sheath or water element.

3. Manomaya Kosha–The Mind Sheath or fire element.

4. Vinyanamaya Kosha–The Intuitive or Wisdom Sheath or air element

5. Anandamaya Kosha–The Bliss Sheath or Space element

Annamaya Kosha encompasses what we think of as wellness practices. Diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management are the foundations of physical health. Metabolic disease, pain conditions, insomnia, and mental health issues are the guardrails that nudge us to refine our behavior. Usually we find yoga because we are looking to improve our physical condition, de-stress, and connect.

Because yoga also tunes up the energy body, as we practice we start to become aware of our lifeforce. We might not know exactly why we feel good after a yoga class but we know that we do. This is the result of Pranamaya Kosha, which concerns itself with breath and vitality. When the body is primed through healthy food and movement, capacious respiration, balanced circulation, and smooth energy flow results.

Manomaya Kosha moves our attention to the mental and emotional bodies through meditation and mindfulness. Manic temperaments calm down and sluggish temperaments perk up. We become calmer, kinder, focused, and creative. When we are able to befriend our own mental habits we can work to soften them and make space for higher consciousness.

Vinyanamaya Kosha, the seat of our intuition and wisdom, becomes ever more present. We begin to direct our lives and ourselves from a place of higher knowing. When we take cues from nature, intuition, and our clearest intelligence, we feel called to fully live life.

Inspiration, freedom, and awe arise, leading us to Anandamaya Kosha–an immersive sense of joy, peace, and bliss.

When we enter into the upward spiral of self awareness, restoring health becomes more about removing obstacles to joy than about fixing things that are broken. When we are heard, held, and seen our innate capacity for flow deepens--whether biomechanically in the fluid systems (circulation, immunity, drainage), pranically (breathe and relaxation), or mentally (ease and happiness). In time, our heart and mind open, and we are able to receive the true gifts of health: dignity, direction, love and joy.