Designing an Integrated Practice using the Map of the Five Koshas

*note – there are links to previous posts about the koshas below for your reference*

Moving towards the experience of yoga will always involve a bringing together, a yoking together, an integration. After journeying through an anatomical map like the koshas, there is benefit from integrating the information into our practice. Such integration brings individuality to our practice –  no two people integrate ideas into their practice the same way. Consciously integrating the koshas into your practice will create your own beautiful personal yoga mosaic  –an array of harmonious proportions uniquely adapted  for your life.

The classic teachings of yoga – taken holistically – are an invitation to develop skillful means. To learn through practice to rein together the forces acting within and without –  to become artful and harmonious co-creators. A sustainable  and integrated practice is built on working with our practices in harmonious proportions. The advantage of a sustainable practice is longevity – it stays with us our whole lives. In classical yoga practice this is ideal as it provides an enhanced relationship to our bodies and lives through times of change. The golden ratio establishes harmony and ease. It’s about  a state of interrelationship  which -like architecture -brings strength and stability.  In sutra 2.46 of his Yoga Sutra, Patanjali calls this the stable joyful seat. (tr. The seat should be stable and joyful).

What does this have to do with the koshas? A practice designed to address each of the koshas will create a stable practice in which all dimensions of ourselves become integrated.

To do this, we can construct a chart of the practices we want to explore that will develop each of the koshas. These are practices to bring the other parts of yourself into your practice is deliberate way.

Then select practices for each kosha that you would like to develop at a given time. Then, decide how much of each is appropriate to start out with and adjust it based on your needs at a given time – maintaining the presence of all five. Examples – when I was teaching yoga full time  asana was 1.5 hours a day and everything else was 5-10 minutes a day – or once a week or month. Now, my life needs less physicality and more inner peace. I meditate 45 minutes and my asana practice is sometimes only 20 minutes. You know that the practice is out of balance by your experience of the koshas. So, if I try to do 1.5 hours a day of asana right now – my mind chatter increases dramatically. If I tried to do an hour of meditation in my teaching days, I would fall asleep. Now, meditating awakens me. It’s important to note that it also needs to be in proportion to your lifestyle.  When I worked in corporate America, I also needed very intense asana.

You will know you are succeeding in creating a harmonious balance if your practice is sustainable (meaning – you are able to fulfill the personal commitment you have made over time) – and you will experience the wondrous personal transformation that is the promise of yoga – and that will occur not only on your mat but also in your relationships, your work, your creativity your passion. 

Introduction to the Five Sheaths

The AnamayaKosha

The PranamayaKosha

The ManomayaKosha

The JnanamayaKosha

The AnandamayaKosha

If you would like to explore ways to work with the physical body to integrate the koshas, my associated newsletter will be posted on my facebook page for NatalieteachesYoga. To receive future newsletters with alternate approaches to what is shared in the blog post, please sign up below. I promise you will not receive marketing emails from me. These are designed to be educational.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

The Five Dimensions of You:  The Yogic anatomy of the Koshas – The PranamayaKosha

The study of yoga and yogic anatomy is a slowly evolving process of ever deepening understanding.  There is a difference between “knowing” yogic anatomy on a visceral level and memorizing the vocabulary.   Why is this relevant? Self-Mastery. As we explore these different modes of viewing ourselves through yogic anatomy, we open ourselves to new depths of understanding physically, psychologically, and spiritually.  We gain an illumined understanding of ourselves, our purposes and our pathway.  We become wise enough to navigate subtler realms as mapped in the concept of the sheaths or koshas (Yogic Anatomy – The Five Koshas,). The sheaths or koshas are interwoven and not distinct, like oxygen and helium molecules in the air – or dimensions as mapped by mathematics and science.  Experiencing them is like opening a portal to a universe similar to the one we live in “normally” but, it’s different.  . One moment we feel dull and confused and then an inner portal opens and we experience elevation – organically. We access wisdom, knowledge or subtle sensations of the body – and understand our wholeness differently.  Last post we explored the concept of the food body or Anamayakosha. Today I’d like to open the portal to the pranamayakosha – the pranic or breath body. It’s near and dear to all of us, and we experience it all the time.  We might not be aware of it. Exploring the pranamayakosha we step into the subtle realms of yoga.  It’s the first of the subtle koshas that many practitioners experience, which tells us that it’s connected the food body.  It’s impact on our psychological well-being tells us that it’s connected to knowledge, wisdom and bliss as well.  Just as becoming aware and awake to our physical body requires some understanding and attention, becoming aware and awake to our pranic body requires some understanding and attention too. This is why the pranamaya kosha is so important in our yoga practices – it’s where we start to explore a world beyond our usual perceptions. When the pranamaya kosha is clear – not muddied – it’s easier to experience the other bodies or sheaths with clarity.

It’s hypothesized that  prana (subtle energy – like human electricity) flows through the fascia. We don’t know for sure. We can’t yet measure it; we can only observe its effects.  This could change – science moves towards understanding yoga all the time. 

Within the pranamayakosha, the ancient yogis discerned a vast network of tiny channels which they called the nadis There are hundreds of thousands of nadis. One portal which opens the yogi’s perceptions of the pranamayosha is the breath.  Consider how breath is processed by the physical body: an invisible substance – air travels through a physical network of tiny tubes and sacs in the lungs through which the invisible substance of oxygen is absorbed and the invisible substance of carbon dioxide is released.  Prana is like this – it’s absorbed from the universe around us and it permeates and moves through the physical form –nourishing and cleansing it.  When the prana moves we are awakened, energized and healed.

Within the pranamayakosha are numerous structures formed by the intersection of the nadis. The chakras are vortexes located at key junctures of the nadis and the physical nervous system. There are three primary nadis which bracket the chakra system– the ida,  pingala and sushumna.  The prana moving through these three nadis governs the process of spiritual evolution.  When it moves clear and unobstructed we plug into knowledge, wisdom and bliss.

A first pathway to working with the pranamaykosha is to unclog the nadis and get the prana moving. All asana will unclog the nadis.  Vinyasa yoga will get the prana moving quickly.  . 

A second pathway to work with pranamayakosha is pranayama.  Pranayama is is a practice of restraining the breath in order to unclog the nadis. This is most effective when asana has been practiced consistently for a long time. Asana clears superficial levels of congestion – so the work of pranayama – deep and powerful breathwork – is not obstructed by more superficial congestion.  Pranayama is a transformative healing practice.  It’s best to prepare for it.

A third pathway to working with the pranamayakosha is sound.  The familiar sound and symbol of OM is called the “nadam”.  The ancient rishi’s or wise ones observed that Om purifies the whole system, like an ultrasound which accesses deep internal caverns of the body below the surface.  My experience with this is that working with classical Indian sound practices is the most effective means of actually clearing the nadis. Yogi’s chant the sound of OM, they meditate on the sound of Om, they listen to the sound of Om.   This would also include listening to or studying and learning Indian classical music which is designed around an understanding of OM. A fine experiment would be to explore different kinds of music when you practice.  At first what you are used to listening to may prove to be very energizing, but as you grow more adept at working with prana and sound, you may notice that Indian classical music is a distinctly powerful complement to your yoga practice.

A fourth pathway for working with the pranamayakosha is ”managing your energy” and in the yoga practices this is accomplished through attention.  A starting practice is focusing the breath or the gaze in your asana practice, with an intention to understand what your attention does to your energy and your postures.  Too weak of a process of reigning in attention leads the energy to scatter.  Too powerful of a restraint will be too harsh for the tender pranic channels. 

Four modes of creating a relationship with the pranic body:

  1. Yoga Asana
  2. Pranayama (advised for well experienced practioners)
  3. Sound
  4. Attention

A last note about the pranic body – The ancient yogic texts speak of the adamantine body formed by the hatha yoga practice.  This is distinctly related to and an outcome of the management and toning of the pranic body.  When the pranic body is well cared for – clear and moving and strong we become incredibly resilient.  The texts say all dis-ease is eradicated.  As contemporary yogis we can say that our immune system becomes incredibly potent in response to the health of the pranic body.  This, as the article included here indicates, is a result of consistent, well-done practice. 

To receive newsletters with a different perspective on the blogposts, please subscribe to my Mailchimp! I promise…no ads. Just more talk about yoga, maybe some reading and musical suggestions. All designed to supplement your yoga practice.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.