Pancha Kosha
Words by Kelsey Baerg
Check out kelseaerinyoga.com
People are flocking in the thousands to Yoga studios, to meditation classes, to float tanks, all with the purpose of getting out of our heads. But how many of us have had the experience of sitting in one of these environments and still feeling trapped in the mind?
Maybe this is because we are simply unsure where else we can go if we are not in our minds. How are we supposed to get somewhere if we do not know where we are going?
Luckily, we have been left a clear road map in the Upanishads to help us understand our journey to this abstract destination. It’s called the Pancha Kosha Theory, the theory of five sheaths. Human beings are conceptualized as having five sheaths encasing the soul, not unlike the layers of an onion. Included within these five layers of our embodied self is the monkey mind, where our society seems to be stuck. Although the other four layers are active at all times, most of us are unable to consciously access them. So perhaps the trick to getting out of the mind is to get into something else. Let’s begin with a quick explanation of each of the five sheaths.
1. Annamaya Kosha – Physical
Annamaya Kosha is the outermost sheath, the physical body. It includes our bones, tissues, muscles, and organs. Anna translates literally to food. This can be considered the food sheath, because not only does it require food to be sustained, but also when we die, this vessel becomes food for other animals.
2. Pranamaya Kosha – Energetic
This sheath consists of the Prana, the vital life energy that exists within and around us. Within the body, Prana is not only the breath, but also the energy that controls multiple functions, including the circulatory system and nervous system.
3. Manamaya Kosha – Mental
This is it – the monkey mind, this place that most of us call home, where thinking, daydreaming, and processing takes place. It is through this sheath that we perceive the world through the five senses and infer meaning. It is also within this sheath that we perceive the concept of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’ This is apparent everywhere in our society; the endless documentation of ‘my story’ in social media, the constant pursuit of material things to satisfy ‘myself’, the worry that others may not like ‘me.’
4. Vijnamaya Kosha – Wisdom
You can think of Vijnamaya Kosha as intuition, inner knowing. It is considered to be these higher levels of consciousness that govern our ethics and morality.
5. Anandamaya Kosha – Bliss
Yes, at the end of it all, Instagram hashtags aside, we are bliss. Bliss, is the highest level of vibration of life, and it is the destination point of all these spiritual endeavours. It is the moment where we unite with the divine spark that exists within all of us. Where we no longer separate ourselves from the rest of creation.
To get out of the mind, the easiest way to begin is to connect to the first two sheaths; Annamaya Kosha and Pranamaya Kosha.
The next time you feel your mind taking over while you are in the middle of your Yoga practice, try to focus your attention on your body. If you are new to this practice, start by noticing which parts of your body are working the hardest. For example, feel the quadriceps firing as you hold Warrior II, or notice the heat building in your hamstring as you fold forward in Pyramid. As you gain familiarity with this, see if you can go a bit deeper. For example, in Warrior II move past the feeling in the glutes and see if you can notice the inner hip muscles in the back leg opening. In Pyramid, notice what happens to your stretch as you tilt your pelvis forward, lifting your sitting bones up towards the ceiling.If the mind continues to wander, see if you can find an anchor point on your breath. The breath is the most obvious way to connect with that flow of Prana in and out of your body. As a beginner, simply observe the movement of air within the body. Feel the belly, ribs, and chest expand on the inhales and contract on the exhales. Then, perhaps moving deeper, try to feel this energy moving from the upper body out to the fingertips and the toes.Over time, as we become conscious of the first two sheaths, the mind slowly begins to quiet. When the mind begins to quiet, Vinjamaya Kosha, wisdom, can be heard. Have you ever felt like you were releasing some of the expectations you place on yourself in a deep forward fold? Or maybe you realized some way in which you close yourself off from the world during an invigorating backbend? This is your Vinjamaya Kosha speaking. The more we take the time to syncopate our body, breath, and mind, the more opportunity we have for wisdom to shine through. As this wisdom begins to shape our lives through our decisions, our communication patterns, our relationships, etc., we get one step closer to seeing the fifth sheath, the bliss sheath, even if it’s just a glimpse.