A complete view of well-being: the Pancha Maya Kosha model
Pancha Maya Kosha is a Yogic model for understanding our complete well-being, in which we view our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual aspects as interconnected and interdependent.
"Pancha" means five, "Maya" means illusion, and "Kosha" means sheath or covering. The five Koshas were originally described in the Vedantic Taittiriya Upanishad.
In this Pancha Maya Kosha system we visualise five interconnected coverings or sheaths that make up our overall picture of health and well-being, and which are the coverings we wear to make up our human selves.
A guide to the Koshas:
Annamaya Kosha
Annamaya is our physical body, built and nourished by the food we eat.
When Annamaya Kosha is nourished and healthy, we have no aches and pains and we feel physically light, stable, and easeful.
Apart from eating nourishing food, we can also nurture Annamaya Kosha with Asana practice and joyful movement according to our individual constitution and stage of life.
Pranayama Kosha
The Pranamaya Kosha is our vital, or energetic body, made of prana.
When Pranamaya Kosha is healthy, we have good life-force energy and vitality and healthy organ function. Our general health isn't compromised by stress, and we sleep soundly.
Pranamaya Kosha can be nurtured by breath mindfulness, Pranayama, and Asana practices that follow mindful breathing. In Yoga we see breath as energy, and the pranayama practices build up and nurture our life-force.
Manomaya Kosha
Manomaya Kosha is our mental & emotional body.
This Kosha is made up of our thought processes and patterns. It is fed by sensory input and impressions.
When we're healthy in this Kosha, we have a sense of mental equilibrium and we can focus our attention, use memory, and learn easily.
This Kosha is changeable in nature, as our thoughts and emotions are transient and ever-changing.
We can nurture Manomaya Kosha by practising concentration, focus, and discernment, gaining knowledge, & also with mantra practice.
Vijnanamaya Kosha
Vijnanamaya Kosha is the body of wisdom & personality; our higher mind, including conscience and will.
When Vijnanamaya Kosha is healthy, we have the wisdom, good discernment, and personal development to help us reach our full potential as human beings.
Vijnanamaya Kosha is nourished by deep understanding, ethics, and meditation, but also affected by inherent tendencies and conditioning experiences. The Yamas & Niyamas and the Chakras provide a map for personal development, wisdom & self-reflection.
Anandamaya Kosha
Anandamaya Kosha is the “bliss body”, the part of ourselves that is expansive, unbounded.
When we are fulfilled in this Kosha, we feel open-heartedness and a deep connection with all of life. We discover that happiness is not dependent on outer circumstances.
We can nurture ourselves at this level of wellbeing through practices of Yoga Nidra, deep meditation, Ishvara Pranidhana, devotion, service, ritual and prayer, according to our constitution, character and culture.
All our Koshas are interconnected, each layer deeply affecting every other layer.
You may have experienced yourself how physical ailments and tensions will keep returning if we're not at ease mentally or emotionally. Or how physical illness or exhaustion can put a strain on our mental wellbeing and our capacity for personal development.
This is why, in Yoga, we see all these aspects of ourselves as equally deserving of nurturing and care. If one is neglected, it doesn't matter how healthy we are in another area, we'll still ultimately be affected on all levels.
Here’s a meditation for you that gives you an effortlessly direct experience with the Kosha system. We move our awareness into the physical body, and then through to the energetic. You can use this meditation to feel more connected with your inner wisdom and more aware of all aspects of your well-being.
To listen to this easy 12 minute meditation, please click below.
