You: Beyond the physical
Image: Little Baby Company
During my yoga training, my teacher - the lovely Deep Kumar - asked us this question: “who are you?”. We each took turns to, self-consciously on my part, describe ourselves to the group. What became clear was that we were describing ourselves with labels - mum, wife, job title, nationality, religion, a few character traits we were known for.
Deep nudged us to sit and contemplate again “who are you?”.
Have a go yourself. Beyond the roles that you play in your life, who are you? On Deep’s prompting we began to think about who we are beyond the physical body and experience.
Have you ever even thought of yourself as anything more than your physical body? I hadn’t until I was in my early twenties striving to achieve in the physical world. If you’re interested in exploring spirituality, something that has become increasingly relevant as I talk about in the Modern Believers trend here, it’s the you beyond the physical. It’s you as a being of energy.
We are so advanced when it comes to the physical body, from the fundamentals of nutrition and exercise, through to advancements in science and medicine, but we’ve lost connection to the self - the you beyond the labels. It’s the balance of the subtle body that I find fascinating and that I believe is the path to true wellbeing.
Before I pen a series of posts around the subtle body, specifically practices to create balance in mind, body and soul, I’m sharing the yogic wisdom on the true youˆ - what is called Atman.
Image: Savy International
Ancient wisdom: The Koshas
The ancient yogis believed we have five koshas, or five bodies - a bit like Russian dolls, nesting one inside another. Just one of these, the outermost layer, is the physical. This is the Annamaya Kosha. Us, as flesh and blood.
The next three layers are what is referred to as the subtle body.
They are:
The Pranayama Kosha: If you’ve heard the term Pranayama in a yoga class, the breathwork practice, this will give you a clue to the nature of this layer. The Pranayama Kosha is the life force energy layer - the breath of life - and focuses on the flow of this energy within the body.
The Manomaya Kosha: This is the layer of the mind and emotions. I see it like the internal chatter constantly narrating our experience of the world - or replaying past experiences a lot of the time. It’s all the judgements and assumptions and perceptions of our very subjective experience. It’s how two people can see the same situation in very different ways (hello marriage!). If you’ve ever heard a yoga teacher say something along the lines of “come back to your breath”, it’s a reminder to release the grip of the mind and return to the moment.
The Vijnanamaya Kosha: Increasingly more subtle, this layer is about intuition and wisdom. If you’ve ever tried a mindfulness meditation of observing your thoughts and emotions, this teaches you that you are the thinker of those thoughts, the observer observing the Manomaya Kosha. It can be called ‘awareness’.
Beyond these three layers of the subtle body is the fifth layer, Anandamaya Kosha. This is the bliss layer, a point when you transcend the body and the mind and become completely immersed in an experience. Children are the perfect example of the bliss layer - the pure absorption into the moment. If you’ve ever seen a child stomping in puddles or experiencing the ocean waves for the first time, that is Anandamaya kosha. Bliss.
So often yoga is seen as a form of exercise but the true intention of yoga was to use the practices of the asanas (the physical), the breathing techniques (energy) and meditation to move towards this bliss state. It is believed that this wholeness reveals the true self, your true essence. Who you are beyond the labels and roles and definitions, to the childlike you experiencing it all.
It sounds great. Who wouldn’t want to live in a state of bliss? But, in real life, how achievable is it? Yoga, and many other modalities, are a practice. The practice is finding ways to move towards that state, to develop an understanding of yourself as an energy body, your true self.
Self reflection:
What brings you bliss? What memories do you have of being so ‘in the moment’ that you felt that childlike sense of blissful presence?
