Sheathing the Soul

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Annamaya/physcal body Manamaya/mental-emotional body
Pranamaya/energy body Vijnanamaya/wisdom body
Bliss/anandamaya body
Self/Atman

• the physical body and its constituent tissues
• the outermost, most dense and slowest in vibration of all the sheaths
• the food sheath; that is, that which is dependent on matter for its sustenance
• healing occurs at the level of nutrition, sleep, exercise, cleansing rituals, medicine
• meditation and asana explore this kosha, which becomes a gateway to the others

• prana is energy; the pranamaya kosha is the vital/energy body
• it is responsible for the subtle vibrations that enable the mind and/or inner being to animate the annamaya kosha
• pranayama- techniques of directing/removing obstacles from the free flow of energy is the tool we use to explore this body
• mudras are also helpful in that they direct energy and awareness to specific parts of the body

• from “manas,” which means mind; this is the psycho-emotional form of mentation/mental activity
• ego bound and driven
• directs the physical body and senses through the agency of prana
• akin to a factory manager that supervises operations
• when it thinks it’s the “Big Boss/Owner,” there’s a problem
• through meditation we become aware of this level of being and begin to explore its “stories”

• “vijnana” means “knowing”
• wisdom sheath but also the imprinted core beliefs that drive our mental-emotional reactions
• ego or I-am-ness; sense of self as simultaneously transcendent and manifest
• knows, judges, decides and discriminates between what’s useful and what’s not
• gets co-opted by manamaya kosha, which clouds the wisdom of inherently available here
• yoga’s project and our life workis to contact this level, uncover limiting core beliefs and let them go

• most subtle of sheaths/bodies
• bliss of being--peace, joy, love
• underlies mind and is independent of circumstances or conditions
• not emotional; existential and w/o cause
• eventually, this too must be released in order to experience Atman/pure consciousness