Exploring the Koshas in our Yoga Class:

Enhancing healing by exploring how different breathing techniques and chanting mantras as we practice asanas, can open up channels of communication between the various subtle layers of our being

Last term we looked at yoga through the Koshas - the 5 sheaths of subtle energy that make up our entire "being". Each sheath is increasingly more subtle, beginning with Annamaya (physical) body, Pranamaya (breath, vital force), Manomaya (mental), Vinanamaya (wisdom), and finally Anandamaya (bliss body). 

We explored the specific yoga practices connected with each Kosha, and observed how consciously using this awareness can increase the intensity of the experience and and the healing potential of each practice. As a result we discovered a lightness of being, less effort and more relaxation. 

In class, we consciously explored how the different healing practices/techniques of yoga are related to, and act on specific layers of these increasingly subtle layers. For instance asana, or physical postures relate to Annamaya kosha, the physical body that we can see, whereas yoga nidra and meditation are far more subtle practices that relate to Vinanamaya kosha, the wisdom layer, the layer that we experience more consciously over time.

This exploration is a two way process. Many people were surprised to realise how their breathing was affected by the pose they were attempting, and how changing the breath, changed the experience. For instance, many people unconsciously learn to use Ujjayi breathing to stabilize a pose that they would otherwise not be able to achieve. This is a compensation for not being able to attain the pose with ease. Allowing the breath to flow in a natural rhythm enabled that pose to evolve with less effort; a different set of muscles easing into the posture.

Mantra is a more subtle technique than asana and it affects our mental (Manomaya) sheath, and it was a revelation to us all, just how much difference chanting, or mentally reciting different mantras could make.  We explored the seed sounds of the vowels, Om Hraam, Om Hreem, Om Hraim, Om Hroom, Om Hroum, Om Hraha, and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujia” with the Sun salutes and also individual poses, and different ways of chanting (sometimes aloud together, and sometimes mentally), and found that different methods made a huge difference to the ability to stretch through a pose or by changing the mantra, a longer, more subtle stretch eventuated, creating a sense of lightness and ease. 

Mantras are related to breathing of course, and concentrating on the chant, allowed some people to lunge a little further or “let go” a little more. They were concentrating on the words and feelings, rather than the actual placement of feet and hands. 

The experience was different for each person; Everyone developed a favourite version for different poses or flows some preferred one mantra over another for certain asanas or flows, and this could change from class to class. Try flowing into a twist and then chanting “Hallelujia” (the slow, Leonard Cohen style) for a few breaths, and watch what happens!

At the end of term several students remarked on how it “keeps on getting better and better”, and how they felt the practices were becoming more “intense.”  When I queried “intense”, they said, not that the yoga was getting harder, but they felt a more personal connection with their body/mind as they did the asana; a sense of elongation into the pose, creating space.  Each pose was a space to explore.

The result is a lightness of being, less effort and more relaxation. This is YOGA. Being able to access and apply these various healing techniques consciously in our everyday lives, increases our sense of wellbeing and purpose, drawing us step by step up the ladder of the Koshas towards Wisdom and Bliss. When we slip off the ladder, we can still use these techniques to regain our footing.