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Writer's pictureAngela Connell

PANCHA KOSHAS: The 5 Layers of Self

Self-awareness is an extensive topic that spans the philosophies and sciences; the enduring questions of ‘what is ‘self’?’’ and ‘who am I?’ have been explored for millennia through various lenses; psychology, cosmology, quantum physics and of course, the ancient wisdom traditions of philosophical and existential thought. 


The 5 Koshas is a yogic framework through which to reflect on the multi-layered concept of ‘self’. The framework provides a way to deepen self-understanding through mindful-practices of movement, breathing and meditation in relation to your daily human experience.



‘Subtle energy’ is a term broadly used to describe the patterns and systems of energy within living matter that cannot be measured as physical. These patterns of energy systems are numerous and are described in detail throughout the ancient schools of ‘life-science’, including Indian Vedic, Egyptian, Tibetan, Hebrew, Chinese and Mayan. Today, subtle energy has an entire science dedicated to it; Quantum Physics. 


Subtle energy pervades all physical matter with various frequencies, sometimes depending on the physical attributes of mass, elements and structure, but often completely independent and sometimes in contradiction to Newtonian Laws of physical matter. 


If physical matter is likened to the shape of a bun, subtle energy is the filling, but also the aroma, taste, idea, concept, colour, magnetic field etc. Interrelated but also free from the ‘rules’ of being a bun. 

 

In ancient yogic terms, this subtle energy that fills and pervades all phenomenon is prana

Every ‘thing’ has prana within it, but inert matter without self-consciousness is unable to influence or transform this prana directly. 


Within living organisms and tissues, prana is subject to variability and change and is affected by the intake of nutrients/diet, exercise, sleep, stress, lifestyle, mental health, thoughts, emotions, seasonal and planetary cycles. 


In relation to a human organism, prana is also ordered into ‘layers’ of density and function – the topic of this course – the 5 Layers of Self.



Pancha Kosha is a framework that presents five layers that ‘wrap’ around the human experience, including physical and very subtle aspects. The term comes from the Sanskrit pancha, meaning “five,” and kosha meaning “sheath’. The framework is very detailed and links into other ideas and energy systems such as the Chakras, Pancha Vayus and Granthis. A simplistic way of relating to the koshas is to think of the ‘sheaths’ as layers of lamp shades, one over the top of the other, the most subtle layer can be thought of as the lightbulb, projecting light (consciousness) through the 4 other layers. In this analogy, think of what would happen if any of the ‘lamp shades’ were dirty or out of place – the light would be impaired and there would be a dissonance in the relationship between each. 


The Pancha Kosha consists of:

  • Annamaya kosha — the physical layer

  • Pranamaya kosha — the energy layer

  • Manomaya kosha — the lower mind

  • Vijnanamaya kosha — the higher mind

  • Anandamaya kosha — the ‘bliss’ or peace layer 


The path and practice of yoga is designed to heighten one's self-understanding and awareness of these ‘layers’, progressively moving awareness inward and outward simultaneously. By systematically understanding and removing ‘blocks’ (granthis) from these layers, we being to establish balance and alignment with our inherent ‘universal consciousness’ .


The model of Pancha Kosha comes from Vedanta philosophy and is said to be one of the most ancient conceptualizations of the human experience. The Pancha Koshas can be thought of as ‘sheaths’ or ‘layers’ hiding one's true nature. Once they are aligned and understood, it can be possible to experience the most refined state of consciousness available to humans. This refined conscious experience in Vedanta is described as ‘Atman as Brahaman’ – an absorption of the individual into the universal, otherwise described as ‘integration’ or enlightenment. 


‘the reunion of raindrop into the ocean’


THE 5 LAYERS - KOSHAS


Annamaya Kosha – Physical Realm

This is the layer of the physical body which needs movement, rest, food and sleep to thrive. It is the most vulnerable of the koshas and physically expresses symptoms of imbalance from other layers – in a similar way that the skin surrounding our physical body shows outward signs of inward imbalance.



Pranamaya Kosha – Energy Realm

The energy systems that exist within the physical body; circulation, lymph, metabolism, nervous system, meridians – supported by what is described as our ‘life force energy’, or prana. The breathing techniques of Pranayama help us to interact with this layer. Pranamaya kosha also includes our emotional experiences as felt in our bodies. 


Understanding Emotions:

Emotions are an essential part of human existence, they inform our sense of morality and ethics, they reward us for beneficial experiences, they motivate us to connect and create positive relationships, they caution us away from harmful experiences …they colour our world with meaning, purpose and value. But when emotions are misunderstood, they can become overwhelming, disorienting, disturbing and destructive. 

Craving and aversion are the two responses initiated by emotions - in evolutionary survival terms, ‘fear’ (aversion/avoidance) moved us away from experiences that were not beneficial or helpful and ‘love’ (craving/connection/desire) moved us towards experiences that were. 

Emotions become misunderstood when we identify with them and become attached to them. When we believe we ‘are’ our emotions, we can become stuck in a habit pattern of feeling a certain way. Once we begin to hold onto and identify with feeling a certain way, neurological and physiological changes begin to take place, making it harder (but certainly not impossible) to change the pattern of feeling.


Emotions have a life span…generally experienced in the body for about 90seconds they will then dissipate naturally – reasons emotions last longer are (1) because the mind ‘tells a story’ and draws out the experience and (2) the emotion will last longer if we are re-triggered/re-exposed to or unable to move away from the emotionally linked stimulus.

To help us to de-identify with our emotions, let’s think of them like the weather and of our ‘pure self’ like the open sky. Weather patterns come and go, shift and change, disrupt and wreak havoc or they can be calm, warming, gentle and enjoyable – but behind the weather is the clear, open sky. It is always there. Untouched by the weather patterns that roll on through. 

When we dis-identify with our emotions, we can learn to appreciate them as we can appreciate the weather, understanding their impermanent nature and allowing them to come and go.



Manomaya Kosha – Lower Mind (Monkey Mind)

This is the ‘inter-relational’, ‘lower’ or ‘identity’ mind. Accumulated in this layer are habits, reactions and subconscious patterning – including the things we ‘like’ or ‘don’t like’ and the ‘idea’ of who we ‘think’ we are in relation to our preferences. Relaxation and visualisation strategies such as Yoga nidra helps to access this layer through ‘dreamlike’ self-reflection and symbolism – softening our hard grip around fixed ideas or identities. In meditation we begin to understand; karma – the law of cause and effect; tendencies to crave or avoid; and samskaras which (similar to karma) are the ‘spouting seeds’ of past experiences or the ‘echo effect’ of past patterns.  



Vijnanamaya Kosha – Higher Mind (Wisdom)

This is the ‘higher mind’ or ‘wisdom’ layer, consciousness at this level includes heightened self-awareness, intellect, morals, values, ethics, purpose and direction. This layer is enhanced through reading, learning and understanding, science, philosophy and spiritual concepts. In meditation we also practice ‘non-reaction’ and ‘non-attachment’ towards the patterns we observe arising in the ‘lower mind’ – this enhances our ability to ‘self-regulate’, meaning that we are more able to experience disruptions in our mind-body-emotions without becoming unbalanced. 


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