Hello! It’s been a minute since my last blog post, and I apologize, but seriously, I have been busy! I am happy to report that I was able to upgrade my personal yoga space. One thing I am so excited about is experiencing more space to move more freely! I was doing yoga on a small strip of space in my bedroom, and while I am thankful for and honor my time and space there, I am eager to see what a new space will do for my motivation and creativity. Moving in a limited space didn’t just bring frustrations; I learned valuable lessons in body awareness, being able to feel my body clearly in a space and either adapt or be set free. This can also be called “subtle body awareness.” You don’t have to consider yourself an expert on your body or your awareness. The first step, and a true part of the practice, is simply noticing the interconnected nature of mind, body, and spirit, which involves having awareness of your body.
This exists on different levels. Once you practice noticing enough, you will feel a deeper understanding of your body. Whether it’s how it physically feels or how you feel your energy in your body, you will start to have an awareness of these different levels. In yoga, this concept is called the “panchamaya kosha system.” It is composed of five levels, or sheaths, that outline the energetic bodies one has. These sheaths are interconnected and obscure our pure consciousness. You essentially work through these sheaths so you can access your true essence. So when we talk about having body awareness that we feel in our physical body, we are working with the first sheath, Annamaya Kosha, and it could be thought of as the food body. You can help reveal this sheath by making sure you intake healthy foods and drinks, engage in general physical activity to maintain wellness, and even making sure you’re getting enough sunshine and touching grass! Once you reveal this sheath, it no longer blocks your path to your essence, and you will have an easier time revealing the other sheaths as well. Another really cool thing about this first sheath is that it can also help reveal what chakras, or energy pathways, may be blocked. Discovering this and pursuing opening those areas can make the process of awareness easier.
In subtle body awareness, the second sheath, Pranamaya Kosha, is all about the breath. Lately, I have been having an intimate experience discovering my breath. I have practiced yoga on and off for 8 years, but I will admit that I did not practice breathwork nearly as much as I should have. Coming back to yoga with a more mature, grounded approach, I have been taking it more seriously.
One thing that has instigated this new understanding is my time in physical therapy. I have a decent curve from scoliosis in my spine, and it hurts constantly. I never thought that breathing could help to correct it, but I was wrong. Let me preface by saying I don’t believe you can solve scoliosis with breathing, but I do feel it can accentuate other modalities of intervention. I started learning how to control my breathing in terms of where it was going. I can focus on expanding just my right or left side with the breath, causing that side to open. I started focusing on breathing into the front of my body instead of the back. When I did this, I could feel the muscles along my chest and clavicles stretch, pulling at the fascia. I truly felt as if I had never expanded the front of my chest like that before. I discovered that when I focused my breath in this way, I was able to breathe and meditate for longer. The therapeutic benefit of breathing was one reason, but I was also simply experiencing less pain from changing my breath alone.
Breath isn’t just about air; it is also about our “prana,” which is our life force energy. One of the mechanisms of breathing practice is that it clears out toxins from your body and helps your body maintain good, clean energy. When you are able to reveal these two sheaths, you start to move even more deeply and subtly into yourself. The third sheath, Manomaya Kosha, is not visible but known by us all: our personal thoughts and emotions. This sheath right here, this is my toughest lesson yet. This sheath could be obscuring your essence because you suffer from racing or ruminating thoughts that run at their own pace and time. There is honestly no point in my day that I have relief from constant streams of thought. I often found myself frustrated and feeling broken, and it deterred me from yoga for some time. I wasn’t able to deal with the disappointment of not nailing yoga perfectly in my head. I lacked mostly in having compassionate self-love and care. Had I been able to forgive and love myself, I may not have given up.
This may be you as well, and there are actually some good tips and techniques out there to help peel away this sheath. Mindfulness is going to be your best friend. You don’t have to stop your thoughts; just be aware that they are there and notice what’s happening. Don’t let it upset you if that doesn’t stop them, because it won’t. It honestly comes down to consistency in awareness. Now that you have an awareness, and you’re not frustrated or mad, breathe. Deep, intentional breaths. You’re telling this sheath, “Hey, my body is aware of my thoughts, my breath is aware of my thoughts, I am safe/focused/comfortable/at peace despite my thoughts.” You allow your awareness to give your body and your breath permission to move forward, even if your thoughts will not. Since this sheath deals in a lot of areas where it can disrupt or encourage being grounded, clearing the root chakra can help you obtain the results you want more easily, as it helps remove fear.
Hopefully, you will find some of this information helpful to your practice! If you have questions or comments, please feel free to reach out via email. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I have been busy. My fiancé and I have moved, and now that things are more stable in life, I really hope to have some more content coming soon. I am thinking about making some specialized programs to help guide and provide a framework for those who it would help. I also still plan on making some videos; I really just need some gear to finish them off and publish! If you have any requests for content or programs you would like to learn more about, please email me. I’d love to hear from you! Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my words today, namaste!
Here are some references to learn more on the panchamya kosha system:
https://himalayaninstitute.org/online/introduction-to-the-panchamaya-kosha-model/