The Five Sheaths - Pancha Kosha

The ancient practice of Yoga has become very popular all across the world, including the western countries like the United States and Canada. There are several health benefits that have been associated with yoga, which include reduction of stress, weight loss, better focus, increase in strength, higher immunity, an improvement in balance and many more. There are several styles or disciplines of yoga that people can practice, which include Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga and Pancha Kosha Yoga, to name a few. Some of these styles are more popular, as they are more commonly practiced by people. Similarly, some styles of yoga are not very popular amongst people, due to lack of awareness, with pancha kosha being one of the lesser known disciplines.

What is pancha kosha yoga?

Pancha Kosha Yoga, also referred to as Pancha Kosha Meditation, is a style of yoga that was developed in the year 2007. The Pancha Koshas are commonly referred to, as the five hierarchal levels of energy in the body. Pancha kosha yoga is a certain discipline or a method of Yoga, which is based on the ancient texts of Indian philosophy. The word pancha stands for “Five” and the word Kosha means “sheath” or shell. Therefore, pancha kosha means five sheaths of the human body. The five sheaths or the pancha kosha are:

• Annamaya Kosha or the Food Sheath
• Pranamaya Kosha or the Energy Sheath
• Manomaya Kosha or the Mental Sheath
• Vijnyanamaya Kosha or the Intellectual Sheath
• Anandamaya Kosha or Bliss Sheath

In the panchakosha discipline of yoga, each of the 5 koshas represents a different aspect of the Brahma or the Self. Given below is an explanation of the pancha prana or the five types of energy that are a part of kosha yoga:

Annamaya Kosha

Anna stands for food and therefore the first level of Kosha yoga is based on the consideration that the human body is filled with food. Therefore, Annamaya Kosha is a representation of the gross physical body. This sheath is regarded as the medium of enjoyment for gross objects through the physical senses. According to this belief, all living beings in this world are born from food and remain alive by the consumption of food. In fact even after death, the body can be consumed as food by animals, insects or other beings. However, our physical health depends significantly on the foods that we eat and therefore, a diet that a person follows can be used to determine his or her nature. Food is also regarded as a medicine, as it can help improve a person’s overall health. Therefore, this level touts the benefits of a yogic diet, through which, one can easily cure this kosha as well as the disorders that are related to a diet.

Pranamaya Kosha

Prana is the life or the force behind movement, which can also be described as the binding force of the universe. It is said that all birth and death in the universe are a result of prana. Therefore pranamaya kosha is filled with the essential forces that represent the subtle body, chakra, nadis and kundalini. This sheath can be further divided into five forces, which include prana, apana, vyana, udana as well as samana, along with their organs of action. Nature-wise, this sheath is active, as it is the result of rajas gunas. The pranamaya kosha controls the annamaya kosha. The human body is filled with life and for the proper assimilation of food, the prana is important. The pattern of diseases affecting a certain human body can be influenced by this kosha. With the help of prana, a person can control the speed at which life or energy flows through his body. Therefore, people could have the ability to control their metabolism, by practicing pranamaya kosha.

Manomaya Kosha

This sheath deals with the emotional, mental or perceptual part of the body, which comprises not just the mind, but also the organs within the body. The Manomaya kosha influences the Prana Kosha and channels the ways we think. When prana or life and anna or food, operate together, mana or the awareness does not really exist, because we do not think or feel anything else. The thoughts that originate within the body during the first sheaths can manifest themselves in the form of a disease that affects the body. All the diseases that involve the manomaya kosha can be treated by the yogangas that have been prescribed through ashtanga yoga.

Vijnyanamaya Kosha

This sheath represents the intelligence or the conscious human mind. Vijnyanamaya Kosha is formed when a person’s ignorance extends further. Vijnyana represents the mind, skill and all the intelligence behind human work.

Anandamaya Kosha

Ananda refers to the pleasure or the happiness that a human can experience from any channel. Hence, the anandmaya kosha can be described as the transcendental body or the blissful body which in turn consists of the casual body of the Brahma. Since the self is the cause of all things, everything gets dissolved into it. Things are born, they grow and then they eventually die all because of ananda. This shows that ananda is the root of all human life. Hence, ananda is the incarnation or a form of the Brahma. This bliss or ananda comes from the Brahma. It is our ignorance that covers the bliss, just like how the skin covers the body.  This is one of the koshas that is not bound by either time or space.

Yoga veterans recommend that pancha kosha yoga or the five sheaths should be activated in equal parts. The best way to practice these 5 koshas is in a 100 minute session, that is conducted by a yoga teacher or guru, who has a diploma in Pancha Kosha Yoga.

Although the practice of each of the 5 koshas in yoga have their own benefits and advantages, it is best to check with a doctor before practicing pancha kosha meditation. This is more important for people who are suffering from any preexisting medical condition.

The Five Koshas in Yoga Therapy

The previous two pages have dealt with the basics of yoga therapy and the concept of tri-sharira. However, for further understanding and, more importantly, application of the therapy, there is one more thing one has to understand. A full grasp of this concept will enable to both understand and derive the best results of yoga therapy.

Yoga, contrary to other subjects and therapies, delves deep into the essence of the subject, be it general betterment or specific healing. Hence the understanding of the concept of Tridoshas and Tri-shariras. Going one step further, these three shariras or bodies are encased in five sheaths called the pancha koshas, pancha meaning five.

This model describes the human being as multidimensional, with the source and foundation in a spiritual dimension. By using Pancha Kosha viveka (understanding of the concept of the five koshas), Yoga Therapy addresses every level of a human being.

1. Annamaya Kosha (Food Sheath)

As the name itself suggests, the first level to take into consideration is the physical body that subsists on gross food and drink. That includes the body and its physiological processes, as viewed from a Western perspective. From the Indian perspective, the human anatomy is viewed via the ayurvedic tridoshas. These describe both the overall body type of the individual as well as its current condition.

2. Pranamaya Kosha (Pranic or Energy Sheath)

The human being is an intricate network of energy, creativity and intelligence. Hence the need for a proper flow of energy to maintain good health. The Pranic or Energy Sheath, contains all the prana vayus (breaths of energy) in the system, the energy channels or nadis and the chakras or energy centers. Hence it is also called the "vital sheath" or "vital body". Prana, the vital breath which man lives by, is the bridge between the gross and subtle bodies as well as between the other koshas. Amending one’s breathing patterns through pranayama, helps enhance the flow of energy in the right direction.

3. Manomaya Kosha (Mental or psycho-emotional Sheath)

The third is the Mental or, here understood as the psycho-emotional sheath. It is the abode of all the dominant emotional and thought patterns that comprise one’s personality. Our feelings, stimuli and responses to situations, thoughts and actions spring from this sheath. The strength or weakness of this sheath decides whether a person is emotional or unemotional, easily or uneasily moved, gross or sensitive.

4. Vijnyanamaya Kosha (Intellectual Sheath)

Then comes the fourth sheath, again the Mental, but here referred to as the Intellectual sheath. Whereas at the third level, the mind functions as a stimulus/response mechanism, in the fourth sheath, one is able to understand and discern. Further, personal understanding permits us to look beyond personal roles and perceive the larger picture. This is the level of cognition, conditioning or de-conditioning of one’s core beliefs, the most deeply rooted of which is the ‘I’ concept. In Sanskrit this is referred to as the ‘aham’, from which springs the word ‘ahamkara’. Little wonder then that this is the seat of the ego.

5. Anandamaya Kosha (Bliss Sheath)

The fifth level is least easily understood, but for reasons of explanation to the lay public is referred to as the sheath of bliss. Here the minds is said to rest in its intrinsic, natural state of bliss and ease. This is of vital understanding in relation healing since it refers to one’s health as essential nature, devoid of ‘chitta-vrittis’ or confusions and distractions.

How the Five Koshas are affected

1. Annamaya Kosha

The physical body has been bestowed with, besides other things, the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems to cope with stress situations. Roughly translated into Western terminology this refers to the glandular system in our bodies. In any emergency situation, the sympathetic system is automatically activated, ensuring a quick and spontaneous flow of essential fluids to cope with the situation. When the stress response is engaged normally and healthily, the body adapts to stress situations with a steadily elevated blood pressure.

Subsequently, it is the duty of the parasympathetic system to pull the sympathetic back to its original state. Unfortunately, down the years, and particularly in modern days, the frequency and intensity of stress situations have grown so much that the organs involved are subject to abnormal pressures. The parasympathetic system, after a while, can no longer bring its sympathetic counterpart back to normal and hence a failure in the endocrine and other vital systems of the body, leading to such psychosomatic syndromes as asthma, chronic constipation, blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc eventually resulting, in heart disease even.

2. Pranamaya Kosha

The spasmodic dilations and contractions in the organs, veins and arteries of the physical body are a direct reflex response to cope with changing situations. This is what is happening in the energy body as well. In stress situations, the breath becomes short and rapid and, subsequently, the flow of energy is restricted. Over time, the breath becomes stifled, one starts to suffer from palpitation and shortness of the breath. Without being really aware of what’s happening, there is a rapid contraction and expansion in the entire energetic sheath. While, this may be helpful in emergencies, imagine what it will do to the system in the long run. Result, psychosomatic diseases like asthma.

3. Manomaya Kosha

Actually, it happens both ways and here there’s no telling which came first, the chicken or the egg. Emotional upsets and disturbances send out stimuli to the other sheaths. Subsequently, dilations and contractions in the Annamaya and Pranamaya Koshas happen. But, in actual fact they start at the mental level. Over time it becomes a chronic syndrome. Love, hate, resentment, ambition, competition and hostility are only some of the characterizations.

While in genuine situations, these emotions may be considered healthy response and create the necessary backups and reinforcements for survival, what happens when they become chronic and repetitive are translated into states of anguish, anxiety and depression. Subsequently, they perpetuate the physical stress response and man falls into the vicious cycle of coping with habitual stress. Extricating oneself from this is a trying and, sometimes, impossible process.

4. Vijnanamaya Kosha

This is best illustrated in the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, verses 62 and 63:
Man first contemplates on an object of desire. That develops in the mind attachment to it. From this attachment springs desire. Failure to satisfy desire leads to frustration. From frustration comes anger, leading to delusion. Continuous delusion results in loss of memory, resulting in destruction in the intellect. When the intellect is destroyed, everything is lost. 

5. Anandamaya Kosha

The above situation is precisely what prevents man from reaching his natural state of bliss. A constant state of being opposed to bliss is frustration, anger, disappointment and their attendant psycho-physiological strains, resulting in afflictions of the mind-body syndrome.

This website includes, besides other things, a detailed program of Yogic practices which, if done consistently are both preventive as well as curative for most, if not all, chronic illnesses.

For optimum benefits, yoga therapy should be coupled with a balanced diet, Naturopathy, Ayurveda and Aromatherapy.