What are the koshas and how do they affect my feeling of whole self health?

Kosha means sheath or layer.

The kosas were first mentioned in the Tattiriya Upanishad and first theorised in the 17th century. Over time, the chakra model became the better known yogic body lens, owing to Western ‘influencers’ like the theosophists and Carl Jung.

The 5 kosha model, however, is a very accessible and illuminating lens on how we experience our human lives. In fact, the chakras sit within one of the koshas - unsurprisingly, the energetic sheath.

The 5 koshas are:

the ~ PHYSICAL sheath

the ~ LIFE FORCE sheath (sometimes called the energetic or vital sheath)

the ~ MIND EMOTION sheath

the ~ WISDOM sheath (sometimes called the knowledge or intuitive sheath)

the ~ BLISS sheath

They are not separate, but flow through altogether, all at once. Some koshas, however, are more closely in sync.

The physical, life force and mind emotion sheaths are very VERY attuned to each other. If one flows well (I feel fit and alive!) the other two, breath and vitality and our mental emotional outlook responds…

If one is negatively experienced (I am grieving, I feel really low)… the  other two are affected. The breath may become shallow or tight or short, the body feels this stress, takes on tension, and the immune function may suffer.

Because it is ‘simple’, easily conceptualised and (depending on which sheath) fairly easily ‘accessed’ it is a really, truly WONDERFUL system to bring in to assessing our health. That is why it’s used in yoga therapy as an assessment framework.

When you start yoga therapy or yoga psychotherapy, we look at each layer. Clients really benefit from the talk, the worksheet, the practices which provide insight into each other their 5 sheaths. If nothing else, it is very powerful food for thought.