Manomayakosha: Our Emotions

Emotions are like the soap buildup in your shower. Slowly over time little things can build up. These things, or emotions, tend to form us into who we are and how we react to things. However, like our shower, we can clean out our emotions and start fresh. 

In yoga therapy we believe every emotion we feel is engrained into our body and it will remain there until we process it and let it go, the key phrase here being "let it go". So that bully that picked on you as a child, if you never dealt with those emotions it most likely will have turned you into a pushy adult always feeling the need to stand your ground or perhaps you still feel like that weak helpless child.

You may never have made the connection between who you are now and what has happened to you in your past. Therapists couches are full of people talking their way through their past, trying to let things go, hoping it will free them of their pain. They are working on their Manomayakosha. This kosha consists of our mind which refers to our personality including our likes, dislikes and habits. It’s how we deal with anger, fear and our flight or fight response.  In yoga these feelings are assessed as the Gunas which can be raja (aggressive), tamas (lethargic) or sattva (balanced). In yoga we strive for sattva.

Talking is a great therapeutic for this kosha, but more is needed to instigate change. Building awareness of these emotions and the patterns they create is a great start. Letting go is the next. Often the things that happen in our past can’t be erased. Perhaps the person or event that hurt us is no longer accessible to confront. Our minds like to hold on to things and let them fester. This will eventually lead to issues in our physical body. Stress caused by our mind leads to weakening the systems in our bodies. Once an area of our body is weak, this is when disease can creep in. 

Mindful physical movements such as yoga can help get the emotions out of our bodies. Emotions not only live in the brain, but in our body. You’ll find that once you’ve worked through a strong emotion that has been with you for years that the chronic tension in your low back has suddenly lessened or disappeared. 

Mantras and meditation are great tools for this Kosha. You are focusing the mind in meditation, learning to let go. Mantras, which is a positive repetitive phrase, helps to pull the mind away from the pattern of negative thought into a more positive one. Some mantras may be repeated hundreds of times a day. Take a day to notice how often a negative thought about yourself creeps in. Each time one does, say your positive mantra.

You may never get closure for the emotional hurt you’ve experienced in your past. But you do have control over the present. You have a choice to either focus and dwell on the negative or to choose forgiveness and let it go. It’s not an easy thing, but it does get easier with time and eventually those negative emotions will replaced by good ones of your own choosing.

This leads to wisdom, which is the next kosha, our beliefs and how they form us.

Pranamayakosha: The Energetic Body

One thing that seems to be pretty consistent in our world today, at least here in the US, is our lack of energy. If you look at a typical set of magazine ads or grocery store shelves you will see energy drinks, supplements promising more energy, super foods, etc. Although some of these are legitimately healthy for us, they won’t necessarily provide what is needed for a permanent energy boost.

A balanced flow of energy is essential for good health. Our energy body is made up of the pranavayus (flow patterns of energy in the body), nadis (energy channels) and the chakras (energy centers, picture spiraling colorful energy balls). Our breath is the bridge that connects these energy centers with our physical body. If you aren’t breathing properly, for example when you are stressed you tend to take short rapid breaths, you aren’t providing a proper bridge for the energy to get to your body. This can leave you tired and your body stressed. 

Have you ever noticed when you are tired how you sigh or yawn a lot? This is your body’s way of asking for more air, more prana. For those of you that take a yoga class, once you start the deep breathing do you notice how alive your body feels as well as your mind?

Our breath has a direct relation to our mind and body. The pranavayus, nadis and chakras are an in depth subject that will be covered in later blogs. These practices are great ways to help connect the breath to your body giving you more vitality that doesn’t come from a bottle or a pill.

Annamayakosha: The Physical Body

We’ve all got one, for the most part we’re aware of it, especially when it is screaming at us. But how often do we ignore our bodies signals? Why is it that we let it get to a state of pain or disease before we wake up and realize what a gem we have or had? 

The annamayakosha is the physical body. It’s our muscles, bones, tissues and organs. The systems of the body, cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, nervous  and circulatory just to name a few. In Ayurvedic medicine the physical body consists of the five elements (earth, water, fire, air and space) and the dosha’s, our Ayurvedic body type, which can be Pitta, Vata, Kapha or a combo of two to three of the dosha’s. For example, I’m a Vata/Pitta. I tend to be thin with dry skin and my bones pop (make noise, not break) a lot. That is the Vata in me. The Pitta in me tends to heat me up. I don’t like hot weather, I get lethargic, but the plus is that I’m athletic. The Pitta in me makes me strong to balance out the typical wispiness of a Vata. (Note: I’m not an Ayurvedic practitioner. The information in my posts is from what I’ve studied through my Yoga Therapy training.) 

The annamayakosha also consist of Kinesiology, how our body moves. If you have a chance go to a busy place with lots of people walking around. A park or a mall. Just sit and watch. You would be amazed at what you will see. How different people walk, if they are stiff or move with lots of flare. Their gait, the direction their feet point or maybe even their knees. Is their head out in front as if they are in a hurry to get somewhere, do they lean to one side? 

If we pay attention to the way we hold and move our body it will give us lots of clues that will eventually lead us to the other kosha’s. It will help us figure out why our low back hurts or why we carry so much tension in our shoulders. Typically the way we hold our body is related to our emotions. Building awareness into what our body is doing and feeling will allow us to notice what is going on and take steps to fix it. We learn to notice not just what the body is doing, but what our mind is thinking at the time. If you've had a tension headache for a few days, what else has been happening in your life? Perhaps something has been stressing you out at work or at home? Nothing happens on its own, everything is connected.

The annamayakosha is where we generally notice something is wrong first. Mostly because the body has a way of really getting our attention. Be it through pain or disease. Ignoring these signs is not a way of making it go away as it will always come back. Exploring the pain and asking questions then taking steps to resolve it will.

Some yoga techniques to help you explore the body are:

• Body scanning
• Mindful Yoga, noticing how the body moves or doesn’t move 
• Diet and cleansing
• Somatics
• Massage
• Breathwork
• Other Ayurvedic treatments

I’ll explore these techniques in other blogs, but if you are interested in learning about a specific one, there is a lot of information out there. Ayurvedic treatments are serious business so don’t dive in. If you are really interested you should seek a trained Ayurvedic practitioner.

We can’t fully heal our physical bodies till we know what is causing the issue. For pure physical ailments, such as weak muscles, once we have strengthened them and put ourselves on a regimen to maintain it, we are good. But what if there is some other underlying issue? Some other layer of the onion or Kosha that is causing the problem? That is when we start to investigate. What food are you putting in your body, is it fresh or processed? How much sleep do you get, is it good sleep? Do you exercise regularly or sit around for most of the day? If you aren’t taking proper care of your body, why is that?

Next time that pain comes into your neck take the time to investigate not just your body, but your emotions, what is going on in your mind. Stop to notice your breath, is it moving freely or are you holding it, only taking short breaths? Our breath, our Prana is what gives our body energy and life and it is the next Kosha we will explore.

Till then, take the time to listen to your body. What is it trying to tell you?

The Koshas

My training in yoga therapy is based on the five Koshas. What is a kosha you may ask? Imagine that our bodies are like onions, we are made up of layers. Each layer represents a part of us. When one of these layers gets out of whack, it will inevitably affect the other till they are all out of balance. This lack of balance is disease (disease here is used as a broad description of anything that is wrong or painful within the body, this can include emotional issues).

In order to cure or lesson the disease you have to work your way through the layers. For example you get tension headaches, have for years. You may start on the physical layer, the Annamayakosha. Your probably getting headaches because you slouch. Your core muscles are weak.

Next you might move to your breath or energy level, the Pranamayakosha. Since you're slouching you can’t take in a full breath, this leaves you fatigued so you reach for that cup of coffee which perks you up for a bit, but then later leaves you crashing.

In the first two levels we see what physically is going on and leading to our fatigue and muscle tightness, but let’s think about why we may be really slouching. I have a very strong core with my yoga practice but I can slouch like the best of them. This lead me to investigate the next level, my mind or the Manomayakosha.

Generally when you look at people, those who look like life has beaten them down, they show it in their posture. On the other hand, those who love and really live life, they stand up tall. So if you are slouching, take the time to check in with your mind. What’s going on in there? Are you reliving that fight you had with your spouse or co-worker? Are you holding on to some emotional patterns that have been there since childhood? This level can be a deep one and may take some serious digging. Speaking with a good therapist to help figure things out may be in order.

Now I know what I’m thinking, but why am I thinking it? That brings us to our wisdom or Vijnyanamayakosha. What do I believe? Do I believe I’m a good person, that I’m worthy? Am I happy sitting at my job for eight hours a day? Am I fulfilled? Even though we may not be thinking these things out loud or even at the front of our consciousness, the thoughts are still there and they will have an affect on our bodies and our emotions. Figure out your beliefs, if they are negative, work towards changing them.

Finally we are brought to our spiritual or Anadamayakosha. This isn’t necessarily God, but perhaps just believing in a higher power. Having this belief gives us strength, it gives us company knowing we aren’t tackling the struggles of every day life all alone. Even us hermits like to know we aren’t always flying solo. If believing in a higher power isn’t your thing, find a group of people that believe in the same things that you do. Find support in numbers.

Whatever your path is through the Kosha’s, whatever level you start on, the end result is the same. Finding what it is that is causing your pain. It’s almost comparable to a splinter, you know something is in there irritating you, now you just have to find out what it is. Yoga Therapy gives you the tools to do that. Awareness is one of the first steps to healing, but don’t be fooled that once you figure out all the reasons for your tension headaches that it will be fixed. These layers took your whole life to appear, they won’t go away now that you suddenly are aware of them. You have to be willing to work. So pick a layer and have patience and persistence.

More on the individual Kosha’s to come.

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Balance Your Life, Balance Your Body

Balance Your Life, Balance Your Body

It’s five, you just got out of work. You have to run to daycare to pick up your kids, head to the grocery store to get something for dinner and then head home where chaos will ensue till all the kids are in bed. By then it is late and you are beyond tired. The last thing on your mind is working out. At this point, the guilt of not working out will eat at you, perhaps a lot or just for a bit till you turn on the TV and get lost in the latest episode of your favorite show.

This routine may work for a while, but over time it can wear on you. First you may begin to notice that your clothes are getting tighter or that you seem more tired than usual. Your anxiety levels may increase and you snap more at the kids or your spouse. You’re beginning to see that what you subsist on isn’t really working for you. You’re just maintaining. Your life isn’t balanced.

The art of distraction and persistent busyness can pull your attention away from issues that are arising in your body and mind. We can easily say I’m too tired or that I’ve just got too much to do to go to the gym. The reality of it is, is that we are all busy. The difference is some of us choose to make time and others choose to just trudge through and feel sub par. Next thing you know you’re in your 40’s/50’s and you have all these health problems. Wouldn’t you rather make the time now for your health then look back when it’s too late and wonder why you didn’t?

To avoid overwhelming yourself start small. Take 5-10 minutes out of your day to go for a short walk or take one class a week at your gym. Notice the difference in your weekly routine and mindset when you add these simple things. Perhaps when you are ready and convinced you can spare the time take it up a notch. Make it a half hour walk or two classes a week.

Take time to figure out what is taking up so much of your time. How often do you check your email, text, surf the internet or watch TV? If you add up all that time I bet you will have plenty of it to carve out for a walk or class.

Let your family and friends know that you are going to be starting this new fitness routine. You are more likely to do it if you tell people that you are. Perhaps you will even gain some support and encouragement to go to class or get company on your walks.

Start now. Don’t delay till tomorrow or next week. Finish reading this then head out the door or grab your calendar and schedule your gym class. You’ll thank yourself when you go to your next physical.

Finding Yoga

We all have our stories on how we found yoga, how it became such a large part of our lives. It usually has to do with stress, pain or disease. A lot of times we ignore our bodies until they are crying out to us.

I’m no different. I was working a stressful job, my anxiety started to build and soon I had a panic attack. It only took one panic attack for me to try yoga. I didn’t need anymore warnings. 

My husband was in PA school at the time so we had absolutely no extra income, taking a yoga class at a studio was out of the question. Confident that yoga was the answer to my stress I decided I would take the video route. I was hooked. After I finished my first power yoga video ( took me a few weeks until I could finally make it through the whole thing) I felt like a limp noodle. So relaxed. I was hooked.

Two years later I attended my first teacher training at Core Power Yoga in Denver. At that point in my yoga journey I was attracted to the physical aspect of the practice. My mind was racing too much to notice that there was more going on with me than just my physical body. That first day of my training was my first yoga class. It was intense but I loved it. 

The training was two months long. I learned a lot about myself and yoga. I also learned about something called Yoga Therapy. At the time it was a pretty new field. There wasn’t a lot of information out there on how to become one and trainings were far and few between. I knew then that it was something I wanted to do, but couldn’t afford at the time.

I taught yoga for about 5 years before the time finally came to do my yoga therapy training. At the time I had a two year old and leaving for a month to do the training wasn’t an easy decision. Every moment I was away from my baby girl and husband was a constant question as to whether I was doing the right thing. But every day I learned something new and inspiring. Something about myself that I could use later to help people. I realized that my yoga practice up to that point had been all about my body and that I was leaving my mind out of it.

You see, the training or journey to become a yoga therapist isn’t an easy one. All the tools you learn to help your students/clients, you must first try on yourself. You dig deep into your being and discover stuff you didn’t even know existed. You come out on the other end of the training with some great resources and the excitement of wanting to help others, but also new stuff that you will have to address about yourself and continue to work on.

Yoga therapy isn’t a quick fix. It is about taking time to dig deep through all your layers to find the thing that is festering. The thing that is making you sick, anxious, depressed, angry or whatever sensation or feeling that is obsessing you.

Your being (body, mind and soul) is like an onion, you have many layers. What happens on one layer can affect the other. Until you find the source of what your pain is, you can’t be healed. Yoga therapy treats your physical, emotional, energetic and spiritual being. No part of you is left out. You are the practitioner. You know your body, therefor you are the best one to heal it. As a yoga therapist I'm just there to guide you in the right direction.