The Panchamaya Kosha Model: The Foundation of Yoga Therapy

The Upanishads describe a five (pancha) sheathed (kosha) viewpoint of the human system, meaning each person has five layers or bodies, one deeper than the previous, that interrelate and either contribute or detract from health and well-being. Unlike western medicine, which isolates an issue, eastern medicine views issues broadly, meaning an issue in any area will impact all the other layers of existence. The idea is to seek and address the root cause of suffering instead of tending to symptoms. Yoga therapists collaborate with western healthcare practitioners as an adjunct treatment to discover the disconnect within the sheaths, address the findings, and ensure a whole-person healing approach.

The Physical Body: Annamaya Kosha

The first sheath contains the physical body. Beyond our muscles and bones, this sheath also refers to plasma, blood, fats, waste, reproductive material, and nourishment. Yoga therapists use this sheath to support clients in caring for the body with energy & nutrients through eating and movement that supports activity, digestion, cleansing, and rest. Asana is part of this body. However, yoga therapy goes beyond the traditional yoga posture and includes somatic movement, nerve gliding, shaking, functional movement, and myofascial release.

The Energetic Body: Pranamaya Kosha

The second sheath observes life energy (prana) and how it flows to every cell in the body according to its needs. This body encompasses energy, breathing, sleep, the nervous system, nadis, chakras, and vayus. The nadis are energetic channels within the body that converge at eight different areas called the chakras. The vayus are the five directions in which prana moves in the body. One way clients receive support in this body is through breath awareness. Breath awareness is more than observing the breath. It includes how movement, thoughts, and life encounters impact your breathing. Once you recognize your reaction, you can use breathing techniques to change that reaction to support you.

The Mental Body: Manomaya Kosha

The third sheath relates to our minds and how we make sense of the world. The primary categories are instinct, emotion, & core belief system. Yogic philosophy views the mental body as consisting of the senses, the ego, memory, and the ability to discern safety. Throughout our lives, we encounter obstacles, known as kleshas, that create disturbances in the mental body. Yoga therapists use the obstacles as investigative tools, exploring narratives and reactions that often are the root of the problem. In this body, clients begin to notice habits and develop a deeper awareness of emotions and thought processes and how they impact the body. Clients explore various yogic tools to shift patterns that detract from one’s health.

The Wisdom Body: Vijnamaya Kosha

The fourth sheath is our ability to discern using our higher wisdom, nonjudgemental intellect, and consciousness. The Upanishads and Yoga Sutras speak to our ability to make choices that will serve us through observing our senses, collecting information, and listening to our inner guidance versus reacting. Yoga Sutras 2.1, Patanjali suggests a three-part process, called kriya yoga, to cultivate wisdom and bring one into the present moment. The steps include practice (tapas), letting go of judgment while continuing to question and inquire within (svadhyaya), and trust (ishvara-pranidhana). Trust is often the most challenging, as it points to trusting the process. It encourages an attitude of putting in effort, accepting certain types of failure, and continuing to move forward. As a yoga therapist, it is within this body we help our clients dig deep and explore questions such as: ‘Where are you saying no?’ and ‘Where do you want to say yes?’ We then formulate practices to support self-inquiry, curiosity, and trust.

The Joy Body: Annamaya Kosha

The last sheath speaks to our sense of purpose, value, and meaning in the world and our ability to feel connected. Connection indicates our relationship with others as well as something larger than ourselves. Scientifically speaking, this sheath governs the right side of our brain. Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D (2021), explains that the right-thinking hemisphere of the brain connects us to consciousness: open, aware, and accepting everything is exactly as it should be, without judgment, and celebrates life with wonder as we are not just worthy of love, we are love. Research demonstrates that having meaning, purpose, and value in life improves the quality of life and immune function while decreasing inflammation, allostatic load, perceived isolation, and all-cause mortality (Sullivan et al., 2018). Yoga therapists promote eudaimonia by supporting the client’s understanding that suffering arises from their relationship, reaction, and misidentification with life phenomena. Those responses then create a body-mind experience. With yogic practices, clients learn how to shift those patterns toward well-being.

How a Yoga Class differs from a Yoga Therapy Session

The client’s input and the therapeutic use of the panchamaya kosha system are examples of the differences between a yoga class and a yoga therapy session. A yoga class may focus on one or more of the koshas and have outlooks chosen by the teacher, such as levels, themes, peak poses, or a student’s request.

A yoga therapy session focuses on all five koshas and supports the client (or clients) based on their needs and goals for a specific condition. The clients drive the development of the session. Each session includes a dialogue between the therapist and the client (or clients) so that practices are appropriate, accessible, and utilized outside the session.

Whether you take a yoga class or attend a yoga therapy session, you typically walk away feeling better. Why is that? Next month’s issue will include an article detailing the neurochemistry behind yoga, why we feel so good after, and how yoga therapists use this modality to increase eudaimonia.

Taylor, Jill. Bolte. (2021). Whole Brain Living: the Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life. Hay House, Inc.

Sullivan, M. B., Erb, M., Schmalzl, L., Moonaz, S., Noggle Taylor, J., & Porges, S. W. (2018). Yoga Therapy and Polyvagal Theory: The Convergence of Traditional Wisdom and Contemporary Neuroscience for Self-Regulation and Resilience. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 12, 67. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00067