The Five Dimensional Self

Multidimensional

The holistic health community has taken root and spread like blackberry bushes worldwide. As a result, the idea that we are mere carbon copies here to consume, reproduce, and survive is being overcome by the beautiful remembrance and embodiment of the multidimensional self. As we awaken to the interconnectedness of the mind, body, and spirit, the journey to well-being becomes more colorful and far more personal. The more awareness we gain, the more expansive our realities become.

Awareness heeds the brave attempt to peel away layers and discover what lies beneath that which is already known. We know we have a physical body. We know the mind is the control center of reality, and we are coming to know the cornucopia of passion, belief, and desire that make up what is considered the soul or spirit. And yet, there is so much more than meets the holistic eye. Yoga tradition recognizes being, not as three dimensional, but five. The dimensions called koshas, Sanskrit for sheath, encapsulate each other like a set of Russian dolls. Peer inside one body, and you’ll find another, unique unto itself, yet just as vital to the well-being of the whole.

Annamaya: The Physical Body

The skin and bones of your miraculous existence is the Annamaya kosha. Directly translated into the 'foodstuff sheath', this first body consists of substantial matter - bones, muscles, organs, tissues, and blood. Without the Annamaya, you would be but a concept floating in a nebula devoid of space and time. The soft maps of your palms allow you to touch and explore the world around you. The calloused wisdom of your feet carry you into the adventurous unknown.

In this lifetime, you have but one Annamaya, which is why treating your body with the same sacred reverence as a holy temple is so vital to your well-being. Be kind to the heart that dances you through each wondrous experience. Nourish your cells with life-giving food, loving hydration, and nurturing environments. As so elegantly stated in the name of this first body, remember: that which you consume, you become.

Pranamaya: The Energetic Body

Cultivating a healthy and stable physical biome strengthens your ability to connect with the second body, the Pranamaya kosha. Invisible to the naked eye, yet powerful in force and function, this energetic body commands the lungs to rise and fall, the veins to circulate nutrient rich blood, and the digestive system to alchemize food into vitality. It moves like wind beneath the glove of skin and bone and collaborates with the frequency of thought to engender external reality. Without the Pranamaya, the Annamaya would be no more than an empty carcass.

Due to the extensive role energy plays on our well-being, pranayama practices govern much of the yogic lifestyle. When prana channels are constrained, limiting beliefs and unresolved trauma can initiate physical and mental dis-ease. Yoga asanas, massage, breathwork, and meditation act as regenerative agents, bringing renewed energy to our thoughts, habits, and day to day manifestations.

Manomaya: The Mental Body

Speaking of manifestation, the Manomaya, or the Mental Body is the inner palate for your external creations. Directly responsible for the processing of thoughts and emotions, this layer of your existence determines your interpretation of the world, which in turn paints the quality of your day to day experiences.

Just as a masterpiece reflects the kaleidoscope of the painter's palate, our mental health is directly related to the color of input we receive. Thoughts and emotions happen involuntarily, and to an extent, remain out of our immediate control. What we can control is how we interact with ourselves and how we react to life around us.

A daily yoga practice strengthens our ability to take the role of the observer and relieve ourselves from the natural instinct to judge. By following the breath from one pose to another, we are able to step back and notice how energy feels in the body. We become unbiassed witnesses, allowing our thoughts to rise and fall like ocean waves without feeling tethered or identified by them. As we embody this practice off the mat, the inner being begins to soften, allowing space for the deepest, truest treasures of the self to come alive.

Vijnanamaya: The Intellectual Body

Wrapped around the center of our being pulses a vast dimension of wisdom, intellect, knowledge, and discernment known as the Vijnanamaya. Unmoved by the changing winds of thought and emotion, this body resembles pure, untangled awareness, which, connected with the five senses, allows us to follow our intuition and discover the beliefs that remain true in an ever evolving reality.

Perhaps one of the ultimate truths the Vijnanamaya uncovers is the illusion of separation. Life begins and ends in unity. The conception of new life occurs in a state of oneness - two separate beings, two individual sets of genetic information, dance and coalesce like paint, creating a new color, a new splash of being in the mosaic of existence. Buried in the safety of the womb, we are indistinguishable from the splash of color we call Mom. The glowing red of her skin is our home until the day we are evicted by an explosion of unfamiliar colors, and in order to distinguish ourselves in this new kaleidoscopic world, we individualize. We separate.

Life experiences, mindfulness, yoga asanas, and the surrender of meditation all awaken the Vijnanamaya, allowing us to remember the interconnectedness from which we came. With practice, we begin to see the world as one pulsing, breathing network of beings. No longer separate and isolated from the world, illusion begins to melt away, baring like treasure, the truth of the eternal self.

Anadamaya: The Bliss Body

Attempting to comprehend eternity poses extremely challenging for the finite mind, when in fact, the very center of who we are is an encapsulation of the infinite. Regardless of personal belief, be it scientific or religious, the ultimate truth of existence is the dance of eternal energy shapeshifting through birth, death and rebirth. At the basic physical level, death alchemizes the molecules of our bodies into sustenance for the earth, which will eventually knit together the bodies of life-forms yet to come. The philosophies of yoga attempt to reconnect us with this ultimate truth. We are inseparable from all that once was, all that is, and all that will be. The beauty and simplicity of this notion unsheathes the deepest aspect of our beings - the Anadamaya.

The Anadamaya is that much sought after diamond buried beneath the layered surface of your complex existence. By treating your physical body with love and compassion, energy between you and your environment can flow unadulterated. Unblocked energy leads to a calm and grounded mind. A grounded mind lays the foundation for unification. Unification awakens the eternal, and awareness of the eternal is bliss.

And yet, this bliss body is not meant to be dwelled in like a fortress. We are not here as humans, walking the earth for the experience of unwavering ecstasy. If that were the case, we would never truly encounter the depths and magic of belonging to an unbreakable whole. Rather, this human life is so divine BECAUSE of separation. We separate for the joy of rediscovering wholeness. We break for the wonder of reassembling ourselves, and find we are more beautiful for the cracks and shards of glass we weave into stunning stained glass windows. Through pain and suffering, we discover ecstasy can be found in every moment. It is the wholeness of emotion, expression, and experience that makes us who we are.