Anandamaya kosha your bliss body

Welcome back to our series on the koshas. 

We've discussed Annamaya, our physical body layer, pranamaya kosha our energetic/breath layer, manomaya kosha our mental layer and last week we discussed Vijnanamaya kosha. Our wisdom layer. That objective witness to everything in and around us. Today we wrap up this series with the 5th and innermost kosha, Anandamaya kosha. This layer is described as a steady state of bliss  and in many traditions our true self. Our work IN today is a discussion of what that means for all of us mere mortals and the difference between the feeling of bliss and the experience of bliss.

As a part of my mission to bring a legacy of resilience through movement, each month you can join me for a hike on the bike trail followed by a free trauma informed vinyasa class back at the studio on Main Street. Go to savagegracecoaching.com to see the calendar and join my newsletter, Yoga Life on Main Street, to stay up to date on all the latest studio news, events and gossip. And now… on to this week’s episode.

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Transcript

Ep 198

Bliss The nature of our true self

Welcome back to our series on the koshas. 

We've discussed Annamaya, our physical body layer, pranamaya kosha our energetic/breath layer, manomaya kosha our mental layer and last week we discussed Vijnanamaya kosha. Our wisdom layer. That objective witness to everything in and around us. Today we wrap up this series with the 5th and innermost kosha, Anandamaya kosha. This layer is described as a steady state of bliss  and in many traditions our true self. Our work IN today is a discussion of what that means for all of us mere mortals and the difference between the feeling of bliss and the experience of bliss.

When I outlined this series I thought about leaving this kosha out because in essence anandamaya kosha is unchanging. There isn’t anything we need to change about it all. This kosha is who we are. The other koshas are the veils lie between this self and the world.  There are some traditions I’ve seen that discuss Anandamay kosha as another veil and our true self is beneath it, however even when it’s described that way, this 5th kosha isn’t something we can change or influence in any way. It simply exists as it is and usually it can only be experienced in fleeting moments when the other 4 veils are pulled away, so to speak. 

In most yoga traditions the ultimate goal of our practice is to experience this layer. Bliss is Samadhi the eighth limb in our 8 limbed path of yoga and it is the 5th kosha that represents our true state of being. The divine Self. 

The Upanishads have beautiful verses that talk about this kosha. According to the upanishads this kosha is the spark of the divine that comes directly from our creator and exists as a constant source of joy.

“The Self is the source of abiding joy. Our hearts are filled with joy at seeing him enshrined in the depths of our consciousness…When one realizes the Self, in whom all life is one, changeless, nameless, formless. Then one fears no more. Until we realize the unity of life we live in fear.”  

As something that comes directly from divine creation there is nothing we really need to do to improve it. But knowing it’s there within each of us could change one's perspective. 

Maybe that idea of holding a spiritual connection within yourself is foreign to you. People like names and definitions and meanings and so some might call it one of the many names for God, maybe spirit, or soul, maybe maybe you’ve never thought about what makes you who you are. Perhaps you were raised in a particular religion that doesn’t allow for other interpretations of spirituality. But in the yoga tradition all religions can be true. And no matter what your belief system it is true that there is more to us than random biological processes. 

That “more” exists as Anandamaya kosha.

This state of being is a constant. 

But if that’s true why are we not all naturally blissfully happy? All the time? Well, as we’ve learned over the past few weeks we have a lot of illusions about who we are, don’t we?

There’s our physical body, Ananmaya kosha. When we associate ourselves solely with our body we can get distracted by how it looks, how it feels, taking care of it, working it, punishing it, feeling trapped in it, you name it. But we are more than this body.

There’s our energetic body. Our breath and the energy of emotion that moves us to react and respond in one way or another. We can spend much of our time trying to control our energy or being ruled by our emotional energy. 

Our mental body can create stories and meanings about ourselves that may or may not be true that can dictate who we think we are and how we behave in the world. But we are more than our thoughts and emotions.

Our wisdom body that is supposed to help direct us and see objective truth without attachment can become over analytical and overwhelmed with past and future ruminations. And we are more than this layer as well.

It is the awareness of this idea, that we are more than, that leads us to an experience of bliss, and an experience of our connection to the divine.

I say experience on purpose. 

Anandamaya kosha isn’t something that we feel. It is a state of being. And as such we can experience it but trying to feel it may leave us a little frustrated.

This is one of those things where instead of trying hard to reach it we can get closer by trying easy. 

When I teach trauma release exercise this is how we approach the tremor. The body already knows how to do it. So it becomes more a matter of unlearning all the ways we shut ourselves off our natural self regulation than learning how to make it happen.

Anandamaya kosha is the same way. This part of ourselves exists in us as a whole complete being. But we’ve been separated from it through cultural, societal conditioning, through attachments to all the things this world places value on that doesn’t include us. The real Us. 

The divine part of us.

Simply knowing there is a part of us that is connected to the divine universe can echo through our other koshas. It’s not just there occasionally or only when we pray or meditate. It’s there all the time. That idea can change us. 

I know it changed me. I won’t pretend to be in a blissful enlightened state all the time. I live in the real world. But I will share my personal understanding of this kosha. For me it’s like a deep sense of contentment and trust. When I visualize it, it’s like an anchor down at the deepest part of a lake where the water is always still. There are always going to be storms, but  no matter what is going on at the surface, that anchor is connected. It might take me a while to get there, to that experience of something divine, and so far those moments have been fleeting, but knowing I have that connection is enough. I don’t need to chase it or force it. I just need to get out of the way. It’s just there. It’s always been there and always will be there no matter what I do. And I believe that’s true for every human being. 

Studying the koshas is a way to get back to and get to know who we really are without all that other stuff.

At the time of this recording, we are in the holiday season and I think it’s a great time to talk about joy and bliss. That can get lost in all the holiday stress and scramble to get and give.  A lot of the holiday traditions are centered around our first 4 koshas hoping to feel joy and bliss. We don’t have to do anything to make that happen. We might have to stop doing something in order to allow a bliss experience to happen. Knowing what you know now about this 5th kosha your true self, what might that be? Can you find a moment of stillness? Can you find a moment of joy? Can you experience a spark of divine bliss inside your true Self? 

Thank you so much for listening! I am so grateful for each and everyone of you!

If you're looking for ways to handle the effects of stress, physically, mentally and emotionally through the body head over to savagegracecoaching.com/theworkin you’ll find all the show notes for this and other episodes plus lots of free resources. And if you’re in a place where you are ready for more and you live in the Dayton Ohio area I’m taking private clients for trauma informed yoga and trauma release exercise in person and online. So book a discovery call and we can have a real life conversation. And of course I’d be ever so grateful if you would take a moment to like and subscribe to this podcast wherever you’re listening. 

Thanks again everyone and as always stop working out and start working IN.