Spirituality
6th century BC called the Taittiriya Upanishad.
In it, the concept is that we have five aspects
to our full self: body, energy, mind, wisdom
and spirit. These aspects are called “koshas”
which can be translated from Sanskrit as
either a ‘pocket’ or a ‘sheath’. The implication is
that we are like Russian dolls - the innermost
aspect is the True Self covered over, or in the
pocket of the next, denser layer. The goal, by
understanding and working with each layer is
to get to a realisation that who you are is the
True Self, your soul, so to speak, and not just
your body or mind. 4. Energy: It moves, has different qualities
These five aspects and the practice tools you
would use for them, in their ‘Russian Doll’
order are: 5. Body:
and states and extends around your physical
body as your aura. To work with your energy,
we use breath exercises such as yogic
pranayamas as well as visualisation. Reiki and
other energy modalities fit here.
Practice: Find a teacher of “Connected
Breathwork” - a powerful breathing technique
which has incredible healing potential. It is a
rising health trend and well worth looking
into. Read more about Connected Breathwork
here: https://www.adriancox.com/connected-
breathwork
What you can see and feel. What
mostly people identify as themselves. We must
provide it adequate sleep, clean and nutritious
food and the yoga postures that you may
already be familiar with.
Practice: in addition to maintaining a healthy
lifestyle, invest in yourself with a great yoga
class at least three times per week. If you
don’t like the first class or style or teacher,
try another. There’s a style and approach for
everyone.
1. Spirit: The true YOU, which is spirit. What
makes up spirit are the feeling-principles of
truth, bliss and love. By knowing and being
identified as this, you can experience these
qualities as part of your personality and
perception of how your life is. There is not
much you need to do with this layer other than
to be in it. This becomes natural when you
have attended to the following four layers.
Home Practice
2. Emotions and Wisdom: An aspect
of our Higher Self as intuition, the wiser choice
and our gut feelings. The yoga tool here is
expression and the allowing in of love, devotion
and gratitude.
Practice: contemplate at least five things of
which you are grateful for and do it at least
twice a day. Science shows that gratitude
literally changes the human heart and
molecular structure of the brain. Read more
about this here: https://bit.ly/2Gr3Ik2
3. Mind:
Your conscious, rational mind
and subconscious. The cognition and ego.
Your monkey mind. The key is to learn how to
use the mind and direct it as is best for the
outcomes you want in life. For this, the tools
are mantra and meditation.
Practice: If you have not yet learned to
meditate, make a point to find a retreat or
course somewhere near you. It is an essential
life skill. It is worth learning properly and even
taking a retreat to immerse yourself in the
practice.
You will become
more effective
in how you apply
yourself
Work on who you are,
and your perception
needs little evidence
to construe the
things in your life
for the positive or
optimistic
Once you have enough knowledge to practice
on your own, for a total body-mind and heart
maintenance program, we can simplify all of
this as:
1. Exercise
2. Breathing practices
3. Meditation or focusing the mind on a
mantra
4. Gratitude or love practices.
A commitment to a well-balanced practice
that considers who you are in total and doing
it several times per week will begin to change
your life. Not only will you be happier with your
life as it is, you will also become more effective
in how you apply yourself in the world around
you. In future articles I will go into more detail
on the techniques and theory on how to work
more with each level. Stay tuned!
Adrian Cox has been teaching Vinyasa Yoga and Breathing for the past
42
20 years, around the world. He founded Yoga Elements, a highly regarded
school of yoga in Thailand since 2001. Now based in Japan, he continues to
teach around the world and via Skype.
www.adriancox.com - www.fb.com/adriancox108
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