This human system – in yoga – we look at it as 5 sheaths, or 5 layers. 5 layers of body. In the yogic system, there is no such thing as mind. There is no such thing as anything. Everything is seen as body. Because we are looking at it as a technology for transformation. These are called – annamayakosha, manomayakosha, pranamayakosha, vigyanmayakosha and anandamayakosha.
This human system – in yoga – we look at it as 5 sheaths, or 5 layers
Anna means, the food that you eat. What you call as your body, is just the food that you have eaten. It’s a heap of food! Small or big, is your choice. But, it’s a heap of food, whichever way, isn’t it? As there is a physical body which you gathered from outside, there is a mental body. When we say mind, it is not here or there. Every cell in the body has it’s own intelligence. Every cell in the body has it’s own memory, isn’t it? So, there is a body of mind. So, this is known as the mental body, or manomayakosha. So, that is hardware, this is software. This hardware and software can not do much unless you plug it into quality power. So, the third layer of the body is called pranamayakosha, or the energy body. These 3 are physical in nature.
The next layer of the body, is a transitory body, which is known as vigyanamayakosha. It is a transitory body, from physical to non-physical. It’s transiting. It does not ascribe to any of the physical qualities, but at the same time, it has not become completely non-physical either. The 5th one is called as Ananndamayakosha. In English language it translates into, as bliss body. Bliss body does not mean, there is a bubble of bliss inside you. We are calling it bliss body, because in our experience, whenever we touch it, we become blissful. So, we are calling it bliss body. That’s not it’s nature. That is what it causes for us. It is a non-physical dimension, which is the source of everything that is physical.
If you align the physical body, the mental body, and the energy body – there will be no physical or psychological ailments within you
If you align the physical body, the mental body, and the energy body – in proper alignment and balance, there will be no physical or psychological ailments within you. It is just a dis-aligned state which causes all kinds of problems. When body comes to a certain ease, there is no dis-ease. So, if you align these things, only then you have a passage, you have a possibility of touching the anandamayakosha, where blissfulness becomes a natural process. It is not that you are blissful about something. You are just blissful, because that is the nature of life.
To create health for yourself, there are three fundamentals that you need to take care of. Food, activity and rest. When it comes to food, one of the most important things that you must be conscious of is – on a certain day when you eat a certain type of food, whatever you eat, you must consciously notice how quickly does it digest and become a part of yourself. Any food that you eat, if it lasts over three hours, that means you’ve eaten bad food and that is something to be either avoided, or reduced in quantity. If food moves out of your stomach bag within three hours, this means you’re eating something that your system can handle efficiently. It may not be the best food, but your system is able to handle it.
And between one meal and the next meal, if you create a clear gap of five to six hours, and in between if there is no other ingestion – you will see the cleansing process in the system on the cellular level. Cleansing will happen. This cleansing on the cellular level is most important and significant for a healthful life. So between meals there must be at least five to six hours of space.
To create health for yourself, there are three fundamentals that you need to take care of. Food, activity and rest
If you’re over 30 years of age, two meals a day, two good meals a day will suffice. One in the morning and one in the evening. After the evening meal, before you go to bed, there must be a minimum of three hours. And if there is a certain amount of physical activity, not necessarily very heavy or strenuous activity, just simple walking or maybe a dance or something like this. Create something for yourself where, about at least 20 to 30 minutes there is some physical activity after the evening meal. If you do this, largely your system will be healthy.
If one goes to bed with food still inside the stomach bag, a certain level of inertia is generated in the system. This inertia, physiologically it’s like accelerating towards death. Death is ultimate inertia. And if you go to bed with stomach full, one thing is it generates inertia. Another dimension is the stomach bag is full means, it will create pressure on other organs in the abdomen region. This will also lead to various kinds of health issues. It’s very important when you go to bed, again, food has moved out of the stomach bag. That the bag is not heavy to put pressure – as you sleep in different postures, it should not be putting pressure on rest of the organs.
When it comes to activity, in this brief time I don’t want to give you an exercise regimen. The simple thing that we need to understand is, our body is capable of bending forward, bending backward ,and twisting sideways on either side. This much activity must happen. Whatever we do, in whatever form. If you do classical Hatha Yoga, that is the best way to do it, scientific way of doing it. If that is not yet in your life, you must somehow make sure every day – you bend forward, backward, and twist both ways, and squat. So that stretching of the spinal column will happen. This much activity is a must for everybody on a daily basis, if we want to keep the entire system in a healthful state. Particularly your neurological system, which will be an issue as one ages.
The volume of rest that an individual needs is determined by various factors. One important factor is the type and the volume of food that one consumes. When I say, the type of food – you must experiment with foods and see. What type of foods cause maximum heaviness within you. What types of food will leave you light and agile. If you make sure, at least 40% of your diet is fresh vegetables and fruits, you will see that the lightness in the body will come. Because what the body needs is restfulness, not necessarily sleep. Most people understand that sleep is the only way to rest. No. As you sit and stand, you can either be restful, or in a state of agitation, or in a state of inertia. If you are in a lively state of restfulness moment to moment in your life, the volume of sleep you actually require will come down.
