The body is called Shareera in Sanskrit meaning - That which disintegrates. According to traditional healing systems, the body is said to be the container for the soul. Since the soul cannot experience or express on its own, it needs a medium. That medium is the body and with it the mind and the 5 sense organs.
According to yoga shastras, the body is divided into 5 koshas called as pancha koshas or five sheaths. The 5 sheaths are Annamaya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vijnanamaya and Anandamaya. According to Ayurveda, the body is considered as a combination of the 5 elements which are condensed to form the three doshas.
Hence, the five koshas are inter-twined into one another so as to help us transcend the cycle of life and death and attain perfection or what is called as Kaivalyam in Yoga shastras meaning liberated or merging with the Supreme.
Annamaya kosha is the layer of the physical body. The physical body is made up of cells which form tissues and organs. This is the outermost layer and is also known as the gross body.
Pranamaya kosha is the layer of pranic body. This is the body which is filled with prana or the life-force. When alive, pranamaya kosha reveals itself as the aura around the body. When prana is low, the aura is dark and when prana is high, the aura is bright.
According to Pranic Healers, When ones Prana is low, then the aura is wide and with awareness, one can feel this prana and conclude that, that part of the body is affected and needs attention.
Manomaya kosha is the mind and emotion body. Contrary to modern belief that mind is a subtle matter residing in some part of the head, traditional healing systems always have known that mind is an intrinsic part of every cell in the body. When modern medicine understood that mind plays a role in forming health patterns, they termed certain ailments like Asthma, Diabetes and skin conditions like Psoriasis, etc as psycho-somatic illnesses. According to the Yoga Shastras every dis-ease condition and illness starts from the mind due to the effects of emotions on the mind.
Vijnanamaya kosha is the layer of learning. As the Annamaya kosha experiences and Pranamaya kosha sustains the body through this experience, and Manomaya kosha helps make the right choices. Vijnanamaya kosha then is the sheath or body of learning. This is where information transforms into knowing. You cannot feel heat from the word fire. You have to experience the heat in front of the fire. Vijnanamaya kosha helps you know this.
Knowing leads to liberation. Liberating yourself of patterns and beliefs leads you to the pure state of Ananda or bliss or the Sat State. This state is called Anandamaya kosha.
